The Pharisees dogged Jesus so relentlessly they should have known his teachings as well as his disciples did. It’s tragic that they weren’t trying to learn anything from him other than how to discredit him.
Have I learned what Jesus meant when he said, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice”?
It is hard to misunderstand what he means in the first chapter of Isaiah.
“‘What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices;’ says the Lord; ‘I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats . . . Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean! Remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.’” (Isa. 1:11, 16, 17 ESV).