Jesus’s Radical Hospitality (Matthew 9:9–13, 18–26)

Who’s excluded from your table? Explore this week’s Gospel reading and consider what it means for us today.

Each week, we post a passage from Sunday’s Scriptures; share links to resources that give context and inspire new ideas; and offer a few questions to get you thinking about what we’ll read together in church.

The Gospel for June 7, 2026

Matthew 9:9–13, 18–26

As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, “Follow me.”

And he got up and followed him. And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” But when he heard this, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.”

While Jesus was saying these things to them, suddenly a leader of the synagogue came in and knelt before him, saying, “My daughter has just died; but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.” And Jesus got up and followed him, with his disciples. Then suddenly a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak, for she said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be made well.” Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was made well. When Jesus came to the leader’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, he said, “Go away; for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up. And the report of this spread throughout that district.

Read all of Sunday’s Scriptures

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Commentary

“While the Pharisees and the disciples each try to live in a way that sets them apart, Jesus at the house of Matthew demonstrates a radical form of hospitality: setting a bigger table, inverting hospitality, blending the lines between guest and host, recalibrating power, seeking relationship with all humankind,” writes theology professor Ron Ruthruff.

Poetry

In “Questions to Consider When Waking,” poet Bernadette Millers asks, “What would you stop to bless and caress / if you believed that blessing could address / our painful illusions of brokenness?”

Music

Country music supergroup the Highwomen sing of a crowded table where there’s “a place by the fire for everyone.”

Reflection Questions

Take a Moment to Wonder

• In what ways is Jesus’s form of hospitality countercultural?
• What if you focused more on your similarities to others instead of your differences?
• Who’s excluded from your table?