Pharisees: Part I

I think it's kind of funny how within the word "Pharisee," there's the word "see". The reason I find this funny is because, in Jesus' day, the Pharisees didn't really see. Look at Matthew 9:9-13:

"As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector's booth. 'Follow me,' he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.
While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and 'sinners' came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, 'Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and "sinners"?'
On hearing this, Jesus said, 'It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: "I desire mercy, not sacrifice." For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.'"

Here you have a rather disagreeable character--Matthew. He collected taxes, and everyone knew what vile, dishonest men tax collectors were. But Jesus chose to make him his disciple. In picking His disciples, Jesus verified what he was saying to the pharisees here: He came for sinners. Look at the men He chose: fishermen, tax collectors, Judas...Peter. Not exactly the prestigious and righteous.
I don't think it's because he didn't like the Pharisees, though. I've heard it said that Jesus probably loved the Pharisees. If you look throughout the Gospels, the Pharisees are the people with whom Jesus spends a lot of His time talking to! And following Jesus time here on Earth--well, you have Paul. Jesus chose Paul as His messenger--the new Apostle. And Paul was a Pharisee bent on wiping out those lowly Christians before He came to know Christ.
But that's not my whole point. My point is, there's a lot the Pharisees were missing. Here, Jesus is sharing company with those the Church of that day deemed unholy, unclean, unfit for spending time with. And Jesus answers their question, "Why?" by telling them to go find out the meaning of this phrase: "I desire mercy, not sacrifice."
It comes from Hosea 6:6, and it's God that's speaking. Sacrifice was the most commonly known practice of Jewish custom. It was the act of repentance and homage to God. Unfortunately, as with a lot of religious practices, it had become ritualized. Jesus is basically saying to them here, "It's not your religious practices I'm wanting. It's hearts of compassion and sincere love."
The Pharisees thought they had it all together. Jesus was letting them know that He hadn't come for those who were on top of things. He came for the needy. The irony is that the Pharisees, in their lack of seeing, were likely the neediest of them all.