"And He went out again by the seashore; and all the people were coming to Him, and He was teaching them. As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting in the tax booth, and He *said to him, "Follow Me!" And he got up and followed Him.
And it *happened that He was reclining at the table in his house, and many tax collectors and sinners were dining with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many of them, and they were following Him. When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that He was eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they said to His disciples, "Why is He eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners?" And hearing this, Jesus *said to them, "It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
Good Morning my beloved,
We
welcome you to worship in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
What a privilege it is to come together to study rich awesome
Truths in God's Word. We are so thankful that the Lord lead you join us today.
If you have your Bibles, open them and turn with me to Mark chapter 2, verses 13-17. I'd like to encourage you follow along with me as I read to set the text in our minds. I pray that the Lord
would help us to hear and apply what He has to say to each of us today and strengthen our faith. Mark 2:13-17.
"And He went out again by the seashore; and all the people were coming to Him, and He was teaching them. As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting in the tax booth, and He *said to him, "Follow Me!" And he got up and followed Him.
And it *happened that He was reclining at the table in his house, and many tax collectors and sinners were dining with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many of them, and they were following Him. When
the scribes of the Pharisees saw that He was eating with the sinners
and tax collectors, they said to His disciples, "Why is He eating and
drinking with tax collectors and sinners?" And hearing this, Jesus *said to them, "It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
When a close personal friend of mine first began his ministry, he was a very strong teacher, he had a way of explaining God's Word in a way, which people could relate to by bringing the Bible to life. He encouraged those he taught to understand that the true meaning of God's Word was different than what they thought. He was really gifted at caring for the physical and spiritual needs of people, always knowing just the right thing to say and do, often times without them even asking. My friend was one of those kinds of teachers, people either admired and looked up to or they hated him for challenging their traditional opinions and confronting their misguided beliefs.
Unfortunately, there was another side to my friend and the rumors began to fly about the way he was spending his time, ways that were questionable by religious standards, unbecoming to a minister who was representing God. He was spotted one evening, late a night with an alcoholic beverage in his hand, having dinner with a known prostitute, who was laughing and being openly affectionate toward him, it was obvious they knew each other well. To make matters even worse, when he was questioned about his inappropriate behavior, and why he was hanging around with such a scandalous woman, rather than building healthy relationships with good people, my friend was very abrasive in his response, and one might say, even rude. He even went so far as to spend more time not only with this woman, but a number of others who were considered by society's standards, to be just as bad.
I ask you, what must be done with a minister like this? Take a moment to think about this situation before you respond. I imagine that many of you will conclude, that as his friend, I should sit him down and have a heart to heart serious talk with him, explaining to him why his behavior is out of line and unacceptable in the eyes of God. Encouraging him to think carefully about his behavior and straighten up or leave the ministry, and if he refuses to listen, go the church leaders recommending that he should be removed from his position. The problem is I agree with him in this situation. You see, my friend’s name is Jesus Christ, a friend to sinners. When Jesus hung out with sinners, they didn't change His mind about their sin, He changed theirs. While He will accept you as you are, He loves you too much to leave you that way. Salvation is not for those who think they're good enough to go to heaven, it's for those who recognize they’re not.
Let us pray
Heavenly Father,
Father, we are so thankful for Your Word. We are grateful that You’ve revealed your glorious gospel of grace to us, that where sin abounds, grace does abound all the more. Lord, we are thankful that by spending time with those of us who were outcasts, wretched sinners,
waiting patiently for us to acknowledge our sinfulness, and brought us to the place of being convicted about our sin, and by Your mercy, offering us complete forgiveness and allowing us to become righteous,
through faith in Christ, not because we are good enough, but because You are. Father, I pray that You would work mightily in every heart of those who are unwilling to recognize their sinfulness, draw them to Yourself and call them to true repentance, turning away from sin and toward the Savior, receiving the gift of salvation. We ask and pray this in Christ’s name, for Your glory.
Amen
Today's Message: Breaking Barriers
If I had chose to begin my introduction to Mark's story about my friend differently, I imagine most of you would have missed just how radical, how scandalous this portion of Scripture really is. That's the problem with familiarity, we tend to immediately draw our conclusions about a person, deciding to condemn some, and agree with others, based upon our personal opinions and experiences with an individual. Had the introduction been about a pastor today, I suspect many, if not most, would have immediately condemned him. We're always being told that the goal of our Christian journey, is to be more like Jesus, however, in all my years of attending church, or in my theological training, I don’t recall anyone telling me that in becoming more like Jesus, I should be hanging out with the types of people Jesus is associating with at Levi's dinner party, people that were hated by the religious people of the day. It is a different time, different place, with different religious customs and traditions. Yet, in many respects, it's not much different than today, many religious people have their strong opinions as to who should or should not have access to Jesus.
As with many situations, really understanding them begins with understanding something about the circumstances and the people involved. So, as we begin our study of God's Word, I'd like you to ask yourselves, do you really want to be like the Jesus? Who embraces and accepts sinners, without having ever sinned and loving tells them the Truth, Because this was not an isolated incident, this was how Jesus lived, He hung around with undesirable sinful people; drunkards, prostitutes, gluttons, tax collectors et cetera. If we're going to be more like Jesus, shouldn't we be willing to love, embrace and welcome sinners, have a conversation without compromising the Truth? That does not mean being obnoxious, belligerent or unloving.
I have a number of relationships with people who I love, people outside of the church who live lives that as a pastor that believes and upholds the Word of God, I cannot condone. But rather than simply condemning them or discarding our friendship, I lovingly tell them the Truth about sin and it's eternal consequences. When we preach the Gospel to spare human feelings, we do not seek God's greatest honor. In teaching that God is tolerant of our sin, are we truly worshiping the God of the Bible or only the God that we wish Him to be? There are Christians who are complacent and have absolutely no effect on anything or anyone, they're just along for the rise and silently watch things happen. Then, there are Christians who confront and condemn everything and everybody, just to get someone rattled. It wasn't that Jesus wasn't personally offensive, it was what He said that offended people. He spoke the Truth! It you're offensive because of who or what you are, you’ve got a serious problems.
It doesn’t do any good if you have biblical convictions, if you’re not willing to tell somebody about them. Because you will never make a difference for Christ, or have an effect on the world, if you don't have the courage to tell people the Truth. You can't simply avoid the issues. You must not only believe what you believe, but you must have the courage to say it to whom it needs to be said. However, you cannot go around confronting the sin in others, if you're harboring sin in your own life. And I believe therein lies the problem with the church today, that's why there isn't any victory. You have to live a pure life; by dealing with your own sin.
I mean sinners today are bold, aren’t they? I’m amazed by how bold and courageous they are in speaking their damning propaganda and lies without fear that it’s offensive or divisive. And, they're literally turning the world upside down. They're putting Christians who say I don’t want to offend anybody to shame. If you're going to proclaim the Gospel, you’ve got to tell the Truth, even if it offends people. Then you have to offer them the grace, mercy and forgiveness of sin through Jesus Christ. God’s been offended long enough by sin; it’s time that we proclaim the Truth by offending sinners and trust Him for the increase.
Matthew 10:33, "But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven."
The key to understanding this passage is found in verse 17, "
It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners." I’m certainly not naïve in thinking that all Christians are spiritually healthy and mature people, in fact, most of them aren't, they're not like Jesus at all. But we should be a people who pursue righteousness and speak the Truth, especially to ourselves. Matthew 5:16, "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven." How can they see our light shine if our lives are cut off from them?
If you have your Bibles, open them and turn with me to Mark chapter 2, verses 13-17. I'd like to encourage you follow along with me as I read to set the text in our minds. I pray that the Lord
would help us to hear and apply what He has to say to each of us today and strengthen our faith. Mark 2:13-17.
"And He went out again by the seashore; and all the people were coming to Him, and He was teaching them. As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting in the tax booth, and He *said to him, "Follow Me!" And he got up and followed Him.
And it *happened that He was reclining at the table in his house, and many tax collectors and sinners were dining with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many of them, and they were following Him. When
the scribes of the Pharisees saw that He was eating with the sinners
and tax collectors, they said to His disciples, "Why is He eating and
drinking with tax collectors and sinners?" And hearing this, Jesus *said to them, "It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners." That's the whole reason the church exists is to point spiritually sick people to Christ.
Let's look at verse 13, "And He went out again by the seashore; and all the people were coming to Him, and He was teaching them." It's interesting, that when Jesus did whatever He needed to do, wherever He needed to do it, whether it was healing or preaching and casting out demons, He moved on. In fact, He was moving around all the time and that's exactly what we see here, when Mark tells us when he says, "And He went out again by the seashore." He went out of the house where Simon and Andrew lived, where He had been teaching and healed the paralytic man who was lowered down through the roof. Today, many pastors don't ever want to give the Gospel anybody outside of the pulpit. I believe that you need to be prepared to give the Gospel to sinners wherever you encounter them.
Then Mark says "and all the people were coming to Him," which was not uncommon, that's why most of His teaching was outdoors because the crowds were so large and the reason He left the house, it had become crowded they couldn't even get the paralytic man through the door, that's why they tore off the roof, people knew that Jesus could help them. "And He was teaching them," He preached what He always did, the Gospel of salvation for the forgiveness of sin. Repent and believe in the gospel.
Verse 14, "As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting in the tax booth, and He *said to him, "Follow Me!" And he got up and followed Him." As He passed by, here we have Jesus on the move again, Mark tells that's when He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting in the tax booth, which tells us his occupation and the name Levi reveals he is obviously a Jew. That in and of itself was shocking, a tax collectors were considered to be the worst of the lowest dregs of society, especially a Jewish one. They were regarded as collaborators with the oppressive Roman regime, betraying his own people. Rome offered tax franchises to the highest bidder, to collect tax for the Roman government on important nearby trade routes. It was common practice for the collector to over-charge and pocket the difference. It was a very lucrative position with ample opportunity to get ahead, at the expense of the Jewish people. No self respecting Jew would ever befriend a tax collector who made his money by extorting money from them. You see, Christianity is for imperfect people who recognize just how flawed they are. I believe that we of all people, must be willing to admit that.
Then Jesus does the unthinkable. "And He *said to him, "Follow Me!" Wait! What? Jesus is commanding Levi, a wretched tax collector to follow Him? No self-respecting teacher would ever do that, in fact, they would everything they could to get rid of a tax collector that wanted to become a disciple. Why would He do such a thing? Because Jesus was breaking barriers by defying stereotypes! Allow me to point out what Mark tell us next, "And he got up and followed Him." There's no gritting of the teeth, no grumbling and complaining about what he would have to give up in order to follow Him, that we so often hear today. He just got up, without hesitation, walked away and never looked back and followed Him. Luke adds the statement, "He forsook all." As it should be, he eagerly, willingly gave up everything to follow Jesus.
Listen, it’s not unlike Jesus to handle this situation the way He does, after all, He came into this world to call those who recognize they are desperate, who are
hurting, who are broken, those whose lives have been shattered. Those
who are weak and weary, hungry and are thirsty. This great Truth irritates some today, just as much as it did two thousand years ago. Jesus came to call sinners, not the self-the religious elite! Because many people think of themselves as "basically good," they do not realize that they are wretched sinners who cannot come to God on their own terms. Here we see the full dimension of His forgiveness, a tremendous display of just how far His forgiveness goes and whose sin can He forgive, even a vile tax collector named Levi. Jesus called Levi to be His disciple because He knew his heart, that he had come to recognize his own sinfulness, his wretchedness before a Holy God, not just the corruption of his job. Oh, how grateful I am that Jesus can forgive even a wretch like me!
Verse 15, "And it *happened that He was reclining at the table in his house, and many tax collectors and sinners were dining with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many of them, and they were following Him." This is incomprehensible, not only did Jesus call Levi to follow Him, but now He is having a banquet attended by the most vilest of sinners. Mark doesn’t really give us any of the details, just that there were many of them. Who does that? Jesus does! The point here is, Christ's mercy is extended to all who are willing to forsake everything, and submit to His Lordship in obedience and follow Him. There’s not one sinner who can't be forgiven. It's important to note, they're not attempting to drag all the garbage of their past with them. Every time Jesus commanded someone to follow Him, they dropped everything, and they followed Him. The explicit command to follow Jesus assumes something, that you're willing to forsake everything and walk away from your sin, with no intent to return. If you are truly following Jesus, everything that previously controlled your life, money, power and sin no longer has no meaning. The world has lost it's grip!
Verse 16, "When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that He was eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they said to His disciples, "Why is He eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners?" What a serious indictment! A scathing judgment on their contempt for sinners and tax collectors whom they considered unclean, barred from synagogues. I imagine they were thinking to themselves, "What is He doing? We are the righteous men of God, why isn’t He having a dinner for us? Who eats with tax collectors and sinners but another sinner!" These sinners were willing to admit they needed His mercy and forgiveness, these pious self-righteous Pharisees would never admit such a thing. What a rebuke to the self-righteous religious people then as well as today!
Don't ever think of your sin in relation to what others around you are doing; you must always think of your sin in relation to how Holy God is. Let me tell you this, if you’re not willing to admit that you are a wretched sinner in need of a Savior, Jesus has nothing but rebuke for you. Jesus came to make spiritually well those who know they have the deepest need. Jesus didn't care about what the Pharisees thought, He didn't care about His popularity or social standing, He was not consumed by political or social causes, He was simply content to preach the Truth and be with even the most vile the repentant sinner. Think about that! Mark tells us they said to His disciples, "Why is He eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners?" Luke says they began "goggýzō," a Greek onomatopoeic word meaning to grumble; showing smoldering discontent. This is a rhetorical question, intended to be an vindictive indictment against Jesus, so typical of their false religious system. Man, were they outraged, their blood must have really been boiling.
That brings us to verse 17, "And hearing this, Jesus *said to them, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners." Jesus' response is a very simply analogy yet invoked a powerful condemnation. It's sick people go to doctors, those who recognize that somethings wrong. These sinners have a complete recognition of their sinfulness, their spiritual disease, Jesus is the spiritual healer. The self-righteous Pharisees could see how sick these people are yet they failed to recognize their own sinful spiritual condition. A clear indication of their cold, corrupt hearts. Further evidence they’re not worshiping the true God, they belong to Satan. Jesus said "Blessed are the poor in spirit, those who mourn," who understand their spiritually bankrupt, mourning over their sin. By their own estimation of themselves, they're not sinners, they are super righteous. As long as you continue to think that delusional way of yourself, you’ll die in your sin because Jesus can’t offer you anything.
In Closing..
Many Christians today have a fear of being contaminated by sinners, that being involved in our culture so that they see Jesus, will lead them into sin. I submit to you by cutting the spiritual sick off from Jesus, we are no longer obeying the Great Commission and we have already crossed the line away from Christ-likeness into the sin of fear if we are more concerned with our purity than with those who are sick and dying, we're failing miserably to fulfill purpose for which we have been saved, to be the visible presence of God in the world. If we're filled with the Holy Spirit, we have nothing to fear. If you can see how spiritually sick others are yet fail to recognize your own sinful spiritual condition, you're so far from God, and in serious trouble! Some Christians are like that, they can't be bothered to come near a sinner, but they sure give them a diagnosis! In doing so, they've already condemned themselves. The true Church is not made up of people who think they’re righteous, it’s made up of people who know they’re not.
I believe if
you fail to proclaim, to teach, to exposit the Word of God, you usurp
the authority of God, usurp the headship of Christ, and you hinder the work
of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of sinners. How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the Gospel. We can’t proclaim the Gospel of salvation by sealing off our lives from all the sinners, we must be willing to roll up our sleeves and work hard to point the lost to Christ. If God's Word says something once, it’s important. If He says something more than once, you'd better listen. God says over 70 times in the Bible, "Repent." I only regret I didn't listen sooner. I’ll tell you there is nothing more exciting than to be a part of God's kingdom.
Do you really want to be like the Jesus who spent His life touching the lives of sinners, the same Jesus stretched out His hand to you and to me, and invited unworthy repentant sinners to live in His glorious Kingdom, because the two are inseparable. That's a ministry of one completely dedicated life that will transform the world.
May it be so..
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
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