JESUS: FRIEND OF SINNERS (Mark 2:13-17)
INTRODUCTION:
The pages of Scripture clearly teach that salvation cannot be earned by good works, through personal virtues or values, or any form of self-righteousness. The reason that this is true is because none of those things deal with man’s sinful nature and his own disposition to sin. What sinful people could never do through their own efforts; God did by sending His Son as an offering for sin. This is the truth of the Gospel that Jesus Christ died for our sins and that who ever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. On the cross Jesus dealt with the sin issue, He paid the penalty required for sin for all who would believe in Him, so that we might be reconciled to God. He who knew no sin, in other words, the sinless One became the bearer of sin so that we could become the bearers of His righteousness and be justified before a holy God. As Peter read this morning in our Scripture reading, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8–9, NASB95)[1]
Many throughout the history of the church have attempted to add human works to the gospel of grace. Self-righteous works are not compatible with God’s gracious gift of salvation. Which is why Paul would say concerning salvation in Romans 11:6, “But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace.” (Romans 11:6, NASB95)[2] No one represented the personification of legalistic self-righteousness better than the Pharisees and scribes in Jesus’ day. They taught that a righteous standing before God had to be earned through one’s own effort and they were obsessed with following external rituals and keeping a myriad of man-made traditions. The tragedy of self-righteousness is that it condemns true righteousness. This is so clearly seen in the Pharisees and scribes’ condemnation of Jesus. When Jesus did not follow the man-made rules that had been added to the Law the scribes and Pharisees were quick to accuse Him of not being holy. With scorn and derision, they called Jesus the friend of tax collectors and sinners. Since the Pharisees separated themselves from anyone that might be considered a sinner, anyone who befriended that kind of person must be an enemy of God. By rejecting Jesus, the religious leaders demonstrated their own ignorance in regard to the Messiah’s mission which was to seek and save the lost. Jesus identified all people as sinners, the scribes and Pharisees were no exception. But because they were blinded by their own self-righteousness, unwilling to recognize their own sinfulness, they denied their need for a Savior and therefore rejected the Messiah. This is why Jesus focused His ministry on those who were well aware of their sinfulness, those who made no claim to being righteous. Those who knew they fell short of God’s law. These were those that were ripe for the Gospel. The wonder and glory of the Gospel is that God receives unworthy sinners. Forgiveness is granted to those who know they do not deserve it. This is the scandal of grace that God saves those who do not deserve it. As we get into this morning’s passage, we will learn that no sinner is beyond the reach of God’s grace. Let’s pray before turning to the Scripture.
--PRAY--
SCRIPTURE:
Turn in your Bibles to Mark 2:13-17. Please stand, if you are able, in honor of the reading of the Word of God.
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.’ ” (Mark 2:13–17, NASB95)[3]
THE CALL OF LEVI (MATTHEW) (Mark 2:13-14)
After the healing of the paralyzed man that we looked at last week, Jesus left the house in Capernaum and went out again by the seashore. Jesus did much of His teaching outdoors simply because as we saw last week it was not possible to get the massive crowds that were coming to Jesus inside a house or a building. So, Jesus left the house and went outside of Capernaum to the seashore. Understand that Jesus was not trying to escape from the crowds but because they kept growing, He went out where they could have access to Him. Many places along the seashore acted as a natural amphitheater which made it easier to hear what Jesus was saying. As they came out to Him, He was teaching them. Again, He was telling them that the kingdom of God was at hand and calling them to repent and believe the gospel.
After ministering to the crowds and as Jesus was possibly returning to Capernaum for the evening, He passed by a toll station. “He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting in the tax booth, and He said to him, ‘Follow Me!’ ” (Mark 2:14b, NASB95)[4] To those near enough to hear what Jesus said to Levi must have shocked them. No respectable rabbi would even speak to a tax collector and certainly would never invite one to follow Him. The very thought of someone associating with such a despised member of Israelite society was scandalous. The religious leaders and any self-respecting Jew would not associate with a tax collector and would never ask one to become a follower. But Jesus Christ was not just any rabbi, and He shattered the stereotypes.
Levi, better known by his Greek name Matthew was a Jew, this we know because of his Hebrew name and the name of his father Alphaeus which is also Hebrew. Matthew was a tax collector in Capernaum, this would have been a profitable financial operation, as Capernaum was the largest city on the sea of Galilee and because of a busy trade route that ran through the city. Even though this was a profitable line of work, and most tax collectors were quite wealthy, it was a position that came in very low on the social scale. Tax collectors were hated and despised by most in first-century Israel. They were considered the scum of society and the worst sinners. They were considered traitors working for Rome. For Jesus to call a tax collector to follow Him was unheard of and improper, especially in the eyes of the Pharisees and scribes.
The Roman occupation of Israel was hated by the Jews, nevertheless it was not going away and as such the Jewish people were required to pay taxes to Rome. The responsibility for collecting taxes in Galilee fell to Herod Antipas, the tetrarch placed by Rome to rule this region. To fulfill his responsibility Herod Antipas sold tax collection franchises to the highest bidder. Those who purchased a franchise were required to collect a minimum quota for Rome, and anything they collected beyond that was theirs to keep. For a person with low ethical standards and a desire to become wealthy this was a lucrative business venture, you continually looked for ways to squeeze extra money out of people and were often aided in collecting by thugs and criminals. There was a poll tax, an income tax, a land tax, as well as taxes levied on the transport of goods and produce, the use of roads and bridges, as well as other miscellaneous taxes. Tax collectors were known to charge more than was necessary or reasonable, and then, for those unable to pay, they would offer to loan them the money with extremely high interest rates. This is why tax collectors were hated and seen as traitors to their own people. They collected these taxes from their fellow Jews to support a foreign oppressor as well as to line their own pockets. Because of this they were considered unclean, they were barred from the synagogue, they could not testify in Jewish court. Tax collectors were classed with thieves, traitors, and liars—the lowest of the low, the worst sinners for whom repentance was deemed almost impossible. Levi was employed by one of these franchises to sit in the tax booth and collect the taxes. Because of this he was in constant contact with the people, daily charging them as they passed his toll booth. Levi would have been one of the most familiar and hated men in Capernaum.
When Jesus called Levi to follow Him, it must have been as shocking to Levi as it was to those who heard Jesus issue the call. Levi certainly knew who Jesus was simply because everyone in Capernaum was talking about Him. But what Levi knew about Jesus did not even compare to what Jesus knew about Levi. Jesus saw an outcast of society who was wretched and miserable, a man deeply distressed by the weight of guilt and ready to repent. Levi was the very kind of person that Jesus had come to save. When Jesus called him, he responded immediately and got up and followed Jesus. Already the supernatural work of regeneration was taking place in his life. Luke tells us in the parallel passage in Luke 5:28 that Levi (Matthew) left everything behind to go with Jesus. Here was a man who had sold his soul for a profitable career in a despised and dishonest profession, but in that moment when he left everything behind Levi was transformed from a tax-collecting lover of money into a forgiven Christ follower who had found a new love by becoming a lover or God. Levi was willing to give up everything to receive the forgiveness that he knew only Jesus could give him. When Levi left his career behind him, he knew there was no going back. Because his life of sin was connected to his profession, his repentance meant that he was turning his back on his former way of life. Levi was transformed from a sinful traitor and outcast into a disciple of the Lord Jesus. He may have lost a lucrative career, but he gained spiritual life and a future in heaven and riches beyond compare. Levi may have been barred from the synagogue, but he was accepted by God and granted salvation.
THE FRIEND OF SINNERS (Mark 2:15)
Levi’s salvation led him to hold a celebration in honor of Jesus in his home. The fact that Jesus was reclining at the table with him suggests a large feast. Matthew’s friends were also dining with them, which consisted mainly of fellow tax collectors and sinners. This group possibly included known criminals, thugs, enforcers, and prostitutes. All of them were a part of the network of outcasts which had included Levi and his fellow tax collectors. From the perspective of the scribes and Pharisees, these people were the lowest of the low of society, they were the scum of the community. From Jesus viewpoint, they were a mission field. The people reclining around this table were sinners and they knew it, they were the very kind of people that Jesus had come to seek and to save.
No Pharisee, or scribe, or rabbi of any kind would have ever broken bread with the group of outcasts that were around Levi’s table. In Israel, sharing a meal together was a statement of social acceptance and friendship. For Jesus to eat with this kind of people was outrageous in the minds of the religious leaders. This is the first time the word disciple has been used in the book of Mark. The word means a “learner” and in the Gospels it is often specifically applied to the 12 disciples of Jesus, but it can also be used in a more general sense to refer to all those who followed Jesus. Here in this verse, it refers to Peter, Andrew, James, and John who Jesus had called earlier to follow Him, and now it includes Levi or Matthew as well. There were also many others who were beginning to follow Jesus, because of this Marks explains that there were many of them, and they were following Him. Jesus was developing a following of those who recognized that He was the only One who could forgive sins, many of these like Levi lived at the fringe of society, they knew they were sinners in need of forgiveness and by God’s grace they were transferred from the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of light and salvation.
How many at Levi’s banquet received forgiveness that night? We do not know but they had the powerful testimony of Levi’s transformation, and they had Jesus Christ personally interacting with them. They were sinners in need of God’s grace and forgiveness. Jesus extended that grace to them, and I believe some believed in Him and had their lives transformed by God grace and forgiveness as well.
THE CONTEMPT OF THE SCRIBES (Mark 2:16)
Remember the scribes and Pharisees were watching everything that Jesus was doing. They had watched as Jesus called Levi to follow Him, they had followed Jesus and His disciples as they went to Levi’s house. They were watching and scrutinizing everything that Jesus did in hopes of catching Him so that they might discredit Him before the people. They would not dare enter the courtyard of Levi’s house and defile themselves, but they watched from a distance looking over the courtyard wall. They could hardly believe their eyes when they saw Jesus recline at the table with all those tax collectors and sinners. For them this was to much, this was scandalous and improper, and they were not afraid to express their contempt at what they were seeing. Somehow, they got the attention of some of Jesus’ disciples, and they asked them why Jesus was eating with tax collectors and sinners? In other words, why does He stoop so low as to eat with the scum of the earth?
Now remember the scribes and Pharisees were experts not only in the Law of Moses but also in the countless manmade traditions that their experts and rabbis had added to the Law over the centuries. They claimed to be holy, but like I said last week that was all a show, their righteousness was not the result of a transformed life but in reality, was a hypocritical righteousness which consisted of legalistic rule-keeping, judgmentalism, and outward show. The Pharisees expected Jesus and His disciples to observe the same legalistic rules and extrabiblical regulations that they followed. When Jesus did not, they reacted in the only way they could, with anger and resentment, condemning Him as unholy.
They questioned the disciples not because they were curious, but out of contempt and outrage. Their question would have been accusatory and vindictive. It was intended to be a cutting rebuke for what they viewed as improper behavior for a rabbi. Eating and drinking symbolized acceptance, welcome, and friendship. That Jesus would share a meal with such a group of unclean sinners enraged their hearts. They would never be caught in the company of such people, they prided themselves on maintaining strict separation from all such people.
It is ironic how their judgmental attitudes clearly displayed their hypocritical religion. They thought that they were holy, when in truth they were spiritually blind and destitute. Many of those they condemned as sinners were the ones who had repented, believed in Jesus, and had received God’s gift of salvation. Without grace the Pharisees held to a spiritually dead system of legalism. Because of this Jesus focused instead on those who humbly recognized their sin and repented of it.
THE FOCUS OF THE SAVIOR (Mark 2:17)
Jesus overheard the protest of the scribes and Pharisees. Jesus responded with His own rebuke. Verse 17 says, “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.’ ” (Mark 2:17, NASB95)[5] In the parallel passage in Luke 5:32 Luke writes, “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” (Luke 5:32, NASB95)[6] Matthew in his parallel passage added more, he wrote in Matthew 9:12-13, “But when Jesus heard this, He said, ‘It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means: “I desire compassion, and not sacrifice,” for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.’ ” (Matthew 9:12–13, NASB95)[7] If we put these three accounts together, we see that Jesus’ response to the Pharisees and scribes was in three parts.
First, Jesus uses a medical illustration that shows us the compassionate nature of His ministry to sinful people. The religious leaders would have been quick to agree that tax collectors and sinners like Matthew were spiritually sick. Because they were in this condition, they needed the critical care of a doctor. If this is the case, how could they argue that the Great Physician should not attend to their desperate state? This illustration by Jesus exposed the calloused hearts of the Pharisees and scribes because they would have preferred and were suggesting that Jesus should shun such people like they do, instead of helping them. This illustration also exposed the spiritual blindness of the Pharisees by clearly showing that those who recognize they are sick seek out the help of a doctor. Those who think that they are healthy see no reason to go to a doctor. This was the case with the Pharisees and scribes they had deceived themselves into thinking that they were spiritually healthy, when in reality they were spiritually dead. They were blind to the fact that true life was only found in Jesus Christ.
Second, Jesus in Matthew’s account answered the Pharisees and scribes from the Old Testament. Jesus said to them, “But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire compassion, and not sacrifice,’ ” (Matthew 9:13a, NASB95)[8] When Jesus said, “go and learn” He was using a rabbinic expression used to rebuke foolish ignorance. The implication of this phrase would not be lost on the scribes who were rabbis themselves. Then Jesus quotes from Hosea 6:6 and uses this quote to establish the truth that God is more concerned with a merciful heart than with a hard, hypocritical observance of external rules and regulations. Legalism may look good on the outside, but it does not look good on the inside where God weighs the thoughts and motives of the heart. In their unwillingness to show mercy to others, the religious leaders exposed their hard hearts of stone. The Pharisees and the scribes claimed to keep the law meticulously, but the Lord Jesus using Hosea 6:6 exposed their failure to do so. They prided themselves in keeping the letter of the law—carefully and dutifully offering sacrifices and observing ceremonies, but they utterly neglected the spirit of the law, seen in their unwillingness to extend grace and mercy with compassion to those who needed it.
Third, Jesus again clearly stated the focus of His ministry when He declared, “I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners (to repentance).” (Mark 2:17; Luke 5:32, NASB95)[9] What Jesus was saying is that the focus of His mission was not directed toward those who were self-righteous, but instead it was focused on calling those who knew they were not righteous. In other words, Jesus was coming to save those who knew they were sinners. The Pharisees and scribes considered themselves righteous, and arrogantly assumed they did not need to repent. Their delusion resulted in a fatal misdiagnosis of their spiritual condition. They thought they were holy, when in reality they were more lost than the tax collectors who knew they were rejected by God. Jesus made this point abundantly clear throughout His ministry.
CONCLUSION:
The mission of Jesus was seeking out those who knew they were sinners and extending to them grace and mercy as they repented and believed in Him. By contrast, the Pharisees and the scribes were so far from God, that although they could identify other people as sinners, they were unable to recognize their own sinful condition.
The Pharisees and scribes had no mercy on those they deemed less holy than themselves. Jesus extended God’s mercy and grace to all who sought for it by faith. Because they thought they were righteous, the religious leaders refused to show compassion toward others. Because Jesus Christ truly is righteous, He graciously demonstrated the mercy and love of God toward sinners. The scribes and Pharisees raged with hate against Jesus when He attended to the needs of the spiritually desperate. The protests of the Pharisees and the scribes never deterred the merciful Great Physician from gladly extending forgiveness to repentant sinners and welcoming them into His Kingdom. He is still doing this today.
The church is not made up of perfect people, but of forgiven people. Those who come to faith in Jesus Christ do so because they know that they are not righteous and cannot by their own power or ingenuity become righteous. Through faith in Jesus Christ, they are granted the very righteousness of God as a gift of His grace. It is only because of the finished work of Jesus Christ that they have been pardoned and accepted by God, being the trophies of His grace for all eternity. As Peter read this morning in Ephesians 2:4-10, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:4–10, NASB95)[10]
[1]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[2]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[3]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[4]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[5]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[6]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[7]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[8]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[9]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[10]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.