The Gospel of Mark Part 6
The Gospel of Mark • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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I. FOLLOW ME
I. FOLLOW ME
13 Then He went out again by the sea; and all the multitude came to Him, and He taught them.
Verse 13 is another snapshot of Jesus’ ministry around the sea of Galilee.
He was moving out of the crowded house and back to the open spaces around the sea so that He could continue His teaching ministry.
The crowd comes to Him, so He taught them.
Remember, Jesus came not to be served, but to serve.
And that is exactly what He is doing here.
He took no payment for healing the paralytic.
He simply cared for his needs and then went right on serving…continuing to accomplish the mission that the Father sent Him on.
Jesus didn’t dwell on these victories…there was too much work to do, and Jesus would not be slowed down.
Mark 2:14 (NKJV)
14 As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So he arose and followed Him.
We saw the “Follow Me” of the four fisherman in chapter one, and now we see it again, this time for the tax collector named Levi.
One thing to keep in mind is that Mark is not necessarily written in a chronological way.
It could have been that as Jesus was going to the sea, on His way there to teach, that He passed Levi’s tax booth and called Him to be His disciple on the way.
Now Levi is also called Matthew in other places.
Both are Jewish names, so it could have been that Levi was his given name or that he was of the tribe of Levi (a Levite) and Matthew his apostolic name.
It is also possible that Levi was the brother of James the Less, as both are described as sons of an Alphaeus.
Mark 3:18 (NKJV)
18 Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Cananite;
Levi’s occupation as a tax collector was of no little significance!
Capernaum was a border town between the kingdoms of Philip and the Decapolis - where both entered into the territory of Antipas.
So Levi had his tax booth there as a customs tax enterprise.
The local tetrarchs (Herod Antipas in this case) would have sold tax collection franchises to the highest bidder, who had to meet a quota of tax money for Rome, and then they could keep whatever else they collected for themselves.
These franchisees would higher tax collectors to sit in the booths and do the actual collecting. Levi was one such employee.
But he would have been completely despised by his fellow Jews.
The Gospel according to Mark The Scandal of Grace (2:13–17)
It is not surprising that Jesus encounters tax collectors in Capernaum, a border town to neighboring Gaulanitis. The Mishnah describes tax collectors making daily rounds, “exacting payment of men with or without their consent,” or, as here, sitting at tax stands with account books open and pen in hand (m. Avot 3:16). Travelers arriving in Capernaum from the territory of Herod Philip and the Decapolis to the east and north would be taxed by agents such as Levi, who were in the service of Herod Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee and Perea. The Roman tax system was complex and varied, even in a small country like Palestine. Land and poll taxes were collected directly by the Romans, but taxes on transported goods were contracted out to local collectors, most of whom were ethnic Jews but probably not observant Jews, since Torah-conscious Jews could not be expected to transact business with Gentiles.20 Levi was one of these middlemen (or in the service of one) who made bids in advance to collect taxes in a given area. His own profit came from what he could mulct from his constituents, and a portion of his receipts stayed in his own pockets.21 The Roman system of taxation depended on graft and greed, and it attracted enterprising individuals who were not adverse to such means.22
The Gospel according to Mark The Scandal of Grace (2:13–17)
Tax collectors were obviously despised and hated. Anyone who is familiar with “moles” and informants in Nazi and Communist regimes will have an appreciation for the loathing that first-century Jews felt for tax collectors. The Mishnah and Talmud (although written later) register scathing judgments of tax collectors, lumping them together with thieves and murderers. A Jew who collected taxes was disqualified as a judge or witness in court, expelled from the synagogue, and a cause of disgrace to his family (b. Sanh. 25b). The touch of a tax collector rendered a house unclean (m. Teh. 7:6; m. Hag. 3:6). Jews were forbidden to receive money and even alms from tax collectors since revenue from taxes was deemed robbery. Jewish contempt of tax collectors is epitomized in the ruling that Jews could lie to tax collectors with impunity
So the occupation of a tax collector was possibly worse than being a leper in the Jewish mind, as the leper didn’t choose his condition but the tax collector did.
These guys were the scum of the earth and were treated with complete disgust and contempt.
Yet this is who Jesus calls to be His disciple.
Levi had, at some point, come to believe in Jesus and now was ready to be His disciple.
Levi left behind a lucrative career and the financial security it offered to pursue the Lord Jesus and the eternal rewards of serving Him.
4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,
15 Now it happened, as He was dining in Levi’s house, that many tax collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many, and they followed Him.
So Jesus heads over to Levi’s home for a feast. (notice the comparison to Zaccheus)
And not only Jesus and His disciples including Levi, but also many of Levi’s friends and companions, his former associates.
These were the only individuals that would enter Levi’s home!
But they were also some of the very few people that were drawn to Jesus and His teaching. They weren’t looking for a free meal - they were likely wealthy. There is no evidence that they needed a physical healing or a demon exorcized, they simply wanted to be around this strange rabbi from Nazareth - a man from an outcast town that seemed to understand their own outcast life.
1 Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him.
Remember that Jesus has been teaching about the Kingdom. And what kind of people will be in the Kingdom?
29 They will come from the east and the west, from the north and the south, and sit down in the kingdom of God. 30 And indeed there are last who will be first, and there are first who will be last.”
15 Now it happened, as He was dining in Levi’s house, that many tax collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many, and they followed Him.
Also, this is the first time that Mark makes a direct reference to Jesus’ disciples as a group. He notes that “there were many”, speaking of Jesus’ disciples.
In the Jewish culture here, to dine at someone’s home, at their table, was highly symbolic.
To eat at someone’s table was an expression of trust and fellowship.
It was to break bread with someone that you considered respectable.
This helps us to understand what happened next.
16 And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, “How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?” 17 When Jesus heard it, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”
These religious leaders had heard Jesus teach and had seen Him perform miracles, but now He is doing something completely uncharacteristic for Jewish rabbis - He is sitting at a table and eating with tax collectors
Mark has mentioned the scribes before this, but now adds the Pharisees.
The Bible Knowledge Commentary 2:15–16
The Pharisees, the most influential religious party in Palestine, were deeply devoted to the Mosaic Law. They strictly regulated their lives by the supposedly binding interpretations of it passed down in oral tradition and were meticulous about maintaining ceremonial purity (cf. 7:1–5). They criticized Jesus for not being a separatist, for failing to observe their pious distinction between “the righteous” (they themselves) and “the sinners.”
Mark 2:17 (NKJV)
17 When Jesus heard it, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”
Jesus responded first of all with a well-known proverb that His opponents would have known and agreed with.
The parallel phrases here are “those who are well” and “the righteous” - both used by Jesus to describe the Pharisees.
Also, the other parallel phrases are “sick” and “sinners” -both used by Jesus to describe the tax collectors gathered at Levi’s home.
Of course, Jesus was getting at a deeper meaning here.
Apart from Christ, everyone is sick and a sinner - we are only made judicially righteous by placing our faith in Jesus Christ.
Is anyone truly “healed” without Christ?
2 But to you who fear My name The Sun of Righteousness shall arise With healing in His wings; And you shall go out And grow fat like stall-fed calves.
Is anyone truly “righteous” without Christ?
9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith;
Mark 2:17 (NKJV)
17 When Jesus heard it, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”
Jesus’ statement here is a reiteration of His purpose given in Mark 10:45
45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
Jesus was defending His decision to sit at table with tax collectors and sinners.
His point was that these are the people that know they need me and anyone that realizes that they need Jesus will be saved.
Levi the tax collector saw this and also became a disciple of Jesus.
He then reached out to his former associates and invited them to meet Jesus - others that saw themselves as sick and sinful.
Jesus is the good news of God’s grace, accessed by faith.
II. FASTING or FEASTING?
II. FASTING or FEASTING?
18 The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were fasting. Then they came and said to Him, “Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?”
So picture Jesus at the table in Levi’s home. He is feasting, eating, drinking, and enjoying the conversation around the table - He is fellowshipping with F-O-O-D!
These disciples (not Jesus’) were all fasting on a regular basis, but Jesus’ disciples were feasting! Which was the correct thing to do? - BOTH!
The law only required fasting on the Day of Atonement which was once a year:
Leviticus 16:29 (NKJV)
29 “This shall be a statute forever for you: In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether a native of your own country or a stranger who dwells among you.
But the Pharisees had added to that by fasting twice a week (Mondays and Thursdays) as a display of piety
12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’
So, once again, the traditions of men are held as being equal to the word of God.
This was one of the main things that Jesus had to combat against during His earthly ministry.
It wasn’t that Jesus was opposed to fasting. In fact, He commends it in other places in the gospels:
16 “Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 17 But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.
The Pharisees were too busy virtue-signaling to see that they were actually hypocrites.
29 So He said to them, “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.”
But this was not the time for Jesus’ disciples to fast - it was time to celebrate!
19 And Jesus said to them, “Can the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast.
Jesus used another metaphoric expression to help the disciples of John and the Pharisees understand how people should have been responding to Jesus’ presence. (previously He used the proverb of the healthy not needing a doctor)
A wedding is a time to live it up, not for mourning and somber reflection.
Wedding celebrations back then would last for up to seven days, in which the guests had no other concern but to enjoy food and drink and to celebrate!
For Jesus, this was about what was appropriate for the disciples to do.
When the groom is present, it is inappropriate and disrespectful for the wedding party to refuse to eat as if they are mourning a loss.
That would cast a shadow on the wedding celebration.
Weddings were a time for feasting and celebration, not sadness and mourning - which are what fasting represents.
Jesus was also using this as an opportunity to reference His identity with God and as God:
5 For your Maker is your husband, The Lord of hosts is His name; And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; He is called the God of the whole earth. 6 For the Lord has called you Like a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, Like a youthful wife when you were refused,” Says your God.
The main theme of the book of Hosea is God’s love for Israel as her Husband, faithful and loving even though she is not faithful.
John the Baptizer also referred to Jesus this way:
29 He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled.
Just like at the healing of the paralytic, when Jesus forgave sin to show that He was God, now He is claiming to be the Bridegroom of Israel, which is also God.
20 But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.
This is Jesus’ first prediction of His death in Mark. (although a veiled prediction)
For the hearers, the imagery of a bridegroom being forcibly removed from a wedding feast was foreign and even unthinkable!
For a first century wedding, it was the guests that left the couple after the feast, not the bridegroom leaving by himself. Even in today’s wedding receptions, the bride and groom leave together!
21 No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; or else the new piece pulls away from the old, and the tear is made worse. 22 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins.”
Jesus now continues to explain His presence and His mission with two more parables:
The Parable of the Cloth
The Parable of the Wineskins
Both the New Cloth and the New Wine represent Jesus Himself, and His incompatibility with the existing system of corrupted Judaism.
The Jewish leaders had corrupted Judaism by adding the traditions of the elders and equating man’s ideas with God’s laws.
They had also misinterpreted may of the prophetic texts that described the Suffering Servant, which meant that they were looking for the Conquering King before His time.
Jesus’ ministry could never be assimilated into this broken system.
Fasting (and the pride that the Pharisees associated it with) had no place in the presence of the King of the Kingdom.
New cloth has not been washed or wetted, and then sewn on an existing piece of clothing will shrink when it does get wet and pull away from the seam, making the original hole even worse.
New wine that has not fermented yet and is poured into old wineskins (dried and brittle) will expand as it ferments, building up gases, and eventually bursting the brittle skins, destroying both the wine and the wineskins.
These parables also looked forward to the Age of Grace - where the Mosaic Law was made obsolete as a means for justification because of Jesus’ sacrifice - the final propitiation - where the justice of God was completely and once for all satisfied.
A Wedding, A New Garment, and New Wine all point to the fact that God was doing something NEW by the presence of Jesus.
Jesus’ teachings and His miracles all point to this fact.
The disciples of the Pharisees and of John should have listened closer to the crowd’s responses to Jesus:
Mark 1:27 (NKJV)
27 Then they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? What new doctrine is this? For with authority He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him.”
Mark 2:12 (NKJV)
12 Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”
God was doing something new!
Application: What new thing is God doing in your life? Are you aware of His working? Are there old garments or old wineskins in your mind or in your heart that need to be discarded?
Let’s not miss what God is doing right in front of us!