Mark 2:13-17

The second in a series of “Why” questions that people had in the Gospel of Mark regarding Jesus authority.

Why does this man speak like that? Who can forgive but God alone? Well Jesus. He actually can change your life and allow you to walk in a whole new way as you head to your eternal home, but you must express faith in His ability.

This week, the question, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” is going to surface. The people we read about in our passage today have created a false distinction between who they knew everyone else to be((sinfully sick sinners) and how they viewed themselves (ridgedly, religious and rightesous).

Jesus, by His invitation to Levi, His calling of Levi, His reclining with Levi is going to ainnialiate that “false line of distinction.” He is going to break down that barrier we all so often construct that falsely seperates those who we think are needy and sick and those we falsely think have no need and are spiritually healthy before God.

Jesus is going to demolish that false distinction in this passage and He does so in such a lovely way!

So today we will do three things:

I want to tell you an initial story about my childhood.

Talk us through the passage and make one major personal applicational point.

Finally, I want to share how I think our church ought to respond to this message in a corporate way.

Growing up: In a small town in central Kansas.

We lived just a little ways outside of town and a had a 1.5 acres. (steve largent) (mark Duper or Mark Clayton)

Dad was a formerly and airplane mechanic in the Air Force. He was good with mechanical things and fixing things.

Worked as a draftsman for an oil refinery, but also saw an opportunity to have a side business that he could run from our house. He built a little garage and he worked on golf carts.

Many nights my dad would be outside working on golf carts. I am pretty sure that he was the only one in the county that had a buisness like this, so as word got out and he did good work by providing a meaningful service to people, he got busier.

During that time, I remember thinking my dad was just so awesome. He could fix things. People would come with somethig that need to be fixed and he would fix it. SOmetimes he would have to weld things, or rebuild things, overhaul things, but it would get done.

Lot of times I got to be the one who could drive them around the back yard to make sure they were fixed. Sometimes, the fix was realitievly simple and instead of people bringing there carts to my dad, my dad would go to 1 of three 3 courses in town. Sometimes I would accompany him and just run around the shed or do random mischivous things while he was working and i was unaccompanied!

In the surrounding area of our town there were - 2 Public courses and 1 Private course. One of the public courses was a newer course and it was pretty nice for being located in central Kansas, it was constructed along “turkey creek” pretty well watered and relatively nicely maintained. A newer club house so it was “nice” for being in central kansas.

Rolling Acres on other hand, did have a few more hills but it was like playing on a bumpy clay court in tennis. You felt like you were going to ruin your clubs if you tried to take a divot. Hard as a rock and never watered and wide open and really really windy. Open to the public.

Then there was the McPherson County Country Club - I was private. Had a steakhouse, a pool and massive old growth trees and green as far as the eye could see! But the “normal person couldn’t play there. It was private.

So that is the my childhood story, now let me tell you the story Mark tells.

Mark 2:13–14 ESV

13 He went out again beside the sea, and all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them. 14 And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.

Mark 2:15–16 ESV

15 And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16 And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

Mark 2:17 ESV

17 And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Pray

Okay, this is what the text says……

Mark 2:13 (ESV)

13 He went out again beside the sea, and all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them.

Okay a few things here. I think Mark writes what he writes here to jog our memories a bit. Whenever the word “again” is used it is implying that whatever is happening currently, has happened before. So when Mark says that Jesus went out again by the sea, we need to remember the other time that Jesus went out by the sea. The first time we see Jesus going out by the Sea of Galilee was when He called the initial disciples (Peter and Andrew; James and John) to follow Him.

Now here Jesus is “going out again.” I think this shows us that evangelism isn’t just a one time thing. Don’t just go out once and see who might be receptive to the message in one big massive evangelism attempt. Our evangelistic efforts must be done over and over and over again.

Think about the “Great Commission” at the end of the Gospel of Matthew, a good way to translate the thought of how that commission starts out is like this, “As you are going…make disciples.”

So often we think the Great Commission is to “Go,” but really the main verb in that commission is “make disciples” and we can obey that main verb “as we are going about our normal lives.”

As you go about your work, your recreation, your social life your private life, Make Disciples.

What Jesus taught, He modeled. Mark says, “He went out AGAIN beside the sea and He was willing to teach the people that were coming to Him. He took what He knew and wasn’t known to them and made it known. He taught the crowds, but then He took great interested one individual and made it very personal.

Mark 2:14–15 (ESV)

14 And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him. 15 And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him.

Levi / Matthew

Although the Gospels give us relatively little information about who Matthew was or what his personality was like

What we can actually know about Matthew based on the Gospels is relatively limited. The only story that he plays a dramatic role in is short and shows us very little about his character:

Explicit (CHOSEN) - Love it……

Matthew was a tax collector working for the Roman Empire

Matthew was rich enough to host a great feast on the spur of the moment

Matthew had connections to other tax collectors and "sinners"

Matthew was held in disrepute by the Pharisees, most likely because he was seen as a traitor working for the foreign occupation

Matthew left his work for the Roman empire apparently on the spur of a moment to follow Jesus

Why would someone be willing to endure social alienation in order to serve the Roman Empire?

tax booth (Who are they). - This time it is a tax official, Levi son of Alphaeus, busy with his duties at the tax office, just as the fishermen had been with their nets. Levi is no tax baron but one who is stationed at an intersection of trade routes to collect tolls, tariffs, imposts, and customs, probably for Herod Antipas. Toll collectors were renowned for their dishonesty and extortion. They habitually collected more than they were due, did not always post up the regulations, and made false valuations and accusations (see Luke 3:12–13). Tax officials were hardly choice candidates for discipleship since most Jews in Jesus’ day would dismiss them as those who craved money more than respectability or righteousness.

Garland, D. E. (1996). Mark (p. 103). Zondervan Publishing House.

follow me - same call

He actually took him up on it.

He knows your name. He knows your dads name. he knows your linegage. He knows where you come from and what you have been through. He knows the reason why you have mae decisions in yoru life that have left you isolated and lonely. And here is the things, all those things that he knows about you that have driven every other person away, those things are not standing in the way of him calling out to you and asking you to be his follower.

The Gospel of Mark (b) The Call of a Tax-Farmer. Ch. 2:13–14

the brevity and urgency of Jesus’ summons and the radical obedience demonstrated in Levi’s dramatic response. Abandoning all other concerns, he arose and followed Jesus. The call of Levi has its sequel in the following pericope where grace is extended to yet other despised men in Capernaum.

maybe you have been around Jesus for a long time…now is the time to respond. Maybe you …

Responsiveness and responsiveness now.

The place is here, the time is now. Like now. Like now.

Now. Now. Now. Now is the day of salvation. now is the the time that you need to respond.

n Revelation 3:20, the scripture says "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come into him and will sup with him and he with me". Knocking at the door of the church, knocking at the door of your family, knocking at your door. Why doesn't he just push the door open and come in and save me? He never interferes with your will. You have a will of your own. That's the way he made you. He made you in his image. You can reject him. You can go to your grave rejecting Christ and there's nothing God can do about it. He will do everything in His power to warn you. He'll do everything in His power to bring incidents across your path to stop you. But He won't trespass on your will. That's something you have to decide.

reclining and associating with.

Being Easterners, they reclined full length on thin mats round a low table, supporting themselves on their left elbow and leaving the right hand and arm free to reach for and take the food.

Mark 2:16–17 (ESV)

16 And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 17 And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Why is Jesus seemingly walking in the counsel of the wicked, and standing along side sinners and sitting with, reclining and dinning with those who were known as “scoffers.” Seems to be the opposite of the way of the “Blessed” and “righteous man” presented to us in Psalm 1:1.

In the middle of a great crowd being amazed …Jesus is once again going to single someone out and ask them to follow.

Mark Contemporary Significance

we must guard against. It is inward and upward and results in a narcissistic selfishness—God is only interested in us and not the likes of them. This stuffy attitude is captured in Dean Jonathan Swift’s ditty:

We are God’s chosen few

All others will be damned

There’s room enough in hell for you

We can’t have heaven crammed.

The direction of Jesus’ ministry is downward and outward and implies that the church must bring Jesus to people, not simply people to Jesus

THe other guys can always go back and fish… they planned on it, but not this guy. You can’t abandon your post and go back.

……

For eating with sinners and tax collectors who were shunned for being collaborators with the occupying roman forces was to signal full acceptance of such people and potentially make jesus himself unclean period

Who did Jesus come for?

If we don’t use this property for minisering to the community, then everything that has been renovated and built will be reduced to a pile of embers and ash on the day of judgement.

has any

So many visits to the doctor. The reason we when there and spent the time and money and energy is because we recognized that we were incapable of bringing about a healing. We needed assistance. We needed “professional” who had stethescopels, nebulizing units, xray machines and knowdeged and bed side manner to care for us. We went there because we recognized that something wasn’t right in our bodies and we needed help.

That is why you go to the doctor. That is why doctors exist. To help people that need help.

TRADITIONAL PROVERB -

COuntry club or a public use course… ( https://joshlaxton.com/2019/03/27/your-church-might-be-a-country-club-ifpart-2/) - Former senior pastor I have served under……

The sick. We are all really sick. If what you do in your secret life and in your private thoughts were publicly known, we would say that you are sick. Sin sick.

There is a really good chance that if Matthew was a tax collector by the sea he probably had many interactions with the fisherman on that sea. He, probably without questions knew some of these first disciples.

maybe you have been around others that have followed Jesus for some time but you have never pulled the trigger yourself. What you need to do is respond not to their evangelistic efforts but to the God who is calling you by your name.

The Gospel of Mark (c) Messiah Eats with Sinners. Ch. 2:15–17

As a teacher of the Law he should have recognized that it was inappropriate for him to recline at table with the men gathered in Levi’s house. In their banquets the Pharisees attempted to maintain an exclusive fellowship in order to avoid ritual impurity from contact with others who maintained the traditions less strictly. They considered it disgraceful for one of their teachers to recline at table with those unversed in the Law, and Jesus’ disregard of time-honored custom offended them.

Accused of being a glutton and drunkered. Guilt by association. spent time with these “types of people.” What types? All of us. the type of person sitting next you to. The type of person that is sitting in your very seat. We are all so dirty, and rotten. Don’t be offended by this, be in agreement with it. God grace and mercy are only apprehended to those who know they need it. Some of you think that others need it more than you. Like God’s beleveance is somewhat owed to you and not them. I am not that bad after all.

This is a place for broken people. Just look at our sign out front. It’s seen better days and yet it’s still on our property but when you come here and you’re brokenness, get ready for a restoration project.

Almost all churches claim to welcome sinners - and most are willing to baptize and share the gospel with just about anyone. But it's easy to welcome people in a superficial sense without fully including them into your community. Too often, when "the wrong sort of people" are welcomed into a church, they are still kept at a distance and never recognized as true members of the community who can contribute in meaningful ways.

The Gospel of Mark (b) The Call of a Tax-Farmer. Ch. 2:13–14

Such officials were detested everywhere and were classed with the vilest of men. The practice of leasing the customs duty of a district at a fixed sum encouraged gross oppression by tax officers anxious to secure as large a profit as possible. When a Jew entered the customs service he was regarded as an outcast from society: he was disqualified as a judge or a witness in a court session, was excommunicated from the synagogue, and in the eyes of the community his disgrace extended to his family.

The Gospel of Mark (b) The Call of a Tax-Farmer. Ch. 2:13–14

the brevity and urgency of Jesus’ summons and the radical obedience demonstrated in Levi’s dramatic response. Abandoning all other concerns, he arose and followed Jesus. The call of Levi has its sequel in the following pericope where grace is extended to yet other despised men in Capernaum.

The Gospel of Mark (c) Messiah Eats with Sinners. Ch. 2:15–17

With the derisive epithet “the people of the land,” the scribes often dismissed as inconsequential the common people who possessed neither time nor inclination to regulate their conduct by Pharisaic standards. They were particularly despised because they did not ear their food in a state of ceremonial cleanness and because they failed to separate the tithe. The designation “sinners” as used by the scribes is roughly equivalent to “outcasts.”

COnsequence is not a myth. It is very real.

III. The Resistance to Forgiveness (v.13-17) A. IfGodForgivesSins,thenheinvitesthe“worst”Sinners  Tax collectors were the most despised people in Israel, but Jesus invites them (v.13-15)  Jesus spends time with “sinners” and even eats with them  “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick” (v. 17) B. ButSometimesWeAreOffendedbyGod’sGrace  The Pharisees “judged” Jesus for spending time with sinners (v.16)  But that’s because they believed in their own righteousness and didn’t think these other people “deserved” to be saved; But that’s the point: no one “deserves” to be saved!  **The Pharisees heard Jesus’s sermons like everyone else, but they hardened their hearts! Key question: Do you see yourself as the 1st-hour worker or the 11th-hour worker (Matt 20)?