"A Call to the Sick" Mark 2:13-17

Introduction:

Our text this morning begins with the account of Jesus issuing the call to Levi the son of Alphaeus to be one of His disciples.

Levi is known better to us as Matthew and he was a tax collector. He was actually setting at his tax booth when Jesus issued the call, “Follow me” and the text says simply that he rose and followed Him.

The calling of Matthew in Mark’s gospel is setting the stage for an encounter of controversy once again between Jesus and the scribes of the Pharisees.

Eventually Jesus goes home and many gather in the house of Jesus. Matthew as a new disciple of Jesus was there. There were also those from Matthew’s profession who were present as well. And sinner’s were there as were members of the scribes of the Pharisees present at the house of Jesus.

They were all eating together like one big happy family.

Now this is not a proof text for potlucks dinners. that is not what is so critical in this story. But it is that Jesus was present and He is eating with these people and all of them were under one roof.

Verses 13-14 carry the narrative and there is an observation made by the scribes that is problematic for them regarding the people that Jesus is associating with.

This is what I am calling the Problem of Association from verses 15-16. Look back at your text to verses 15-16:

I. The Problem of Association (15-16).

The problem that the scribes observed was that Jesus was eating with sinners and tax collectors.

This was calling the character of Jesus in question. Because a tax collector like Matthew would have been considered traitors to the nation of Israel.

Matthew was ethnically a Jew but he was collecting taxes on behalf of the Roman government. To have this position meant that you could build in a nice little or not so little bonus for yourself.

Needless to say that most of the nationalistic Israelites looked at them in a social context as leaches upon the nation of Israel.

So it was tax collectors and “sinners.” The sinners would have been referring to those who didn't live according to the law according to the subjective standard of the scribes of the Pharisees. They didn’t measure up to the professionally religious types.

And here they are, the dregs of religious society with Jesus having a meal together like there is nothing wrong with it.

It may be that the scribes of the Pharisees may have thought that Jesus should have been hanging out with them. Since they were the most influential religious people in the house. But it is worth noting that the Pharisees would never eat with such people.

Religious pride can be very deceptive. It is when the human pride of our fallen nature cloaks itself with the external appearance of religious practice.

The sad thing about this is that such people often fool others and may even use their religious practice to fool themselves but they are unable to fool God. They fool themselves because they believe that Religion, even Christianity, is nothing else but mere external law conformity. They miss the internal transformation of the gospel as being the foundation of all external change.

It is this mentality of thought that prompts them to ask a question to the disciples of Christ at the end of verse 16: “Why does He eat with tax collectors and sinners?” They are using their own subjective and human based standard to measure the actions of Jesus. But they are blind to the purpose of the gospel in building the Kingdom of God.

So, Jesus is aware of this and upon hearing their nature of their problem He makes clear to them what His Kingdom purpose is. Look back at your text to verse 17:

II. The Proclamation of Purpose (17).

Now notice first that Jesus is using physical sickness in an allegorical manner to illustrate the spiritual sickness of sin. When sin came into the world in Genesis 3 at the Fall, physical sickness came with it and so did death.

And many of you may be aware of the prophetic declaration of Isaiah in Isaiah 53:5 “5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.”

That last line in that prophecy, “and with His wounds we are healed” is often interpreted to mean physical healing. But I believe it again is a metaphorical reference not to physical sickness but to the spiritual sickness of sin.

I believe that Peter helps us understand the spiritual nature of Isaiah’s prophecy of the coming Messiah in 1 Peter 2:24 when he says: “24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.”

Notice the spiritual context of sin which is denoting what it is that His wounds have healed us from. The point is that I have heard that passage quoted again and again in faith healing circles being applied to physical sickness. But the emphasis is in the area of the spiritual healing from sin that His wounds have purchased for us.

King Jesus had the authority to heal the sick long before the blood atonement and He did it. But He did it to indicate the nature of the Kingdom. When Jesus healed people on earth even when He heals in the present day they are signs of what is to come.

Going to Orlando, Florida headed to Disney World. We were so tired of traveling as kids.

We were watching for road signs to Orlando. Each sign was heightening our anticipation for what was coming as we were being informed of how much further we had to go. That is what miracles do in our current context.

But notice Jesus use of physical sickness and the need for the physician is really a statement about Himself. He is the physician and the sick are the tax collectors and sinners. Those who have no need for a physician are the scribes of the Pharisees. They may have pridefully taken what He said as a complement but it wasn’t a complement. It was a statement of their condemnation and they were too blind to see it.

Because under the law there is none righteous. The law will only leave you condemned under it no one, except Christ has ever kept the law of Moses perfectly. Even Moses didn’t keep the law perfectly. He didn’t get to enter the promise land because of his sin.

People who perceive themselves as righteous will never perceive themselves in need of Jesus Christ and His blood atonement. They may even embrace the moral teachings of Christ and consider themselves to be good. But in reality no person can live those teachings out perfectly because the moral teachings of Christ was the law encapsulated.

Because Jesus took the moral law and didn’t just attach it to external actions but He attached it all the way down to the affections and motivations of the heart. On a good day I may be able to hide or master my actions from people but I could never hide the affections and motives of my heart from God.

So Christ came for this purpose to call sinners to Himself. Some pastors and churches don’t like that word “sinners” to be used from the pulpit anymore. Perceived as being too negative, it turns people off. I will tell you who it turns off and who it is that takes offense, it is the self righteous who are blind to the depth of their need for Christ.

Those who believe that all humanity needs is just moral instruction for external change of actions without true heart transformation, those are the ones who are offended by the gospel of the blood atonement of Jesus Christ.

He took the place of sinners on the Cross and He calls them to come to Him and live. And He alone by the Holy Spirit can change the heart. Sinful man can’t do it no more than a leopard can change his spots.

Conclusion:

Everyone on planet earth needs Jesus. But only the sin sick soul knows they have need. How about you? Unbeliever how will you ever stand before a Holy God? Or maybe you, the religious person who believes in your external performance as being the means of your standing before God. You need a savior who can take your place and make full payment for your sins by His precious blood.

Believer we celebrate the table today as the redeemed of God in Christ. Without Him we all know we are nothing more than sick sinners needing our great physician. The weak, the broken, the needy, but He has called us to Himself and opened our eyes to the Kingdom gospel of our redemption. This table is for you.

But we are commanded to examine ourselves in preparation for this table. That we do not come to partake in an unworthy manner. Confess your sin to Him and rest in the provision of His grace. For He is here to fellowship with tax collectors and sinner’s who He has called to Himself. Come to His table!

Let’s Pray! No closed, everyone together.