Jesus' Authority to Call Sinners
Notes
Transcript
Handout
13 Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. 14 As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him. 15 While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16 When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 17 On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Introduction -
We are in a series going through Mark chapter 2 and 3. We are talking about the Authority of Christ.
What did we learn last week about the authority of Christ?
Last week we talked about how Jesus has the authority to call those who are unworthy
This week we are going to talk about something similar but rather than talk about how you dont have to be worthy we are going to be talking about how we treat people in our society that are outcasts.
The church in the past and present has shunned away people that are outcasts and in need for many reasons.
One mega church when their was a hurricane would not allow homeless to come into their church because they had just got new carpet.
Body -
13 Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. 14 As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.
We see here that Levi leaves everything to follow him.
Does any one know about tax collectors and who they were?
Play Video -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7I9UnaR5Dx8
So we see in this video the status that Tax Collectors had in this society.
Tax Collectors would have been seen as great traitors against God because they worked for Rome.
Also, the way that tax collectors would make money is by adding to the taxes that Rome had given them.
We see here that the writers of the chosen added some dialog between Jesus and Simone here showing that the disciples did not understand this decision to call Levi.
The Tax collectors would not have fit in anywhere. They would have been rejected by the Jews and by the Romans.
But Jesus called Levi the Tax collector. Jesus showed Levi that he was not an outcast but that he was welcome in his kingdom.
Jesus has the authority to do this with you too. He shows us that we are not outcasts but that we are part of His kingdom.
Have you ever felt like an outcast? Maybe at school or at home? Why did you feel this way?
15 While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16 When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
We see here that Levi hosts this gathering and that they are eating together when these Pharisees come in.
See in this time (even more than now) if you ate with someone you were declaring that you were friends with them. It is the same today.
This is because (as we believe today) they would have believed that people who are a like stay together as well as that if you are around someone they would affect you.
But they believed this on another level than we do. We believe that who we are around can affect us because of per pressure and stuff like that. But they believe that God would be upset for you just being in their presence or that their sin would some how rub off on you without you doing it.
This brings me to the Pharisees response
When we think about Jesus eating with sinners we would think about prostitutes, liars, tax collectors, and many other horrible sins.
But the Pharisees would think about much more than that. They would think about all of the rituals that they were supposed to do. Even in this video we see that the Pharisees mention that Levi hasn’t done his sacrifices.
They were just focusing on Leviticus 19:2 “2 “Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them: ‘Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.”
But we can do the same thing. We can look at certain people in our society and deem them as not able to come to Jesus.
We can label certain people as outcasts. Maybe people at our school that are doing drugs, having sex outside of marriage, or many other sinful things.
We can look at them and say that they should not be welcome in the church because of the things they have done.
But this is not what Christ calls us to do.
Have you ever been guilty of labeling someone else as a outcast?
Who are the people that are the outcasts in your school? Have you tried to approach them to be friends with them? Why or why not?
17 On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
We first see here that Jesus says that the healthy do not need a doctor.
Here he was not saying that the Pharisees were not sick. He was talking about how people need to realize their own sickness and sin first. Doctors offices are not fully with healthy people.
It is only when they realize that they are sick that they come to the doctor.
Levi had realized this. He knew he was a sinner and that He needs Jesus to save Him. He knew he was not righteous and that their was no way that he could reach the kingdom of heaven by his own might.
The Pharisees were the ones that thought that they had it all figured out. They thought that they had obtained righteousness through their rituals when they have missed the entire point.
Then in this second statement we see that Jesus says that he has not come to call the righteous but the sinners.
“The words, the righteous, are used ironically to refer to those who saw themselves as such, namely, the Pharisees (cf. Luke 16:14–15). They saw no need to repent and believe (cf. Mark 1:15). But Jesus knew that everyone, including “the righteous,” are sinful. He came (into the world) to call sinners, those who humbly acknowledge their need and receive His gracious forgiveness, to God’s kingdom.”
We need to go out of our comfort zones to reach those who were lost.
There is a balance here where we have to not be in places where we are apt to sin.
I have heard of some people go minister at bars. They go and hangout and talk to the other people about Jesus. But a former alcoholic can not do this.
What are some practical ways that you can be friends with and show Jesus to the outcasts at your school this week?
Conclusion -