The Gospel of Mark, Pt. 13

A Scandalous Gospel

Its interesting that if you just do a quick Google search of the greatest scandals throughout history, most of the top search returns refer to scandals that date back to times before the existence of the internet and the influence of mass media. I would have thought that more modern stories would have topped the list as worldwide access to information at the click of a button is so common place. However, maybe this is just proof that the political influence in the media and the prevalence of fake news are real things. Because no where did I find any mention of the handling of COVID-19 throughout most of the world, or any reference of the US having had a lame-duck president for the last four years.

Rather, the top search results all referenced back to some huge stories that I can only imagine how much bigger they would have been on a global scale if they took place today. The top search results that I found included the Iran-Contra Affair during Ronald Regan’s presidency, where the Administration engaged in the secret sale of arms to Iran for the exchange of American hostages, and then the proceeds of those sales were diverted to the Contras in Nicaragua. Or the Enron and Bernie Madoff scandals where investors were defrauded of millions and millions of dollars because of corporate greed and Ponzi schemes.

And yet the top scandal of modern history is likely the Watergate scandal, in which President Nixon’s administration tried to cover up an illegal break-in of the Democratic National Committee’s headquarters at the Watergate Hotel during the 1972 Presidential election. This eventually led to Nixon’s resignation from the presidency and a lifelong stain on his name and his presidency.

We come now to a story in Mark 2 in which our Lord and the nature of his earthly ministry are going to be considered by many of the religious leaders of his day as a tremendous scandal that should have been punishable by death....even death on a cross. You see, in the eyes of many of Jesus’ contemporaries, the great scandal of their day was not the search for political power or the existence of corporate greed. Those things were commonplace.....rather, the great scandal of their day was the fact that the supposed Messiah and King of the Jews sat with sinners. It was the gospel.....it was grace....that was the great scandal of their day. It was unthinkable for a Rabbi, let alone the Jewish Messiah, to ever break hundreds and hundreds of years of Jewish customs and traditions in order to befriend the most despised in Jewish society. And yet, because of his great love and compassion for the spiritually lost and dead, that’s exactly what Jesus did!

So we pick up now in Mark 2:13–17 (SLIDE) “He went out again beside the sea, and all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them. 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. 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. 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?” 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.””

We’re introduced in this passage to another familiar scene, one in which Jesus is teaching and performs a miracle, and then moves on to another area where the crowds continue to follow him in order to seek his healing provision. So Jesus leaves Peter’s home where he just healed the paralytic man and forgave him his sins, and now we’re told that he went out again beside the Sea of Galilee. As we see throughout the Gospel of Mark and the other gospel narratives, the Sea of Galilee was a common backdrop for Jesus’ public ministry. For one, it allowed him the opportunity to travel to other towns around the sea without having to walk the long treks around. But it also provided a great context for his teaching as well as a constant supply of people to teach as audiences would gather in great numbers to hear him teach and receive his healing as well.

And it just so happened that as Jesus made his way along the sea this time, he came across a certain man name Levi, the son of Alphaeus. This might very well be the same Alphaeus who’s son James will also become a disciple of Jesus, as mentioned later in Mark 3:18. Alphaeus must have been a prominent figure in the early Roman Christian community in the Galilee area, as Mark’s mention of his name shows us that he’s using Alphaeus’s name as a familiar point of reference so that the original readers of this letter would know exactly who he’s talking about. According to Mark, Levi is a tax collector, and this is the same Levi who is self-referenced as Matthew, the writer of the gospel of Matthew. We don’t know exactly why Levi changes his own name to Matthew, but nevertheless, the name Matthew means (SLIDE) “gift of God”.....a fitting title for a man who’s about to receive the greatest gift of all!

We’re going to examine this passage through the lens of four points in your outlines, and the first point is to notice the (SLIDE) the calling of Levi. So for starters, its paramount to this story to note the occupation of Matthew - he’s a tax collector. And Jesus comes across him as he’s sitting at his toll booth, which was likely a booth for collecting transport taxes and custom duties. In fact, since the text says that Jesus was walking along the sea of Galilee, Matthew may have even been in charge of collecting taxes on the local fishing industry, a fact for which there is actual archeological evidence for such a practice.

And in order to understand the significance of what we’re going to read later on in this passage, we need to understand the social stigma associated with being a tax collector in the first century. These were Jewish men who had basically sold themselves to the Roman government, and so they were deeply hated and despised as traitors. They were therefore excommunicated from all religious life in the synagogues and temples, and their testimonies were invalid in courts of law because they were considered treacherous liars who couldn’t be trusted.

In order to become a tax collector for Rome, a Jew had to bid on a tax collecting license, and so he would spend the rest of his career paying off that license through what he collected for Rome. Likewise, they would have also been in charge of collecting revenue for Herod Antipas, the local representative and the puppet king of Judea who simply a representative Roman rule in Galilee. Therefore, in order to earn a living, the tax collector would not only charge the public citizens the appropriate taxes for the Roman government and for King Herod, which would often subjectively fluctuate, but then they would tack on another amount of money on top of the taxes that they would keep for themselves. In other words, tax collectors were not only sell-outs to the Roman government, they were also extortionists who were getting rich off of the common citizen.

Nevertheless, its this popularly hated tax collector and scum of society who Jesus chooses to call to himself. And this call is very similar to that of Andrew, Simon Peter, James and John as we saw back in chapter 1. He simply says “Follow me”, and Matthew responds by following him. No mention of deliberation.....no negotiation. So like the other disciples, this was likely not the first time Matthew saw or heard Jesus speak. Its very likely that he was witness to Jesus’s previous teachings and miracles, and so maybe Matthew was already building a personal belief and perception of Jesus. Nevertheless, because this is the first time Matthew shows up in the gospel narrative, we don’t know if this is just a call to discipleship, or a call to salvation as well. Obviously for Jesus, the two cannot really be separated, and that something we need to consider in light of God’s call in our own lives.

Unfortunately, for various practical and socially acceptable reasons, we’ve effectively separated salvation and discipleship into two different things. We generally treat salvation as the first event of spiritual transformation in someone’s life, and if they get real serious about their faith in Jesus, they’ll start to participate in some kind of discipleship program. And this system that is quite common in western Christianity implies that we can effectively have saved people who are Christian by identity, but not really disciples of Jesus. And I think this is foreign to the NT.

I think what we’re seeing in the calling of Matthew, as well as in the calling of Andrew, Simon Peter, James and John is that salvation and discipleship go hand-in-hand. They’re inseparable, in that to be a saved person and call yourself a Christian, or a Christ follower, is to be a disciple of Jesus. And those who don’t exhibit a genuine desire to become disciples of Jesus should question whether or not they’re truly in the faith. Let me make this very clear - one must be saved in order to become a disciple of Jesus.....but on the other hand, one must desire to grow in their discipleship of Jesus if they’re truly saved. In other words, salvation isn’t just about avoiding hell when you die, but its about following Jesus now and living a life of obedience to the one whom you will spend an eternity following and worshiping.

The nature of the various callings of people by Jesus, like we see here concerning Matthew, should remind us that when the Lord calls us, we need to answer. Again, these men don’t deliberate or negotiate. They don’t put off Jesus until a more convenient time or when they feel they’re ready and equipped and prepared. Jesus’ command to follow was enough motivation for them, and it should be enough for us. Now we may not hear the audible voice of the Lord like these men heard, but Jesus still speaks to us through His word, he does speak to us in a way through the prompting and leading of the Holy Spirit and prayer, and I believe that the Lord even speaks to us through other faithful men and women of God who are used in a prophetic nature by God to get our attention.

And I do believe that a person’s former life, whether it’s their occupation or their environment or even their former lifestyle, can be used by a God in particular ways to use the individual to reach more people for Jesus. Andrew and Simon Peter were fishermen who would later become fishers of men. Luke the physician used his skills to create detailed accounts about the life and ministry of Jesus and the early apostles. Paul certainly used his knowledge and skills as a former pharisee to defend the faith and reach others for Christ. I think Jesus chose Matthew specifically because of the access he would have to certain groups of people who would otherwise be turned off Jesus and his disciples.

And think about this in our current contexts.....Jesus has saved us and strategically placed us in certain environments and circles of influence to further the work of the kingdom. So rather than creating our own little Christian safety bubbles that insulate us from the rest of the outside world, we should be seeking to infiltrate, so-to-speak, every aspect of society so that the influence of the gospel of Jesus Christ expands far beyond the four walls of the local church. We needs strong Christians in business and in retail.....in construction and public education and city government, because most likely, its the Christians in those sectors of society that create the first points of contact with Jesus for those who don’t know Christ and who don’t go to church.

In other words, Jesus doesn’t call you to follow him in order to improve your life.....he calls you to follow him so that you can be his ambassador to an unbelieving world and invite others into a life with Christ and his church. This is what we saw with the first four disciples in Mark 1, and this is what were see now with Matthew as we continue on in Mark 2:15 (SLIDE) “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.” This leads to our second point in our outlines (SLIDE)...the celebration of Levi.

So look at that.....Matthew is called out of his life of sin and being considered amongst the most hated and despised in society, and look at what he does.....he throws a great party in celebration of his new found faith and life in Christ and he invites many of his friends and former associates and business partners in the tax collector world. The text tells us that many other tax collectors and sinners were hanging out and eating with Jesus and his disciples. And this can bring up a couple very convicting thoughts for many for us today.

First, do the people at your work, or in your social circles, or even in the rest of your family, know that you’re a born again Christian? With that said, what does that even mean to be a born-again Christian? Does that just mean that you now go to church, or that you try not to swear as much as you used to, or that you try to control your drinking a little bit more than in the past, or can they rightly see that you’ve become a whole new person who gives all the credit and all the honor and glory to Jesus?

Also, are you actively inviting and/or involving others to participate in some way in your life as a follower of Jesus? Typically in our context, that involves inviting others to church with us, or having conversations about God with them. But I particularly like Matthew’s approach. Now obviously at this point, they didn’t have churches like we have today, but Jesus and his disciples did still attend synagogue. However, Matthew doesn’t invite his friends to synagogue. For one, they wouldn’t have been allowed to attend anyway. Therefore, Matthew brings Jesus to them.

Are you bringing Jesus to your friends and family......to your co-workers and neighbors? Its sad to see so many people compartmentalize their relationship with Jesus. So they have their Christian friend group, and their non-Christian friend group. They have their church activities, and their non-church activities. And for the most part, these groups remain separated as much as possible. Which means one thing......Christians will act one way when they’re with one group of people or in one environment, and they’ll act completely different when they’re with the other group or in the other environment.

But not Matthew. Jesus so radically changed his outlook on life that he wanted everyone he knew to meet Jesus as well. His transformation was so deep that it would have been impossible for him to compartmentalize his faith. He was sold-out for Jesus 7 days a week and twice on Sundays, and everyone he knew was going to see that transformation live and in living color. Even his home, which was formerly a safe haven for other tax collectors and sinners who likely participated in all kinds of debauchery and drunkenness and sinfulness, was now a meeting place for people who were far from God to come and meet the Savior of the world. And so let this be an encouragement to us all to be like Matthew and publicly and openly celebrate our life in Christ.

But with that said, we have to remember that there will always be haters.....there will always be nay-sayers who don’t like how we take our faith public, and those haters will come from outside of the church, and even from within. Look at the negative response that Matthew and Jesus received in verse 16 (Mark 2:16) (SLIDE) “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?”” Its understandable when our friends and family who don’t understand what it means to follow Jesus ridicule us or mock for doing just that. However, its a whole other source of heartache and disappointment when the criticisms come from within the church, so to speak.

Again, we see the scribes and Pharisees making their presence known with their critical and legalistic spirits, which is going to point us to the third point in our outlines, (SLIDE) the condemnation of the Pharisees. Here, Mark specifies that these are the scribes of the Pharisees. Luke records that its the “Pharisee’s and their scribes”, while Matthew himself records that its just the Pharisees. So we’ve already spent some time learning about these two groups, the scribes and the pharisees, but we also have to understand that they’re not mutually exclusive. In other words, all scribes were Pharisees, but only some Pharisees were scribes. And so, collectively, they were all Pharisees at Matthew’s house, and some of the Pharisees were scribes as well.

And if they were known for anything, they were known for their legalistic adherence to the law that treated obedience to God’s law more like a burden than a blessing. Not only did they go above and beyond adherence to the Mosaic Law by incorporating man-made traditions, but they also required everyone else to follow their strict guidelines as well. And if anyone didn’t follow those guidelines perfectly, then they were deemed to be sinners.

And so likely, the scribes and pharisees saw Jesus along with his disciples sharing a meal with the tax collectors and sinners, and Scripture came to their minds, like Psalm 1:1 (SLIDE) “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;” Now clearly, the spirit behind this portion of God’s law is that godly people who want to enjoy the blessings of God will avoid living the lifestyle of the wicked, the sinner, and the scoffer. However, according to pharisaic tradition, a godly person shouldn’t even associate with those kinds of people at all. In other words, you were guilty simply by association if you hung out with sinners.

And today, we see that accusation being thrown around all the time. You take a picture with someone or share a meal with someone or have someone over at your house, and you might be deemed to be in complete partnership and fellowship with them. Now we do need discernment and wisdom, and we need to heed Paul’s words in Ephesians 5 when he reminds Christians that light has no place alongside darkness, but if we take the pharisaic route and never associate with sinners, how will they ever come to know Jesus?

And so let this be a reminder to us all to resist the temptation at all costs to be overly critical of others, especially of how other Christians choose to live out their faith. Just because you might be uncomfortable with certain practices or in certain environments doesn’t mean everyone else has to stay away as well. As long as they’re not actively disobeying God’s word or ignoring godly wisdom, we should be inclined to let them do their thing and pray God uses them for His glory.

But in the case of the Pharisees, they just couldn’t help themselves, and virtually condemned Jesus and his disciples for sharing a meal with social outcasts. And that’s actually a great test to see if someone has a pharisaic or legalistic attitude......if they typically condemn that which others celebrate in good faith. Matthew was celebrating his new life in Christ, and he wanted to share it with others. But because they weren’t doing the right thing with the right kind of people, the legalists chose to condemn them. And I don’t think there’s much that God hates more than a legalistic spirit that creates burdens and barriers for others to experience life in Christ.

Another thing to point out that’s interesting in the text is who the pharisees complain to. Their gripe was with Jesus, but they were too cowardly to confront him directly, so they complained to his disciples. And if there’s one thing I’ve seen that’s pretty consistent with legalistic people, is that they are typically cowards as well. They rarely have the courage to go to the person directly and air their grievances. They’re like these pharisees who just want to complain and criticize from the background, because they know that if they confront the Lord himself, they’ll like be put in their place, which is exactly what happens at the end of this passage.

Consider how Jesus addresses these cowardly legalists......(SLIDE) (Mark 2:17) “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.”” And its through this statement by Jesus that we’re led to the last point in our outlines....(SLIDE) the clarification by Jesus.

Jesus had already set a public precedent that his message of how to get to God was diametrically opposed to that of the scribes and pharisees. Remember back in Mark 1 when Jesus was teaching in the synagogue, the people recognized then that he taught differently than the scribes, for he taught as one who had personal authority over the word of God. And this opposition to the scribes and pharisees was only heightened when he claimed to forgive the sins of the paralytic man who was lowered through the roof by his friends. It was at that point that they started to build a case against Jesus because in their eyes, he was committing blasphemy.

However, these bogus charges of blasphemy and Jesus’ supposed disobedience to the Mosaic law didn’t deter Jesus from continuing to preach the gospel and clarify his mission to all. And in this one statement, Jesus uses a very familiar and simple analogy to teach a very profound truth.....he came not for the righteous, but for the unrighteous....for sinners, like you and me. But understand this.....Jesus isn’t implying that there are some who are actually truly righteous and don’t need to heed the call of the Savior. Rather, Jesus is implying that he’s come only for those who readily understand and accept that they are sinners who are in need of a Savior.

The scribes and pharisees lacked the understanding of this very fact, because they thought that adherence to the law was their source of salvation. The were already children of Abraham, or so they thought, so all they needed to do was strictly follow the commands of the Lord. And so technically, they’re not wrong. Salvation can be made available to anyone who perfectly obeys the Law. However, the very purpose of the law was to show us that it was impossible to remain in perfect obedience to God.

Paul explains this very fact in Galatians 3:23–24 (SLIDE) “Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.” The law was a guardian in that it was designed to make us aware of our sinfulness and our need for God’s grace and mercy. But now that God’s grace and mercy was fully personified in Christ Jesus, we were no longer under the law. So Paul goes in verses 25 and 26 (Galatians 3:25–26) (SLIDE) “But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.”

So in the case of Jesus’ response to the scribes and pharisees back in Mark 2, there are two types of people - the righteous who pridefully believe they’re good enough to follow the law perfectly, and the unrighteous sinners who humbly know that they’re in need of a Savior. To put it in context of Jesus’ analogy, they’re spiritually sick people who are in need of the grace of a physician to make them well. So they’re not justified by the law, because sick people understand that they can’t make themselves well. That’s why the go to the doctor......to get the help they need from someone else. Therefore, they’re healed.....they’re justified by faith in another.

And wouldn’t it be just like God to lead a former pharisee, like Paul, to provide this profound reminder to young Timothy in 1 Timothy 1:15–16 (SLIDE) “The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.”

Jesus had no patience for the scribes and pharisees, for they were religious hypocrites who were blinded to the truth of God by their own self-righteousness. Jesus didn’t come for them. He came to call the sick......he came to call the sinner who knows they need the grace and mercy of a Savior - and its the great physician who is the only one who can make them well. In Luke’s gospel, this statement of Jesus is rendered in this way in Luke 5:32 (SLIDE) “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.””

You see, self-righteousness has never been the remedy to our spiritual sickness. Its not about trying to become a good person. That’s pharisaic legalism. And that’s opposed to the very teachings of our Lord. Rather, the way to spiritual healing only comes through humility and repentance. We must be humble enough to repent of our sins and turn in faith to the only one who can save us. And we don’t just do this in the beginning of our relationship with Jesus when we initially put our faith in him, but for the rest of our lives. And the only suitable way to continue to walk in our spiritual healing is through humility and repentance......to recognize our continual need for the saving grace of our great physician, Jesus Christ.

You see, I wonder if Jesus’ statement in Mark 2:17 wasn’t only directed at the scribes and pharisees, but it may have been intended for his disciples as well. Remember, Matthew was a tax collector who may very well have been in charge of taxing the local fishermen. And who were some of Jesus’s disciples at this time.....Andrew and Simon Peter and James and John.....local fishermen. So could it be that these disciples of Jesus had various run-ins and heated exchanges with Matthew in the past. Its safe to assume that they hated this man at one point in time. But now he’s on their side, and they’re sharing a meal with him and his other tax collector friends.

Have you ever been in the room or in a church service with someone you formerly despised or didn’t get along with? You know, in a small town like ours, that’s likely to happen. And how will you respond when you see that person? Are you going to be like the self-righteous pharisees, and wonder.....what are they doing here? They don’t belong here! Or are you going to remember the words of Jesus - that he came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance? And will you remember that you’re no different than anyone else......we all need God’s grace and forgiveness!

Jesus’ teaching was truly scandalous....that the sinless Savior of the world would associate and identify with sinners. And that’s because the gospel is truly the greatest scandal of all time - that the hero of the story - the savior of the world - would secure his victory over sin and death by taking on the sin of the world onto himself and dying a criminal’s death. The innocent taking the place of the guilty. The righteous one giving his life for the unrighteous. Which should create within us an utter sense of awe and wonder of why he chose you and me....why he chose us and called us...because we’re all those tax collectors and sinners....we’re just like Matthew and the paralytic and the leper - we’re all in need of God’s grace and forgiveness. So why does he give us his favor? Why does he choose to call us? Because he is good......he is gracious and merciful.....and he loves us!