Introduction The second chapter began with a story of forgiveness (vv.1-12) and now we look at the power of the Servant to fulfill us (vv.13-17). This is the story of the conversion of Levi and the celebration that follows. Jesus came on a mission--to seek and save the lost. But what if you are really lost? What if you are the kind of person who was voted most likely to go to hell? Most likely to wind up in prison? Most likely to be rejected; a social outcast? What if your wickedness is the kind of wickedness that makes people sick when you walk into the room? The controversy surrounding Jesus will continue to grow. Jesus has claimed the authority and ability to forgive sins (2:5); and now Jesus will chose to consort with bad company (tax collectors and sinners). Later the fact that the disciples do not fast will raise serious questions about their true spirituality (vv.18-22). To make matters worse the question of Sabbath violations will deeply offend the religious leaders (vv.23-28). Jesus will call the outcast and the sinner (v.14). Jesus will become what we call a known associate of outcasts and sinners (v.15). And Jesus will answer a major question posed by the religious leaders--how do we explain the Servant s willingness to keep company with sinners? Why in the world would Jesus befriend a sinner? Why would he rescue a drug dealer? A prostitute? A slave trader? Levi s Conversion (vv.13-14) Mark 2:13 (NKJV) Then He went out again by the sea; and all the multitude came to Him, and He taught them. When you see the word multitude think crowds of people! Oceans of people. Jesus came to preach the gospel. Once again we see the priority of the Word of God and the teaching of the Word of God. Jesus is the faithful Servant of God, prepared to teach. We are to be faithful and obedient and exercise opportunities to teach and share the Lord Jesus Christ. Mark 2:14 (NKJV) 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. Jesus appears to have finished teaching and goes in a specific direction. We are introduced to Levi the Son of Alphaeus. I wonder if Alphaeus was ashamed of his son. Levi is also known as Matthew, the author of the gospel of Matthew. Jesus changed his name to Matthew. Both Mark and Luke use his given name Levi (See Luke 5:27). But Matthew chooses to use the name given to him by the Lord Jesus. Matthias means the gift of Jehovah. 1
When Matthew refers to himself he stresses God s great mercy upon him. Matthew wanted the world to know that it was God s gracious mercy, the mercy of Jesus that saved him, the outcast the sinner. The text tells us that Levi (Matthew) was sitting at the tax office (think booth) that was set up near the shore line. It would appear that this office was set up to gather the taxes from the boats using the lake and the caravans using the highway. Capernaum is in the north-west corner of the Sea of Galilee. A main highway built by the Romans went north and south, another rain east and west. Caravans came bringing gold, silver, spice, and other precious cargo made it the logical place to conduct business. Capernaum was one of nine cities with populations in excess of 15,000 people. With fishing came the making and mending of nets, the catching and preserving of fish, the production of boats and sails, the repairs of boats and sails, and this generated jobs. The Roman government sold or commissioned tax stations, and these generated huge profits. The government s goal: squeeze as much tax out of as many people as you possibly can. The people s goal: keep as much money as you could to take care of your family. Keep the money out of the government s hands. The tax franchise were given quota s and money s collected beyond the quota was often kept by the tax collectors. All tax collectors would have been seen as social outcasts, traitors, collaborators with the Roman Government. They were bitterly hated and ostracized. You would think that if you are building a ministry team you would not immediately be drawn to the most hated person in the community. The tax collector was seen as a person who had sold out to the Roman authorities, who in order to make money would sink to the lowest levels of social interaction. It would appear that many in the tax collecting communities were cheats, thieves, people who were willing to bend or break the rules, adding additional charges to the tax in order to make a little more money. The fact that Matthew was willing to be a tax collector tells us something about him. In order to make money, lots of money he was willing to put up with the hatred, the anger, the social and religious isolation. When you want money and all the things money can buy, when you are willing to work with the hated oppressor, the enemy, the occupier of your country, you embrace a certain group of people and you repel another group of people. What was Matthew willing to do to bear the anger, the hatred, the shame of his own people? In verse 14 Jesus sees Levi. What does Jesus see? A man sitting at a table surrounded by books and ledgers and money. How do you go from a look to an invitation? Jesus has been teaching the multitude! Jesus has already cast out demons, healed a paralytic and a leper. Was Levi in a place where the bitter hatred, the stinging accusations, and the social isolation was starting to get to him? Did Jesus know that there was something inside Levi s heart sitting at that table that compelled Jesus to stop and stare just for a moment? 2
Did Jesus sense the inner ache and torment of a life and a soul that did not find happiness and fulfillment in keeping the minute traditions of his Jewish ancestors? Did Jesus know that the money Matthew made and the company Matthew kept were not satisfying and fulfilling? Did Jesus see something and know something that only Jesus could see and know? A heart racked by guilt, torn and weighted with sin, aching for freedom, desperately wanting forgiveness and peace and hope! Did Jesus see someone who wanted some way out of the wicked world and sinful circumstances and be placed on a road that would result in forgiveness and reconciliation with God? Jesus invites Levi to leave a world of self-indulgence, sin, guilt, and pain and follow Him. Follow Jesus. Hosea 6:1 (NKJV) Come, and let us return to the Lord; For He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up. Matthew would later record these words of Jesus: Matthew 11:28-30 (NKJV) Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.29take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.30for My yoke is easy and My burden is light. The end of verse 14 is powerful and explosive. Levi got up and followed Jesus. What about the books? What about the ledger? What about the money? How do you just walk away from those obligations? Someone has suggested that Matthew walked away from that table and everything on that table--except the pen in his hand and perhaps the parchment in his poach. Clearly Matthew had some idea concerning the claims of Jesus, and the message of Jesus, and the miracles of Jesus. The ministry headquarters were in Capernaum. Matthew s tax district. Clearly Matthew could have seen the comings and goings of Jesus. Matthew knew Matthew was despised; he worked for the enemy, and had surrendered any claim to moral integrity. Matthew would have been known and hated openly publicly. But don t miss the point. The amazing thing is not that Matthew leaves everything--but rather that he was called to begin with. This specific and personal call appears infrequently in the New Testament. Matthew is a great outcast and a great sinner. I suspect Peter, James, Andrew and John must have thought, wait a minute Jesus, let s just think this through. Matthew is walking away from a lucrative career in a government job that makes those willing to suffer and sacrifice wealthy! Peter, James, John, and Andrew could always go back to fishing. But not Matthew. The moment he gets up from that table and leaves that job there is no going back to the job. You don t quit this job or this life-style and expect the Romans will hold your job for you! 3
In the not too distant future, Matthew will record for the whole world the words of Jesus; Matthew 16:25 (NKJV) For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. Matthew perhaps gave up more than any other single apostle to follow Jesus. His conversion was a miracle. In Mark s gospel and the other gospels Matthew is rarely mentioned. He is of course mentioned on the lists when all the apostles are named. When Peter later lifts up his voice and preaches the gospel on the day of pentecost we read...peter standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice and preached (Acts 2:14) but Matthew was there. We are not told of any of Matthew s sermons or of his administrative skills. Matthew was a man with a pen and keeper of records, and he records for us Matthew s gospel. It could very well be that Matthew was far more comfortable with pen and paper than pulpit. The astonished disciples and the baffled religious leaders must have thought, Who in their right mind could possibly partner with this guy? Jesus would use this man to give the world a revelation of the king (chapters 1-10); and rebellion against the king (chapters 11-13); and the retirement of the king (chapters 14-20); and the rejection of the king (chapters 21-27); and the resurrection of the king (chapter 28). Can you image with no Sermon on the Mount; or the parables of the Kingdom which only appear in Matthew s gospel! Jesus knew exactly what he was doing that day!can you imagine the tax-collector s eyes filling with tears and his heart filling with joy! Me? Jesus are you sure you meant me? The religious leaders were getting ready to shut down the doors in the synagogues. So Jesus will go to the highways and bi-ways and the wilderness. Levi s Celebration (vv. 15-17) The Sinner s Notorious Background (v.15) Mark 2:15 (NKJV) 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. Levi throws a party! Celebrate good times come on! But it is not a celebration simply to celebrate. Levi (Matthew) has a party to invite his friends to meet with Jesus. Jesus accepts the hospitality and transforms into a kind of host! Jesus became a kind of magnet at the party. 4
Matthew met Jesus. If Jesus could want Matthew than the possibility opens to everyone! It made perfect sense to Matthew that if Jesus could save someone like Matthew, than why not invite everyone to hear and experience what Matthew heard and experienced. Matthew apparently has the social and financial resources to celebrate. Campbell Morgan described them as a class held in supreme contempt by the religious men of the time (p.52; The Gospel According To Mark). The very animals whose smell is most offensive to us have no idea that they are offensive, and are not offensive to one another. And man, fallen man, has just no idea what a vile thing sin is in the sight of God (J.C. Ryle). The term sinners can be misleading. Here the term does not necessarily mean immoral lifestyle but rather a person who does not keep all the minute details of the religious observances. The traditions took on the same weight and expectation in the Jewish culture. The religious leaders therefore called those who failed to keep the law and the traditions sinners. To some religious people all non religious people appear to be sinners. The surprise is not that they are sinners; but rather that Jesus would be there--and there is no hint that Jesus holds them in disgust or contempt, Jesus doesn t expose their greed or selfishness or wickedness, their is no hint of superiority, contempt or patronage. The religious leaders might have excused the presence of Jesus at the party if he would have done the good and decent thing and exposed the whole lot for the worthless collective bucket of sin and scum they all seemed to be! The religious leader s deep and abiding suspicion is that Jesus is cultivating a friendship with sinning men. How is it that even possible? How can you expose yourself to such people and not be defiled yourself? The Religious Leader s Bitterness (v.16) Mark 2:16 (NKJV) 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? The text provides the opportunity to contrast two attitudes towards the sinner or the outcast. We might think of the attitude of religious and respectable people toward what we might think of as the non-religious and non-respectable. Contrast that with the Servant s attitude toward the sinner! 5
What was their attitude? Contempt. Fear. But why? Why do the religious and the respectable fear and hold the non-religious and the not-so-respectable in such fear and contempt? Could it be they fear criticism by peers for associating with what might been seen as those in a lower caste system? Might it include fear of contamination or the possibility of being tempted or led astray? The religious leaders believed mere contact with the sinners rendered a person defiled! Or does it even reveal a propensity for self-righteousness? Pastor Chuck Smith used to say, Oh, how horrible our sins look when they are committed by someone else! Some diseases are positively contagious. But is poverty, or homelessness or physical disability, or whatever other category we segregate each other put each other at risk? Does Jesus run the risk of being sinner by friending a sinner? The Servant Leader s Basis For Calling Sinners (v.17) Mark 2:17 (NKJV) 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 uses the metaphor of sickness to describe the sinner. In the metaphor it is assumed that the sick know they are sick and in need of a physician. What is the advantage of laboring under the weight and burden of sin? Jesus can be your burden bearer! Does Jesus imply that the religious leaders, the Scribes and the Pharisees have no need? No-- what he is saying is that in order to get help you must recognize you need help! Does salvation and redemption deaden the sinner s conscience or make sin seem less sinful? In Matthew s gospel the Holy Spirit adds But go and learn what this means: I desire mercy and not sacrifice, For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance (Matt. 9:13). How could the religious leaders ignore the Scripture; The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. They are all gone aside, they are altogether become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no not one (Psalm 14:2-3). Paul quotes that very Scripture when he writes; As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one: there is none that understands, there are none who seek after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one (Rom. 3:10-12). 6
The religious leaders were in the greatest danger of all. The people they feared, despised, abhorred, were aware of something awful, wrong, broken. The religious leaders may have been willing to concede that nobody s perfect--but that they were on the way! Jonathan Edwards famously wrote; I have had a vastly greater sense of my own wickedness and the badness of my heart than ever I had before my conversion. John Knox said, In youth, in middle age, and now after many battles, I find nothing in me but corruption. Blaise Pascal the French Philosopher and Christian put it this way; God is none other than the Savior of our wretchedness. So we can only know God well by knowing our iniquities...those who have known God without knowing their wretchedness have not glorified him, but have glorified themselves. R. Kent Hughes puts it this way; The first link between my soul and Christ is not my goodness, but my badness; not my merit, but my misery; not my standing, but my falling; not my riches, but my need (see p. 73). Conclusion Are we smug in our conceit and self-righteousness? How can we recognize our spiritual need? To recognize need is a great break-through! But to know where the need can be met is greater still. A radio news program reported a strange thing. A middle school in Oregon faced a unique problem. A number of teen girls began using lipstick and putting it on in the bathroom. After they put on their lipstick, they pressed their lips to the mirrors leaving dozens of little lip prints. Finally the principle decided something had to be done. She called the girls to the bathroom and them there with the custodian. She explained lip prints caused a major problem for the custodian, who had to clean the mirrors every day. To demonstrate how difficult it was, she asked the custodian to clean one of the mirrors. He took out a long handled brush, dipped it into the toilet and then scrubbed the mirror. Since then there have been no lip prints on the mirror. Jesus refuses to isolate Himself from a needy world. Our lives are not lived in isolation, or assimilation, but mission. 7