008 The Amazing Companions of Jesus

Mark 2:14-17

January 4, 2025

Tax his land, tax his wage,

Tax his bed in which he lays.

Tax his tractor, tax his mule,

Teach him taxes are the rule.

Tax his cow, tax his goat,

Tax his pants, tax his coat.

Tax his ties, tax his shirts,

Tax his work, tax his dirt.

Tax his food, tax his drink,

Tax him if he tries to think.

Tax his sodas, tax his beers,

If he cries, tax his tears.

Tax his bills, tax his gas,

Tax his notes, tax his cash.

Tax him good and let him know

That after taxes, he has no dough.

If he hollers, tax him more,

Tax him until he’s good and sore.

Tax his coffin, tax his grave,

Tax the sod in which he lays.

Put these words upon his tomb,

"Taxes drove me to my doom!"

And when he’s gone, we won’t relax,

We’ll tax his kids with inheritance tax.

Everyone loves thinking about taxes.

· Sales tax on everything you buy.

· A car is taxed every time it is sold.

· Because of taxes you no longer own your property.

· And come April, we love how they tax what we earn.

Beyond that, we love even more thinking about where our money goes.

· Somone once said, “The government can’t give anything to anyone that it does not first take from someone else.”

· We see politicians that enter office with a few thousand dollars and in a few years they are multi-millionaires.

· We learn of daycares with no children who receive millions of dollars of government cash.

But that’s just part of the corruption we’ve grown to lament.

· Don’t you love when you see “service charges”, “administration fees”, “convenience fees” and the like.

Want to watch a ballgame?

· They’ll charge you for the ticket, the processing fee, $20 to park, and then gouge you on the refreshments.

· We watched a guy at a recent sporting event go around and get $5 for parking from people, and I’m not even sure he owned the spot, he just knew people would pay him.

Years ago when boarding a plane in Zimbabwe

· They decided there would be a $5 boarding fee for all passengers.

· What else are you going to do? Are you going to miss your flight over $5?

We’ve all seen it.

It’s corruption, it’s dishonest, it’s relentless,

And there’s not much we can do about it except pay it and go on.

WHY DO I REMIND YOU OF THIS?

Because of verse 15, “And it happened that He was reclining at the table in his house, and many tax collectors and sinners were dining with Jesus and His disciples;”

The scene was enough to prompt

Mark’s second documented attack here in Mark 2.

Mark 2 documents 4 attacks by the enemy against Jesus.

They are easy to spot because

They all come in the form of an accusatory question.

We saw the first last week when they QUESTIONED HIS CLAIM

After Jesus forgave the paralytic:

Mark 2:7 “Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming; who can forgive sins but God alone?”

Later in the chapter they will QUESTION HIS COMMITMENT

Mark 2:18 “John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting; and they came and said to Him, “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?”

And they will QUESTION HIS CHARACTER

Mark 2:24 “The Pharisees were saying to Him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?”

But this morning we are going to examine the second attack and here:

THEY QUESTION HIS COMPANY

(16) “When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that He was eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they said to His disciples, “Why is He eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners?”

And after contemplating taxes and the joy they bring our lives,

We might actually wonder the same thing.

It is nothing short of amazing

That Jesus would sit down and eat with men like this.

SO THIS MORNING let’s examine this battle

And once again be amazed at the conquest of Jesus.

Keeping with the theme of conquest, let’s look at it through such a lens.

#1 THE ADVANCE

Mark 2:14

We found out in verse 13:

Mark 2:13 “And He went out again by the seashore; and all the people were coming to Him, and He was teaching them.”

We pointed out last time that the Greek structure there

Can actually be translated “kept coming” and “kept teaching”.

This is an ongoing ministry.

· Jesus is destroying the speculations of the enemy.

He proved with the paralytic that He has the power to forgive sinners.

· And now that is what the people are coming to learn about.

· Jesus is preaching the gospel.

· He is storming hell’s gates.

· It’s a daily mission of preaching out by the seashore.

And then one day, as Jesus is commuting

Something absolutely amazing happens.

(14) “As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting in the tax booth, and He said to Him, “Follow Me!” and he got up and followed Him.”

There were a lot of kinds of tax collectors in Israel in Jesus’ day,

And I won’t take the time to get into all the kinds and their jobs.

But to understand the scene here,

· “Levi” would have been one who collected a specialized tax like a toll to cross a bridge or something else.

· What is clear here is that Matthew was one who collected taxes on occupations that had to do with the sea, like fishing.

· His booth would have been near the shore and his job would have been to collect taxes on the fish caught in the sea before the fishermen could go and sell them.

No doubt every fisherman loved to work all night to catch fish,

And then pay Matthew for every fish he caught.

Tax Collectors were hated for various reasons,

But this was certainly one of them.

But apparently, as Jesus preached every day,

His preaching could be heard by Matthew as he sat in his booth.

And on one day, Jesus blew his mind, and likely everyone else’s

By approaching “Levi” and saying, “Follow Me!”

It was the same call Jesus had given just a few weeks earlier to Peter, Andrew, James and John right here at this same shoreline.

(Matthew may have even witnessed that moment.)

And now Jesus was calling Matthew to join them in following Him.

Jesus was offering Matthew the same forgiveness, salvation, and mission

That He offered to those men.

And here is what I want you to GRASP FIRST this morning:

Matthew as NOT a good guy.

· I don’t know what sort of things jump in your head when you think about Matthew sitting in that tax booth.

· Maybe you’ve developed a view of him from the series “The Chosen” which paints him as a nerdy but loveable character.

MATTHEW WAS NOT.

· He was a traitor to Israel.

· He sold out to a corrupt Roman regime so that he could exploit his countrymen.

· He himself was corrupt.

· He had gotten rich taking money from hardworking fishermen.

He was everything you have grown to despise about our corrupt system.

WHEN IT COMES TO MEN LIKE MATTHEW

We DON’T ask the question, “Can he be forgiven?”.

· We know the answer is, “Yes”.

But we are prone to ask the question,

“Should he be forgiven?”

· Shouldn’t people like that get what’s coming to them?

· Shouldn’t people like that have to answer publicly for their crimes?

You can’t just do what he did

Then one day accept forgiveness for all your sins and go on can you?

THAT IS WHAT WE’RE UP AGAINST HERE.

AND YET, THERE IS JESUS.

He offered forgiveness to this terrible sinner who did not deserve forgiveness.

· He rescued this son of Satan straight from hands of the enemy.

· His conquest freed this prisoner of sin.

“He said to him, “Follow Me!” And he got up and followed Him.”

One thing that I do think is interesting here is that

Mark DOES NOT use his favorite word “immediately”

Mark has already used it 12 times in this gospel account.

We saw him use it with Peter, Andrew, James, and John.

Mark 1:17-20 “And Jesus said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. Going on a little farther, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who were also in the boat mending the nets. Immediately He called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went away to follow Him.”

But with Levi (Matthew), Mark does not use it.

No doubt there was nothing immediate about it.

· It might not have even been the first time Jesus called him.

· It makes us think that perhaps Matthew wrestled with this for a while.

· His conversion was probably not immediate.

AND THAT MAKES SENSE.

Matthew’s own gospel tells us the story about the Rich Young Ruler and we read:

Matthew 19:23-24 “And Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. “Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

Matthew probably understood that more than most.

· He was a rich man.

· To walk away from that booth meant he could never return.

Jesus asked Matthew, an undeserving sinner,

To leave his life of sin and follow and eventually,

No doubt after counting the cost, Matthew said yes.

Jesus advanced on Satan’s kingdom and liberated Matthew.

The Advance

#2 THE ACHIEVEMENT

Mark 2:15

You know the story.

What started with the salvation of Matthew exploded!

(We might say it went viral)

Matthew throws a banquet for Jesus “in his house, and many tax collectors and sinners were dining with Jesus and His disciples”

Note the “many” there.

And make sure you see it because Mark mentions it again.

“for there were many of them, and there were following Him.”

It’s not hard to see Mark’s focus.

The salvation of Matthew started something.

· This was NOT just a one-time thing.

We might be able to overlook

Jesus saving one totally undeserving sinner,

But this has gotten out of control.

If you want to pardon one corrupt politician we might tolerate it.

But if you want to pardon them all, no we’re going to balk.

Now they are all showing up to be saved.

And Jesus is forgiving them!

“and they were following Him.”

The victory here was no small victory.

Jesus didn’t just deliver one struggling sinner,

He has torn the gate off the prison and they’re all coming out.

It really is remarkable.

And that is when the battle heats up again.

#3 THE AMBUSH

Mark 2:16

It DOESN’T READ as though “the scribes of the Pharisees” entered the house to confront Jesus, they would have never entered there.

But likely sometime after Jesus and His disciples departed

They confronted the disciples and their question is fairly obvious.

“Why is He eating with tax collectors and sinners?”

THERE IS THE ATTACK.

They question His companions.

SURELY YOU CAN TELL A LOT ABOUT A MAN

BY THE COMPANY HE KEEPS…RIGHT?

We are told even in the New Testament:

1 Corinthians 15:33 “Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.”

· A man who hangs around sinners must be a man who isn’t worried about falling

into sin right?

· Doesn’t He know that such a group would corrupt Him?

I thought even about the teaching of the Law in this regard.

Haggai 2:10-13 “On the twenty-fourth of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to Haggai the prophet, saying, “Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Ask now the priests for a ruling: ‘If a man carries holy meat in the fold of his garment, and touches bread with this fold, or cooked food, wine, oil, or any other food, will it become holy?’ ” And the priests answered, “No.” Then Haggai said, “If one who is unclean from a corpse touches any of these, will the latter become unclean?” And the priests answered, “It will become unclean.”

That principle is easy to understand.

If you drop a piece of meat on the kitchen floor,

It doesn’t make the floor edible, it makes the meat dirty.

Certainly that was the principle that the Pharisees carried even into their relationships.

· They sought to be set apart.

· They sought to be undefiled.

· They sought to be sanctified.

They would have never dreamed of

Entering Matthew’s house or eating with Matthew’s friends.

· What if the thinking or corruption, or sinful extravagance of Matthew managed to corrupt them?

Even the prophet Jeremiah said about himself:

Jeremiah 15:16-17 “Your words were found and I ate them, And Your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart; For I have been called by Your name, O Lord God of hosts. I did not sit in the circle of merrymakers, Nor did I exult. Because of Your hand upon me I sat alone, For You filled me with indignation.”

· Jeremiah would give no approval through his presence.

· Jeremiah would take no chance of defilement.

And I just point that out to you

Because it’s an easy argument to make.

It is very easy to justify avoiding sinners.

It is very easy to explain why you should not hang out with sinful men.

THIS IS AN EASY AMBUSH.

· A holy man would not desire to be around sinners.

· A sanctified man would not risk being defiled by the wicked.

· Or maybe He’s one of those preachers who will hobnob with sinners if they are wealthy enough so that he can enjoy their donations to his ministry.

I just want you to understand

How compelling their argument must have sounded.

IT’S A PRETTY SOLID AMBUSH.

Why would Jesus associate with sinners?

Well, the question GIVES JESUS AN OPPORTUNITY

To once again go on the offensive.

Remember that true spiritual warfare

Is the destruction of speculations and the enemies lies.

Watch Jesus now go to war.

#4 THE ATTACK

Mark 2:17

So Jesus heard their accusation.

· Is it true that Jesus didn’t care about being defiled?

LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING ABOUT JESUS HERE.

It is true what we read in Haggai

That holy objects cannot sanctify unholy objects.

But let me read this passage to you.

Exodus 29:37 “For seven days you shall make atonement for the altar and consecrate it; then the altar shall be most holy, and whatever touches the altar shall be holy.”

· The altar could sanctify.

· The altar could make holy.

· And that is Jesus.

Sinners never defiled Jesus, but He does sanctify sinners.

· Jesus makes the unholy holy.

· Jesus makes the unclean clean.

· He cleanses sinners.

His salvation is amazing!

“He breaks the power of canceled sin,

He sets the prisoner free;

His blood can make the foulest clean;

His blood availed for me.”

JESUS WAS IN NO RISK OF DEFILEMENT HERE.

These men could not defile him.

FOR ONE, all that they saw as extravagance and wealth and comfortable living could not have possibly compared to the glory from which He came.

There was no temptation here for Him here.

BUT THAT STILL DOESN’T ANSWER THE QUESTION

As to why He would be willing to eat with such men?

Even if Jesus cannot be defiled,

It still doesn’t mean that Matthew or his many friends deserved it.

These are horrible sinners; unworthy of salvation.

Even if Jesus can eat with them without defilement, why would He?

Well Jesus heard the question and His answer is familiar and profound.

“It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick, I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Here Jesus again defines His conquest.

And in so doing He will totally expose the lies of the enemy

And destroy all speculations against the truth.

There is a reason why Jesus would eat with sinners:

SICK PEOPLE NEED A DOCTOR.

IT’S AS SIMPLE AS THAT.

· When a sick man is brought in on a stretcher

· With life threatening symptoms

· It is not the job of the doctor to determine whether the man deserves to treated.

· The doctor only has one job, and that is to treat the patient.

That is how Jesus explains His ministry to the Pharisees.

But let’s break it down a little more

And talk about sinners and the ministry of Jesus to save them.

“It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick, I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

There are a few things I want you to ponder here.

1) INFIRMITY

Jesus clearly defines the type of people these tax collectors are.

· They are “not…healthy”

· They are “not…righteous”

· They are “sick”

· They are “sinners”

Jesus pulls no punches when He talks about

Sinners being sinful, unhealthy, sick, or unrighteous.

And in our day this is so important to understand.

This passage clearly reveals Jesus to be the friend of sinners.

But notice that His love for sinners

DID NOT keep Him from referring to them as “sinners”

Or from referring to their behavior as “sin”.

Jesus was not whitewasher or iniquity.

Jesus never blurred the lines of wickedness.

Jesus never excused or tolerated sinners practicing sin.

To the woman caught in adultery He said:

John 8:11 “She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more.”

To the cripple at the Bethesda pool:

John 5:14 “Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “Behold, you have become well; do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse happens to you.”

Jesus had not offered to save Matthew while leaving him in that booth.

Jesus called him to leave his life of sin and to follow.

There is ZERO chance that now in Matthew’s home

That Jesus is doing anything less with Matthew’s friends.

They are being called to leave their corruption behind.

AND THEY WERE!

Mark says, (15) “they were following Him.”

JESUS SAVED THEM BY ACCURATELY DIAGNOSING THEM.

· These men are sick and it does them no good to ignore the fact.

Jesus loved sinners,

But He never let them believe their problem was anything less than sin.

· They weren’t abused…

· They weren’t victims…

· They weren’t unfortunate…

· They weren’t misunderstood…

· They were sinners.

· They had done that which was offensive to God.

· They were at enmity with God as a result of their offense.

· They were headed for judgment in their sin.

That is who they were.

Being a friend of sinners does not mean we deny that men are sinners.

You can love them and be honest with them.

Jesus was.

You see their infirmity.

2) INABILITY

Jesus says very clearly that they “NEED a physician”.

That is to say, they have a very serious problem

And it is not a problem that they will ever fix on their own.

In fact, that word “healthy” is interesting here.

When Jesus says “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician”

It is (is-KHOO-o)

It can mean “healthy”

It can also mean “strong”

Like when Mark talks about the Gadarene demoniac:

Mark 5:4 “because he had often been bound with shackles and chains, and the chains had been torn apart by him and the shackles broken in pieces, and no one was strong enough to subdue him.”

· There it is translated “strong enough”

It can mean “useful” or “able”

Matthew 5:13 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.”

· There it is translated “good” as in “good for anything”

Luke 13:24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.”

· There it is translated “able”

So Jesus says that “Men who are able or strong or good or healthy

Don’t need any help from a physician.”

But that is NOT what these men are.

· They aren’t able.

· They aren’t good.

· They aren’t useful.

· They aren’t strong.

· They are “sick”

We talked about this word a few weeks ago, it is (ka-KOCE)

And it’s not just “sick” or “ill”, it is “wretched”, it is “very ill”

Matthew 17:15 “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is a lunatic and is very ill; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water.

Matthew 21:24 “Jesus said to them, “I will also ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I will also tell you by what authority I do these things.”

These are people with nothing good to bring

And no hope of fixing the problem themselves.

What Jesus is talking about here is

Men who are incapable of saving themselves.

They are weak, they are unable, they aren’t good for anything.

It is what we refer to as: ABSOLUTE INABILITY

Or maybe you’ve heard it called: TOTAL DEPRAVITY

They’ll NEVER fix this problem by their own strength.

Jeremiah 13:23 “Can the Ethiopian change his skin Or the leopard his spots? Then you also can do good Who are accustomed to doing evil.”

And look, sinners seem to know this, at least in part.

How many times have we come across someone bound up in homosexual sin who says, “I was born this way”?

What are they saying?

· “This is who I am.”

· “I have no choice.”

· “I’m just a person attracted to a certain type of person”

And the church often balks and says,

“No you weren’t! You chose to be homosexual.”

Look, that is also true, they did choose to do that which God calls sin,

But do you understand that their fallen flesh has imprisoned them?

Do you understand that from their limited understanding,

It does seem like they were in fact born that way?

Do you remember Paul in Romans 7?

Romans 7:15-20 “For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good. So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.”

· Do you hear him lamenting that he can never be anything but what he is?

· In Paul’s case it was a coveter and he couldn’t be anything but.

Think about the Sermon on the Mount.

· When Jesus says it’s not enough not to murder, but you can’t even be angry at your brother.

· Or when Jesus says it’s not enough not to commit adultery, but you can’t even look at a woman with lust.

And someone would say,

· “How can I help what I like or don’t like?

· How can I help how I feel or don’t feel?

· How can I help what I want or don’t want?”

You can’t just tell a sinner to “stop sinning”.

You can’t just tell a homosexual to “stop being homosexual.”

You can’t just tell a coveter to “stop coveting”.

That’s what the Law does and if you’ll remember our study on sanctification all that does is stir up the flesh even more.

Those who are sick need a doctor

Not a pamphlet on why their illness is bad.

Infirmity, Inability

3) IMPORTANCE

They are sinners and they can’t get out,

But do you know what we see here?

JESUS LOVES THEM!

“I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

They are why He came.

· If you are able to fix yourself then you don’t need a doctor.

· If you are able to correct yourself then you don’t need a Savior.

· And Jesus has delighted to be that Savior.

Jesus perfectly answers these Pharisees

Who can’t figure out why He’s eating with sinners.

· Where else would a doctor go but to those who are sick?

· Where else would a lifeguard go but to those who are drowning?

· Where else would a Savior go but to those who are perishing?

It makes perfect sense!

He is on mission.

The Pharisees couldn’t eating with sinners

Because they were only concerned about themselves.

What if I am defiled by them?

BUT JESUS LOVES SINNERS.

He wasn’t worried about contracting their illness.

He was motivated to heal it.

He loves them so much He left the glories of heaven for them.

He loves them so much He endured the agony of the cross for them.

HE IS ON CONQUEST TO SAVE SINNERS!

And friend, if you are a sinner He is who you need.

· Do you have a sin problem?

· Do you have a coveting problem?

· Do you have a homosexuality problem?

· Do you have a lust problem?

· Do you have an anger problem?

· Do you have a language problem?

· Do you have a bitterness problem?

Whatever it is, you’ll never fixt it.

You need Jesus, the friend of sinners.

He is the Savior of sinners!

Isaiah 53:4-6 “Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.”

Infirmity, Inability, Importance

4) INVITATION

Jesus said, “I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Did you catch the word “CALL” there?

Jesus didn’t just see them and heal them from afar.

Jesus called them to Himself.

Is that not what He did to Matthew? “Follow Me!”

· Yes, Matthew had to leave his tax booth.

· Yes, Matthew’s friends also had to leave their way of life.

· Yes, Peter, James, John, and Andrew also had to leave their life.

YES, YOU WILL HAVE TO LEAVE YOURS TOO.

· You don’t get to keep your sin.

· You don’t get to keep your infirmity.

He calls you in spite of it, and He calls you out of it.

He calls you away from it.

HE CAME TO CRUSH SIN AND SAVE YOU.

This morning we marvel at the Amazing Companions of Jesus.

He is surrounded by sinners!

And it’s because He is the Savior of sinners.

· Even Matthew,

· Even tax collectors,

· Even you.

This morning will you answer Him?

This morning will you surrender to Him?

This morning will you follow Him?

HE CAN SAVE AND HE WILL SAVE.