Passage: Mark 2:13-17

The Big Idea

Jesus didn’t come to prove we’re sinners; the Law already did that. He came to save sinners. He called Levi, a despised tax collector, to follow Him, and then sat down to a party full of “tax collectors and sinners.” When the Pharisees objected, Jesus said that it’s the sick who need a doctor. Our sinfulness isn’t what disqualifies us from grace; it’s what qualifies us. Repentance is simply agreeing with God about our need and letting the Divine Doctor do His work.

The Missing Umbrella

A soaked preacher stormed into the church office muttering. “What’s wrong?” his secretary asked. “It’s pouring, and I can’t find my umbrella! I left it here last week, and someone in the congregation must have stolen it. Well, I won’t stand for it! This morning I’ll preach an old-fashioned fire-and-brimstone sermon, then recite the Ten Commandments, and when I get to ‘You shall not steal,’ the thief will break down and confess!”

After the service, the secretary asked, “Did it work? Did the thief confess when you got to stealing?” “No,” said the preacher. “But when I got to the one about adultery, I remembered where I left my umbrella.”

The Law’s Special Skill

Jesus didn’t come into the world just to show us we’re idiots, or to tell us how bad we are and how angry God is at our sin. The Law had already done that. If you’ve ever read the Ten Commandments, you should be fully convinced we’re all sinners: broken, weak, guilty and hopeless.

Some people picture God as a famous old sermon put it: sinners in the hands of an angry God, just waiting for the punishment the Law demands.

Bad news, good news. The Law is so good at convincing us we’re sinners. That’s its special skill. The Law was never good news. It simply declares and proves that we’ve failed to measure up to God’s perfect standard. God is perfect, so He can’t accept anything less than perfection. He’s holy, and so is His Law. That’s bad news, because we’ve all broken it.

No one reads the Ten Commandments and thinks, “I’m perfect! I’ve done it all!” And there’s nothing wrong with the standard. It’s not too high; it’s right. We’re the ones who are wrong. We’re the sinners.

The good news is that Jesus came to save sinners. So rejoice, sinners!

Paul says that when we were still without strength, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly (Romans 5:6). I’m ungodly! I’m weak! So His death is for me. If I think I’m godly and strong, I don’t need His death.
God demonstrates His love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). I’m a sinner! So His death is for me, and He loves me! If I don’t think I’m a sinner, my relationship with God isn’t free love and grace; it’s wages I think I’ve earned. And Jesus’ death means nothing to me.
“God loves me because of what I do, where I go to church, what I believe.”
Or: “God loves me even though I’m a sinner who needs His love and healing.”
Paul calls it a trustworthy saying worthy of full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom he was the chief (1 Timothy 1:15). I’m not just a sinner; I’m the worst! Which makes me exactly the kind of person Jesus came for.

The more I own my sinfulness, brokenness and need, the more I’ll see His salvation by grace.

On Mission (Mark 2:13)

Jesus went out again by the sea, and the whole crowd came to Him, and He taught them.

There’s Jesus again, talking about God’s grace and kingdom. It’s all He ever seems to do! That’s what it means to be on mission. He had a mission (to save the world) and a strategy (to communicate the glorious love and grace of God, in word and deed). Remember the kingdom mission of Isaiah 61.

Are you on mission? When we pray “Your kingdom come,” do we really submit our lives to His kingdom priorities?

“Follow Me” (Mark 2:14)

As He walked along, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and said to him, “Follow Me.” And he got up and followed Him.

This is Matthew, who wrote the Gospel of Matthew, the Gospel written to show the Jewish people that Jesus is their King.

And he started as a tax collector: in the eyes of his people, a traitor who collaborated with Rome and got rich off his own countrymen. The worst kind of Jew. He’d have been rejected by his family and his nation, despised even more than the Romans because he was born a Jew!
Yet God used him to show that Jesus is King of the Jews. Awesome.
Mark calls him the son of Alphaeus. Some suggest he may have been related to James the son of Alphaeus, another of the Twelve, though we can’t be sure.
Matthew had probably heard about Jesus, but never imagined he’d be welcome. His hope of being a good, rule-keeping Jew was dead: “I’ve made too many mistakes. I’ve betrayed the people I love. I’ve proven myself unworthy in every way.”

“Follow Me.” So he got up and followed Him.

When Jesus looks at you and calls you, with His love and acceptance, there’s nothing else to do but follow!
Jesus knew Matthew’s sin. He knew the other disciples would think He was crazy to bring a tax collector on board.
But Jesus knew what He would make of Matthew, and what He would do with Matthew’s sin.

If you were Matthew, would you follow Jesus?

The Party (Mark 2:15)

Later, Jesus was eating at Levi’s house, and many tax collectors and sinners were eating with Jesus and His disciples, because there were many who followed Him.

Matthew threw a party for his worldly friends!
How fitting that Matthew’s first way of sharing Jesus was a joyful celebration: not more rules, but free grace, love, acceptance and food.
And the sinners’ response was clear: they loved this Jesus. He sat with them, listened to them, talked with them.
He loved them. He even liked them, though He wasn’t like them.
Jesus attracts sinners. Not self-righteous people.

The Divine Doctor (Mark 2:16-17)

When the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eating with tax collectors and sinners, they asked His disciples, “Why does He eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus heard it and said, “Those who are well don’t need a doctor, but those who are sick. I didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”

The name Pharisee likely meant “separated ones.” They separated themselves from everything they considered unholy, and assumed everyone but themselves was far from God’s love.
Eating with sinners deeply offended them. In that culture, sharing a meal meant welcoming someone into relationship. It was an act of acceptance and love.
These religious conservatives couldn’t understand why Jesus would like sinners. “They’re gross. They’re bad. They’re not trying hard enough. They’re not as good as us. Why isn’t He spending His time with us?” Jealousy.
They genuinely thought they weren’t sinners, weren’t sick, didn’t need anything.

That’s how some of us come to church: out of obligation, rule-keeping, to impress, or to prove to God we’re trying our best. God won’t have anything to do with that sad, proud state. He actually resists it.

So they tried to plant doubts in the disciples’ ears. But Jesus handled it.

Jesus fully agreed that they were sinners.
But He said that’s exactly what qualified them for His attention and grace! He had a plan: to give them grace. Not ten steps to follow, not more effort, not more rules.
It’s our sinfulness and broken weakness that moves Jesus’ healing hand and heart toward us. God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6).
He had just called Matthew because he was a sinner. And that call goes out to the whole world, to all sinners!

And this gracious call gets an answer: repentance.

Repentance means agreeing with God: that we’re sinners, that we’ve sinned, and that we have no power on our own to stop.
That agreement puts us into His loving hands and power. And His power produces the change, the healing, that we know comes with real repentance. If nothing changes, it may be that our “repentance” was really us trying to fix ourselves, not true agreement with God that we’re weak and sick.

Jesus is the Divine Doctor, and He’s the best:

He’s always available.
He always makes a perfect diagnosis.
He provides a complete cure.
He even pays the bill!

How the Doctor Works

How does He change the person who repents? Through Ezekiel God promised to give a new heart and put a new spirit within us, to remove the heart of stone and give a heart of flesh, and to put His Spirit within us and cause us to walk in His ways (Ezekiel 36:26-27).

Jesus does His work by a spiritual heart transplant.
And the prognosis is a new life, a life that does God’s will.
Do you want that life? Or are you content with your sinner life, or your religious life? Neither one is His life.

Who Does He Heal?

Jesus said to ask, and it will be given; seek, and you’ll find; knock, and the door will be opened. If a child asks for bread, what father would give him a stone? If you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him! (Luke 11:9-13)

Do I have the faith to ask Him for His Spirit? Do I trust that God is good and will give me everything I need?
Asking is the natural posture of a child. Jesus said we must become like little children (Matthew 18:3). Faith like a child.

On the last, great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” He was speaking of the Spirit, whom believers would receive (John 7:37-39).

What’s the qualification for this living water? Feeling your need. Humility. Knowing you’re a sinner who needs saving. That’s all! Then come to the One who can save. Only Jesus even claims to save us from our sins.

Sinners, repent, and rejoice!

Grace Takeaway

The Law’s job is to show you you’re sick. Jesus’ job is to heal you. He called a despised tax collector, ate with notorious sinners, and said He came for exactly people like them, and like us. Stop pretending you’re well. Agree with God about your need, ask your Father for His Spirit, and let the Divine Doctor give you a brand-new heart. He even pays the bill.

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Sinners, Rejoice!