The Calling of Sinners
Gospel of Mark • Sermon • Submitted
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Introduction
Good evening students! It is great to see each of your here again on Wednesday night for worship service. This week we will continue in our sermon series through the Gospel of Mark. Thinking back to last week, we saw that Jesus healed the paralytic that was lowered down through the roof of a house. Jesus was teaching and preaching when the paralytic was lowered down into the house. Jesus forgave the man of his sin which was his ultimate need. However, Jesus also healed him physically as well.
This week, we will see that Jesus is out teaching again when He encountered Levi (Matthew) the tax collector.
Let’s read together
13 He went out again beside the sea, and all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them. 14 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.
15 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. 16 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?” 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.”
Pray.
Here we see that Jesus was out teaching yet again. Remember, Jesus came not to simply perform miracles. Jesus came to preach the Gospel and ultimately die for sinners to be saved. After Jesus had finished teaching, He passed by the tax booth and saw Levi otherwise known as Matthew. After Jesus saw Levi, He called him to follow Him. Ultimately, Jesus called for Levi to be a disciple. This leads us to point I.
Jesus calls for sinners to follow Him.
Jesus calls for sinners to follow Him.
Let’s look back at verses 13-14
13 He went out again beside the sea, and all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them. 14 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.
Jesus was out teaching beside the sea of Galilee in Capernaum. Notice, the crowd was still following Him. Jesus oftentimes taught outdoors simply because the crowds that came to hear could not fit indoors. So, Jesus is out teaching again. After He is finished, Jesus passed by Levi at a tax booth. From this, it is important that we understand that Levi is a tax collector. Tax collectors were utterly despised during this time period.
The reason tax collectors were hated is because they were seen as criminals or frauds. Tax collectors worked for the Roman government and would set up tolls on travel roads that had to be paid. Also, they would collect taxes from house to house and drive up the tax price in order to steal money from people.
R. Kent Hughes tells us, “The system (tax collecting) fostered exploitation (treating someone unfairly) by the arbitrary power of the tax gatherers. They could stop anyone on the road, make him or her unpack their bundles, and charge just about anything they wanted. If the person could not pay, tax collectors sometimes would offer to loan money at an exorbitant (unreasonably high) rate, thus pulling the people further into their greedy hands. They were trained extortionist. Quite naturally, they attracted a criminal element of thugs and enforcers—the scum of society.”
Ultimately, tax collectors were lies that placed unreasonable prices upon people in order to gain profit for themselves. They were greedy and criminal. Likewise, they often associated with criminals. Jews definitely hated tax collectors. They were considered to be scum of the earth. Levi was a Jew and a tax collector. They hated Jewish tax collector so much so that the Jewish tax collectors were not allowed inside of the synagogue and could not serve as a judge. They were considered traitors to the Jews. They were what we might consider the worst of the worst.
Levi was a tax collector that collected taxes on bridges and travel routes. As Jesus passed, He came in contact with Levi. Not only did Jesus come in contact with Levi, He calls Levi to be His disciple. What in the world was Jesus thinking? Jesus was Jew, and He called a hated, despicable, low-life tax collector to be His disciple? Why would He do that?
Jesus would do such a thing because He came to save sinners. Just as Jesus cleansed the unclean leper, Jesus calls the sinful tax collector to follow Him.
Jesus does not care about social status. He does not care if you are popular, unpopular, rich, poor, tall, or short. Jesus cares about where you stand in relationship with Him. Are you a sinner saved by His grace or are you a sinner still condemned. Jesus sees you as a person, not as a job description. He does not see you as a volleyball player, softball player, football player, baseball player, band member, or cross-country runner. He sees you as the person you are. This goes to show you just how important sports, jobs, and wealth really are. They do not matter in light of eternity. You are either a child of God or a child of wrath.
At this point, Levi was a child of wrath. Levi was not a follower of Christ at his point. He was a sinner seeking to earn more and more money by unfairly treating people. However, look at verse 14:
14 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.
Jesus calls for Levi to follow Him, and what happens? Levi follows Jesus. Also, let’s look at the other Gospel accounts of this happening.
28 And leaving everything, he rose and followed him.
It says that Levi left everything and followed Jesus. The call for Levi to follow Jesus was a call for him to abandon his livelihood. Tax collecting was how Levi made a living. To follow Jesus would be a call for Levi to leave behind tax collecting and live for Jesus. This would mean that Levi would lose a lot of money and his job. That was the cost of following Jesus.
John MacArthur says, “He had been a man of the world, who had sold his soul for a lucrative career in a despised and dishonest profession. In that moment, Matthew was transformed from a tax collecting lover of money into a Christ-following lover of God.”
That is the power of the Gospel. The Gospel has the power to save lives. Even the worst of sinners can be saved. No matter what you have done, Jesus still loves you and calls you to repent and believe in the life-giving Gospel. The Gospel calls sinners to repent and turn away from sin. The Holy Spirit begins to work on the sinner revealing to him or her sin that is evident in his or her life. Then, upon repentance and faith in Jesus’s finished work on the cross, one is saved from sin just as Levi was.
You and I are sinners just like Levi. We are the worst of the worst. Get this, it takes even one sin to separate us from God. One lie and you are totally separated from God. Only through faith in Christ can one be saved. Therefore, we are all sinners in need of a savior. Jesus is the Savior that we all need and faith in Him results in eternal life. Jesus called us when we were sinners to follow Him. Moreover, following Jesus does come with a cost. Levi gave up his job as a tax collector. Remember following Jesus is a call to die.
20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
To follow Jesus is to die to our desires. We now live for Jesus; therefore our whole life must be dedicated to following after Him. Our career, school, family life, and pursuit of holiness must be surrendered to Jesus.
Also, we live our entire lives for Jesus. We were sinners dead in our trespasses and sin, but Jesus’s death, burial, and resurrection has made us alive in Him. We are to flee sin.
42 “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. 43 And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. 45 And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell. 47 And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell, 48 ‘where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’ 49 For everyone will be salted with fire.
Following Jesus calls the sinner to salvation and a life of continually fleeing sin at all costs.
As saved sinners, our goal must be to see sinners saved.
As saved sinners, our goal must be to see sinners saved.
15 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. 16 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?” 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.”
Jesus was invited into the home of Levi for a meal along with all of Levi’s misfit friends. It is believed that this is a celebration of Jesus. Levi as a tax collector would have been friends with people who were criminals, thieves, enforcers, etc. He was friends with those who desperately needed Jesus. Jesus came to this celebratory feast and had the opportunity to witness to sinners of all kinds.
Of course, when Jesus is seeking to minister, the Pharisees and scribes show up to rain on the parade. The Pharisees show up and question Jesus’s disciples asking why He is eating with tax collectors and sinners. “In the first-century, Israel, sharing a meal together was a statement of social acceptance and friendship” (MacArthur). As Jesus is sharing a meal with these sinners, the Pharisees are questioning the disciples and considered Jesus partaking in this meal to be a disgrace. MacArthur writes, “As those who defiled their holiness in terms of separation from sinners, the Pharisees considered anyone who befriended sinful people to be the enemy of God.” Therefore, Jesus was being considered an enemy of God because of His association with these sinners.
As the Pharisees always sought to distance and separate themselves from such people as tax collectors and these misfits, Jesus shared a meal with them in celebration of Levi’s life change. Levi was no longer a sin. Levi was now a saint because of God’s grace. The Pharisee’s were self-righteous and could not see their own flaws and sin.
As the Pharisees questioned Jesus’s disciples, Jesus provides and answer to the Pharisees.
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.”
Jesus roasts the Pharisees in His response. He points out that He came to save the sinner. As I mentioned, the Pharisees were so self-righteous that they could not see their own sin. The Pharisees were considered to be experts in the law; however, their righteousness was superficial and was only rule following that had no impact on their standing with God. They were merely seeking to live a moral life which would not save them. Salvation comes through Christ alone. However, they were judging Jesus for dining with sinners and tax collectors.
You know how we say that some one got exposed if they get called out or burned by a roast. That is what happened to the Pharisees here. Jesus exposed the Pharisees for their hypocrisy. They were hypocrites that made all these laws that no one could follow. They were legalists that devoted themselves to rule following instead of God-following. While they sat back and judged, sinners were coming to faith in Jesus.
Because of their self-righteousness, Jesus focused His attention on people such as tax collectors who were in desperate need of salvation. The Pharisees were in need of salvation as well, but their hearts were hardened to Jesus. The tax collectors and sinner were outcasts looking for salvation. Jesus exposes these Pharisees who were focusing on external righteousness.
7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”
God looks at the heart. As we looked at earlier, God does not care about social standing. God cares about the condition of the heart. God sees through religion and outward appearances of righteousness. God knows who truly is submitted to Him and who is just playing a game. The Pharisees were just playing a game of looking righteous though they were sinful.
Are you playing a game looking like a Christian? Or, are you truly submitted to Christ? This happens all the time in our culture. We call this cultural Christianity. It is when someone claims they are a Christian because they go to church, or serve as a deacon, or volunteer at the church, or they can quote John 3:16, or they grandad was a preacher. While all those things may be good, none of those things have the power to save. Just like the Pharisees knew the law and followed the law, they were still lost and separated from God because of sin.
9 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
In that parable, the Pharisees gives God his list of all his good works which are worthless. The tax collector simply asked God to have mercy on him because he recognized his condition before God.
What is your condition before God?
Today, are you living for Jesus each and everyday or are you living a life of self-righteousness?
Jesus called the tax collector, Levi, to follow Him despite all his failures in life. Levi was a sinner. Get this, you and I are in the same vote as Levi apart from Jesus. However, Jesus came died on the cross for our sins, was buried, rose from the grave on the third day with victory in hand. Today, you can place your faith in Jesus and be saved just as the tax collector was.
Maybe today you recognize that you have been playing the self-righteous game. You have the outward appearance of following Christ, but have never truly submitted to follow Him. If so, you can repent of your sin and truly follow Christ.
Today if you are a believer, we see that Jesus was with sinners. This is not a call for you to surround yourself with people who will drag you into sin. However, tonight, the Scripture calls us to be like Jesus. We should be around sinners in order that we can share the Gospel with them. Remember that you were once a condemned sinner, but Jesus saved you. Now, the call is for you to share the Gospel, so others may repent and follow Jesus. Think of one person you can invite to church or share the Gospel with in the coming days.
Pray
Invitation.