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Jesus, the Healthy, and the Sick (Mark 2:13-17)

by Wayne Davies  
10/04/2014 / Bible Studies

In Mark 1:16-20 Jesus called four fisherman to follow him. In Mark 2:13-14 he issues the same command to Levi, also known as Matthew -- "Follow me" -- with the same result. Matthew gets up from his tax collector's booth and follows Jesus.

Tax collectors were hated by their fellow Jews. To become a tax collector was to become a traitor to one's own countrymen and to work for the oppressive Roman government. The tax collector purchased the right to collect taxes due Rome, and he could charge as much as he wanted while profiting the difference between the actual tax owed and the amount he received. There was much opportunity for deception.

As a tax collector, then, Matthew was a social outcast, most likely banned from the synagogue. Tax collectors frequently associated with other less desirable elements of society, and socialized with criminals, prostitutes and "sinners".

For Jesus to call a tax collector into his circle of discipleship was unthinkable to the self-righteous Pharisees and teachers of the law. But Matthew was probably wracked with guilt over his sinful lifestyle of legalized theft and came to Jesus, first of all, to receive the same forgiveness that was offered to the paralytic in Mark 2:1-12. He was ready to follow Jesus because he wanted to forsake his sin and pursue the righteousness of Christ and his kingdom.

To celebrate his new life, Matthew invited Jesus and the disciples to his house for dinner. Such socializing infuriated the Pharisees. To openly associate with the scum of society put Jesus in the same category as these "sinners". Spending time in Matthew's house with these reprobates was to be "unclean." The religious leaders would not have given such people the time of day, let alone share a meal with them.

So the question, "Why does he eat with tax collector and 'sinners'?" is no sincere request for an explanation. It is a scathing rebuke. Not only did the Pharisees hate Jesus because he claimed to be God, as demonstrated by his pronouncement of forgiveness to the paralytic, but now they have another reason to condemn him guilt by association with the scum of the earth.

Jesus' response to this accusation is a brilliant rebuke of their misguided thinking and a wonderful description of his purpose for leaving heaven: "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners" (Mark 1:17).

Jesus came to save sinners from their sin and all its devastating consequences both in this life and the next. The Pharisees never understood this because they were guilty of the most deceptive sin of all prideful self-righteousness. They had come to the eternally damning conclusion that they were good enough to earn the favor of God.

Mark 2:17 summarizes one of the most critical teachings of the Bible salvation is only for "sinners" -- those who recognize their sinful, wretched state before a holy God. "The righteous" -- those who believe they don't need forgiveness -- never receive it.

How do you respond to the words of Jesus regarding "the righteous" and "sinners", the healthy and the sick? Every person falls into one of these two categories. Do you see yourself as spiritually sick, like Matthew, and in need of the forgiveness that only Christ can provide through his death? Or are you more like the self-deceived Pharisees, who believed they were healthy and without need of forgiveness?

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