Jesus came to call sinners

Mk 2:1-17

Key Verse 17

“On hearing this, Jesus said to them, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.  I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.’”

This passage includes two events: Jesus heals a paralytic and Jesus calls Levi the tax collector to be one of His disciples.  By healing the paralytic, Jesus reveals that He has authority to forgive human sins.  By calling Levi the tax collector, Jesus reveals that the most wretched person can be recreated into a useful person.  Above all, this passage reveals Jesus’ heart of love toward people sick with sin.  Jesus has the hope of God for them to restore them to live for the glory of God. 

1. “Son, your sins are forgiven.” (1-5)

Look at v. 1-2.  “A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home.  So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and He preached the word to them.”  What did Jesus do for them?  Jesus preached the word to them.  The word of God gives man joy and peace.  The word of God gives man the Spirit of God to overcome the world and be set free from bondage to sin.  Jesus brought us to this conference to preach the word to us.

Look at v. 3.  “Some men came, bringing to Him a paralytic, carried by four of them.”  Behind this verse is the story of five men who may have been the best of friends.  Perhaps one of them had a terrible accident and became a quadriplegic.  Of course, he could no longer get a job and had to give up many dreams of success.  Then his fiancé left him for another man whom she said could provide for her.  He could no longer feed himself or dress himself, or even go to the restroom without someone else’s help.  He could no longer respect himself.  He no longer liked himself.  Perhaps he even began to hate himself, his life, and even hate God.  To his four friends, his condition was too painful to bear.  They wept for him, but there was nothing they could do.  But one day they heard that Jesus had come to Capernaum.  “Yes, that’s it”, they cried, “we’ll take him to Jesus.”  And so it happened that while Jesus was preaching some men came, bringing to Him a paralytic, carried by four of them.  To get him to Jesus they tried to force their way through the crowd, but all they got were elbows in the face.  People had already crammed around Jesus for healing and cut off every avenue of access.  Even the person who had a tiny stomach ache insisted that his case was the most urgent and refused to give up his place.  But where there was a will there was a way.  A sudden inspiration came to the four friends.  Look at v. 4.  ““Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on.”  In doing so, they made many people angry.  The owner of the house immediately dialed 911 and asked for the police.  Other people who were waiting surrounded them to punish them for violating their equal rights.  But to the four friends, it did not matter what happened to them.  They say that a friend in need is a friend indeed.  They were indeed true friends to the paralytic. 

There is another beautiful story of friendship recorded in scripture: the friendship between David and Jonathan.  As the son of King Saul, Jonathan was next in line for the throne.  But at God’s command, the prophet Samuel instead anointed David to be the next king.  It was more than enough reason for Jonathan to seek David’s life.  However, Jonathan pledged his love and friendship toward David, abandoning any ambition he might have had for the throne.  Eventually, Jonathan fell in battle and when David heard about it, he wept, saying, “I grieve for you, Jonathan my brother; you were very dear to me.  Your love for me was wonderful, more wonderful than that of women.” (1 Sam 1:26)  According to Shakespeare, Romeo’s love for Juliet was more than his life.  So in the end he took his life rather than live without her.  But King David valued Jonathan’s love more than the love of any woman.  Jesus said to His disciples, regarding friendship, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” (Jn 15:13)  These days instead of personal friendships many people just send email or chat online, so we have many e-friendships.  It seems to be their attempt to escape loneliness and have intimacy with other humans, but without actually having to deal with real people.  But may God help us to have many true friendships in Christ among Mid-Atlantic chapter ministries.

What did Jesus say to the paralytic?  Let’s read v. 5.  “When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.’”  V. 5 begins, “When Jesus saw their faith…”  Jesus saw their friendship also, but He recognized their faith.  They had great faith in Jesus’ healing power.  We need such roof-breaking faith to bring others to Jesus.  Also, Jesus called the man “Son”.  Jesus wanted to become His Father.  The Father-son relationship is very special.  After having two sweet daughters, a shpherd was not quite satisfied.  But when he finally had a son, he thanked God for finally granting him his son.  Above all, a Father wants his son to be great.  To a father, his son’s misery and pain are unbearable.  Jesus wanted to restore this man.  Jesus wanted him to be well again so that he could play the violin, play football, work hard, and get married to a beautiful shepherdess.  Jesus’ word “Son” meant, “Son, I am committed to taking care of you no matter what it costs.”  It meant, “Son, I will even pay your college tuition.”  Without such words of love and commitment from a father, no young man can become a success in the world.

Yet Jesus did not immediately address the physical condition.  Jesus’ words to the man were, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”  Beyond the obvious physical brokenness, Jesus looked deeper and saw spiritual brokenness.  Jesus saw that this man’s deepest need was for forgiveness.  This is true not only for this man.  It is the condition of all men without Jesus.  His physical paralysis is a Biblical metaphor for sin.  Some years ago one Hopkins student began 1:1 Bible study, but later quit.  However, he had a serious problem: he could not control his physical attraction to members of his own sex.  Later, probably out of jealousy, he shot and killed a fellow student with whom he had been friends.  He did not want to do this, but he was powerless to stop himself.  This is a vivid example, but we have all experienced in one way or another the powerlessness of being unable to avoid acting on our sinful, even shameful desires; we have all failed miserably to do the good we knew that we should do.  Therefore, when Jesus saw this man’s desperate inner need, Jesus first assured him out of His deep love, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”  This word was also Jesus’ pledge to go to the cross to pay the cost of our forgiveness.  To be powerless is to be ungodly.  As it says in Rom 5:6, “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.” 

It is significant that in the Muslim faith there is no doctrine of forgiveness.  Instead of the healing that flows from the removal of the guilt, there are just more and more burdens.  As a direct result, there is no concept of personal relationship with God.  Instead, it is just Master and slave.  But God’s forgiveness restores the personal intimacy between the forgiven sinner and the holy God.  God’s forgiveness lifts the burden of guilt and fear.  Thus God’s forgiveness heals our souls.  After receiving forgiveness, the paralytic began to love God again, love his life, and love himself.  After receiving forgiveness, the body of the paralytic was still lying on the mat, but his soul was rising up towards heaven on wings of eagles. 

There was an attractive young woman.  One day she dove headfirst into the Chesapeake Bay.  She could not see that the water there was very shallow.  Her head hid the ground, her neck snapped back and she became paralyzed from the neck down.  At first, she no longer wanted to live.  But later she realized that God worked for His glory even through this seeming tragedy, for it was the way that she came to know that God had forgiven her.  Today, Joni Eareckson has a worldwide ministry of delivering motorized wheelchairs to the disabled, which has served many, many hundreds of people.  She trained herself to paint by holding the brush between her teeth and creates beautiful, spiritually inspirational pictures.  She tours the country as a Christian speaker, writes in national Christian magazines, and sings beautifully on Christian recordings.  Her body is paralyzed, but her soul is healed and she lives powerfully for the glory of God.  Compared to her, many outwardly able people are in reality the ones who are paralyzed. The spirit is ten times stronger than the most able college student.  

Thank God for His forgiveness, which opens the way for us to again live in relationship with Him.  Thank God for His forgiveness, which has gathered us here together today in His holy presence.

2. Jesus has authority to forgive man’s sins (6-12)

As Jesus’ work began to grow, the religious leaders sent out a group of religious experts to check up on Jesus, and they were sitting there watching closely.  At Jesus’ gracious words of forgiveness, an objection arose in their minds.  Look at verse 7.  “Why does this fellow talk like that?  He’s blaspheming!  Who can forgive sins but God alone?”  They recognized that Jesus’ offer of forgiveness was in fact a claim to deity.  But they rejected His claim.

Jesus knew what they were thinking (8).  At this point the environment was very hostile.  If Jesus wanted to help this man further He had to risk His life.  But Jesus decided to demonstrate His authority to forgive sin, in order to help the man and the teachers of the law and all men to know who Jesus is.  Look at v. 8b, 9.  He said to them, “Why are you thinking these things?  Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk?  But that you may know that the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins…’”  Jesus looked around at the people for a while, and then turned His attention to the paralytic and said, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” (11)  Look at verse 12a.  “He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all.”  What an amazing sight!  Forgiveness of sin is invisible.  Physical healing could be seen by everyone.  Jesus healed the body to demonstrate his spiritual authority to forgive sins.

Throughout history many people did not even know what sin was, though they suffered endlessly because of it.  Even if they knew what sin was, they had no authority to do anything about it, except worship the moon or the stars or a rock or pieces of wood.  Ancient Aztec culture sacrificed some twenty to fifty thousand humans each year, trying to appease the gods.  When Hudson Taylor pioneered the untouched mission field of inland China, he met one old man who cried out when he heard the gospel, “Why didn’t you come sooner?”  In the Old Testament Moses parted the Red Sea with a staff and Elijah raised the dead by God’s power, but neither of them could forgive someone’s sins.  In history Jesus is the only one who has authority to forgive sins.  So Jesus wants us to come to Him to receive the forgiveness for our sins.  When the people of Capernaum saw the paralytic pick up his mat and walk, they marveled and said, “We have never seen anything like this!” (12b)  People marveled at Jesus’ authority to forgive sins.  What should we do with our guilt?  We should take it to Jesus.  Jesus’ authority to forgive man’s sin is good news of great joy for all mankind.

3.  Jesus had the hope of God for Levi the Tax Collector (13-17)

Look at v. 13, 14.  “Once again Jesus went out beside the lake.  A large crowd came to Him, and He began to teach them.  As He walked along, He saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth.  ‘Follow me,’ Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed Jesus.”  Levi was not crushed by the hard and fatalistic situation of his people living under foreign military rule of Rome.  Instead, he made a decisive decision and set a clear goal for his life: to make money by any means.  To do so, he became a tax collector for the Roman government.  Of course, he knew that he would be despised as a traitor by his people.  But it was one sure and easy way to get rich, since his salary was skimmed off the top of every penny he collected.  He thought, “Shoot, I’ll take their money.  It’s a tough job, but someone has to do it.  They may hate me, but I’ll be laughing all the way to the bank, baby!”  Levi cared only about himself.  If the paralytic was a powerless sinner, Levi was sick with the sin of selfishness.

Levi thought that money would make him happy.  And he made some money.  He got the Gucci sandals and the Brooks Brothers’ robe.  But to get all this, Levi contracted the disease of selfishness.  These days selfishness is widely condoned.  One 1980s Hollywood movie popularized the phrase, “Greed is good”, and portrayed mutual selfishness as the underlying necessity of a capitalistic society.  But this is the devil’s deception.  In God’s view, selfishness is a terrible condition, like leprosy.  Selfish people are very harmful to others, and to themselves.  Selfish people cannot know the joy of being a blessing to others.  God created us to be a blessing.  People must not be selfish because God is not selfish.  The most important verse in the Bible is John 3:16.  It says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His One and Only Son…”  What a tragedy when marriage, family, and society are broken because of selfishness. 

What happened to poor, selfish Levi?  Sure he had some money.  But no one likes a selfish man.  They can’t stand him.  So though he must have heard about Jesus, he could not go to Jesus.  He was barred from the synagogue as a public sinner.  If a tax collector dared to approach the place where Jesus was teaching, he was driven away like a man with a contagious disease.  Even a poor man with no food and raggedy clothes could scorn Levi and looked noble compared to Levi.  How did Jesus help him? 

These days it doesn’t make financial sense for doctors to make house calls.  But Jesus is a doctor who makes house calls, and He paid a personal visit to Levi.  What was his prescription?  Jesus invited Levi to be one of His disciples.  “As He walked along, He saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth.  ‘Follow me,’ Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed Him.”  Selfish people are terminally sick, and above all, cannot please God.  But Jesus called Levi because Jesus had the hope of God for Levi.  Jesus wanted to restore Levi’s disfigured inner man with a new image of God.  When Jesus called him by saying “Follow me”, Jesus wanted to help him until he became a new man and a truly great man.  Because Jesus had the hope of God for Levi, he was indeed changed under Jesus’ care until he became an apostle and gospel writer. 

America has been abundantly blessed by God.  But the American Christian church has in many ways become selfish, and the spirit of giving to world mission has been in many cases replaced simply by a desire to enjoy Christian life.  In contrast, churches in many poorer nations are giving to world mission and as a result are thriving, while the church in America shows ominous signs of terminal illness.  But in Jesus’ call to Levi, we see that Jesus has great hope for America to be a holy nation and a giving nation. 

What happened when Levi met Jesus?  Based on v. 15, he experienced heavenly joy in his heart.   He went to the Pace Food Warehouse and bought cases of all the good food he could find.  He prepared a great dinner, as the expression of his deep thanks to Jesus.  Levi called all his tax collector friends, Jesus, and his disciples, and they all ate together joyfully.  The hope of God expressed toward Levi immediately began to change Levi from a selfish man to a generous man who could give of himself to others.  This is why he gave something for the first time.  The hope of God for us changes us from ordinary people, like the water at the Cana wedding feast to extraordinary people, like delicious sparkling wine.  When I finished my undergraduate degree I was satisfied to get a full time job.  I thought mainly of what I could get: I leased a cool sports car, white with a spoiler, and began to enjoy purchasing the most expensive items.  I bought one winter jacket for over $200 and dress shoes for around $150.  I bounced many checks.  But one missionary within our ministry had the hope of God for me and taught me the gospel of Luke for two years until Jesus’ call became personal to me.  My life changed from a life of merely receiving to a life of giving.  I became a husband, shepherd, and Ph.D. student.  As some of you may know, a week ago I got back from a research conference in Japan.  My life now has become much, much more interesting and healthy since Jesus called me to follow him.  I really thank God for His mercy on me.

Look at v. 16.  Meanwhile the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw Jesus eating with “sinners” and tax collectors and asked His disciples, “Why does He eat with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?”  Jesus answered them in verse 17.  Let’s read v. 17 together.  “On hearing this, Jesus said to them, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.  I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.’”  A holy God should punish sinners.  But Jesus saw them as sick, dying souls desperately in need of help.  Jesus wanted to help them.  Jesus has authority to help them because he can forgive their sins.  The word “sinner” has a tendency to be overused to the point where it tends to lose its meaning.  In this passage we see that sin is spiritual sickness, and we see how it is manifested in powerlessness and in selfishness and how it causes so much pain and suffering.  It is a problem universal to all mankind, yet there was no cure to be found on this earthly plane.  But Jesus came to call sinners.  He wants to take us out of powerless, selfish lives.  He doesn’t want us to suffer.  He wants to change us into holy children of God.  Let’s read the key verse 17.