Mark 2:13-17- Restoring the Sick, Jesus' Mission and Ours

This text reminds me of a time when my uncle was returning home from fighting in Vietnam. To get home he had to drive on a toll road. All of these toll roads were supposed to be temporary but they are still there today. When Gene came to one of the toll booths he refused to pay the toll, saying, “I just risked my life for this country, and I lost a lot of good friends while was there, I am not going to pay a toll to get back to my home after all of this.”

When Gene did this neither the person in the toll booth or my uncle Gene would back down so the highway patrol was called in to assist. The officer threatened to arrest my uncle but eventually someone decided that they would let him go through the toll without paying. Over the years Gene loved to tell that story about how he stood against paying that toll.

In Mark 2:13-14 we find a story about Jesus when He encountered a tax collector named Levi. How would Jesus treat this man who so many other people hated. Let’s read about this in Mark 2:13-17, “He went out again beside the sea, and all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them. 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.

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. 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?” 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 is teaching the people in verse 13, “He went out again beside the sea, and all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them.” In one of our bible studies we are studying Psalm 119 where the psalmist prays that the LORD will teach him. In Psalm 119 this occurs 11x. (12, 26, 29, 33, 64, 66, 68, 108, 124, 135, 171). (ESV Translation)

The psalmist was one of those Old Testament saints who desired to see the coming of the Messiah and to be taught by Him. (Hebrews 11:13) The psalmist penned this psalm to encourage God’s people to desire to be taught by the LORD. One of my favorite lines in this psalm is Psalm 119:27, “Your testimonies are my delight; they are my counselors.” Jesus commended faithful saints like this when He said, “For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.” (Matthew 13:17)

In v.13 Jesus is walking among the people doing what He liked to do best- teaching them. In this way the Providence of God is blessing those people in no small way! The writer of Psalm 119 would have loved to have had the opportunity to learn from Jesus. Like this psalmist, there were many people who desired to hear Jesus teach. We are told in v.13 ‘the crowd was coming to Him’. (13)

Last week in Mark 1:1-12 we saw that Jesus had the authority to forgive sins. This week we get to see what type of person Jesus forgives. Will Jesus forgive a righteous man? Will He save only those who are good? No, we’ll discover that Jesus came to forgive humble sinners. Note: Not only does Jesus forgive such people, but Jesus brings them into a special relationship through adoption. In Mark 2:5 Jesus said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

Let me make another observation about Jesus teaching this crowd. Jesus came to save sinners, the sick, and the unhealthy. How does He do this? He does it through teaching the Gospel to the people. As the Word of God goes fourth people then can respond in faith to be justified. And as He teaches His disciples they can hear the Word of God and be sanctified by the truth.

Question: Have you come to saving faith through the Gospel? And are you continuing to turn to the Word of God to guide you in your sanctification? Or are you turning to others for help, guidance, and counsel? (Psalm 1)

Verse 13 primarily speaks about the crowd of people that had gathered around Jesus to hear Him teach. But in verse 14 it is Jesus who sees a man and He pursues a relationship with him, “And as he (Jesus) 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.”

Levi is not standing at the tax booth dutifully paying his taxes; no, Levi is sitting at the tax booth taking taxes from the people. Tax collectors were known to be greedy, liars, cheaters, and extortionists. Of all people that Jesus could have chosen, why did He choose this man?

• Capernaum was a great place to collect taxes because of the fishing industry and a trade route that went through this town.

• Tax collectors were loathsome to the Jews because they were an Israelite who worked for the Romans.

• Even worse, Levi’ name would suggests that he should have been representing the people before the LORD as a priest; instead, he had forsaken that noble calling to do this job.

Men like Levi were despised and were considered to be more unclean than someone with leprosy. This was because no one chose to have leprosy, but this man willingly chose to be a tax collector and extort money from his people. Levi was not considered trustworthy so he would not be allowed to testify in court.

Despite knowing all these things, Jesus sees this man and says to him, “Follow me.” The way Jesus calls Levi is similar to what we saw when He called Peter, James, John, and Andrew. Jesus called those men after He had taught large crowds of people. And in all these cases Jesus addressed these men who were working while He taught the people.

I wonder how Peter, James, John, and Andrew may have reacted to Jesus’ decision to call this man to be a disciple. As fisherman they had probably had their own dealings with Levi when they had to pay him taxes for the fish they had sold.

Observation: I’d imagine that these four men were accustomed to Jesus associating with sinners and people like Levi. In our text we see Jesus’ disciples reclining comfortably at dinner in a house that was full of sinners. Nonetheless, their acceptance of these things would soon be tested by Satan who would try to create a division between them and Jesus regarding the gospel mission that He was engaged in. We will see that Satan will use the religious leaders to do this in vv. 16-17, “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?”

It would be easy to overlook the subtle attack that is happening when these words are spoken to Jesus’ disciples. They say to them, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” Notice that this is an attack against Jesus when they say, “Why does He…”. These words have the ability to create a division between Jesus and His disciples. They could create a division between Jesus and the disciples regarding the Gospel Mission that Jesus was calling them to, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” We see in Galatians 2:11-14 how easily the disciples could cave under the pressure that was being exerted upon them by the scribes. Who do they want to be associated with, the religious leaders or with tax collectors and sinners?

Application#1: It is our desire over the next five years to see 300 individuals and families restored (healed) by the Gospel. As we seek to do this Satan will try to sow discord among us regarding that vision that we have been given as a congregation. We must be aware of this and together stay on mission. In subtle and not so subtle ways Satan will try to divide us to keep this from happening.

Application#2: In our text we see Jesus ministering to large crowds (13), but we also see that He also gives individuals particular callings (14). This same thing is happening among us. Let me explain, it is our desire together as a congregation to see God call, equip, and send each one of us out to our own particular mission fields. We believe that all of us have been given a unifying mission, ‘Together, offer hope through saving faith in Jesus.’ We all believe that Jesus is the Great Physician who has come to call sinners, but we also believe that the LORD accomplishes this by giving His people unique callings and opportunities to reach these people with the hope of the Gospel.

In the coming years we will be best served in the mission we have been given by supporting each other in our own unique callings to reach the particular mission field. We will be ill-served if we work against each other and what God has called each of us to do just like the religious leaders are doing in our text today. (16-17) Behind any such division will be worldly wisdom working through our own indwelling sin, sin in this world, or Satan himself.

As I have contemplated our text I have often thought about how God operates among the many and through particular individuals to fulfill His mission. One of the examples of this that I have considered was during the time of the Reformation. At that time Europe was full of religious activity: pilgrimages, mass attendance, indulgence buying, and public processions were well attended. In other words, the crowds were deeply religious during this time. However, the LORD chose one man, Martin Luther, out of the many to recover the Gospel and change the world. At that time when God did this in Germany He also began to raise up other people in other countries to do the same. May He do this among us as well. Perhaps we will move towards our goal initially through a small group of individuals, but then as time goes on it will be joined by others.

Or consider how there have been times when many people began to pray for the spread of the Gospel. As a result of those prayers, the LORD raised up particular individuals to do something special for the advancement of the Gospel. In the modern missions movement many churches prayed for the nations and in response God called particular individuals to be the answer to those prayers.

• Hudson Taylor was sent to China Inland Missions

• William Carey was sent to India

• Jim Elliot was sent to Equador

When Jesus called Levi he had not left his tax booth to go be among the crowd to hear Jesus teach. No, he had remained at his tax booth and collected money while Jesus did this. But when this personal invitation was given to Him by Jesus he immediately got up and followed after Jesus and never looked back. Because of this Matthew could say with Peter in Mark 10:28, “We left everything to follow you.”

Matthew’ response to Jesus’ command is seen most clearly in Luke 5:28, “And leaving everything, he rose and followed him.” We have often asked, “How will we know if a person or a family is being restored over the next five years?” Luke 5:28 gives us an answer to that question. Have they become disciples who are willing to leave their past sinful life behind? Have they gotten up and readied themselves to leave and follow Jesus? Have they followed Jesus and said goodbye to their past life? As we see these things happening we can affirm that He who begins this good work in a person will bring it to completion. (Philippians 1:6; 1 Thess. 1:4-10)

When Jesus called Peter, James, John, and Andrew no one seemed to notice, but when Jesus chooses Matthew it catch the attention of many people including Israel’s leaders. The reaction we experience from others when we are called will be different. Some get saved and only a few notice. Others get saved and everyone seems to take notice. Despite this, the same power is displayed when anyone is saved. Paul prays in Ephesians 1:18-20 that believers will know “what is the immeasurable greatness of His power towards us who believe, according to the working of His great might that He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead…”.

We see the reaction of the religious leaders when Matthew is picked by Jesus in vv. 15-16, ‘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 (sinners and tax collectors) who followed him. And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was (reclining) eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he (recline) eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

Notice that four times it is stated or inferred that Jesus was with sinners and tax collectors. And notice that four times it is stated or inferred that Jesus and His disciples were reclined with them in Matthew’s home. Jesus is quite comfortable among those He came to save, the sick, the sinful, and the unrighteous. When Jesus heard what the scribes had said to His disciples He responded, saying, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

In John 17:12 Jesus prayed to His Father saying, “While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.” Mark 2:13-17 is one of those times when Jesus protected His disciples from the subtle and deceitful attack by Satan. Jesus’ response exalted Himself and His gospel mission in the eyes of His disciples, in the eyes of these scribes, and among those sinners that He was with in that house.

I wish I had more time to talk about Mark 2:17. Let me simply leave you with these thoughts. Jesus did not come to save the righteous. No, He came to save the helpless and the hopeless. He came to heal the impossible cases that no one else can deal with. Do we believe that Jesus came to heal the spiritually sick (dead) and to save the unrighteous? If we do, there is no situation in which we can bring Jesus and He will not be able to save, deliver, and make well. Jesus is the great physician who can both justify and sanctify sinners.

Let us end by remembering Paul’s words in Romans 5:6-11, “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”