Discuss: Do you think it is good for Christians to hang out with notorious wrongdoers or disreputable types? Why or why not? What considerations affect your answer?
1. Levi was also known as Matthew. What was his job?
2. What does Jesus say to Levi, and what was his reaction? (vv. 14-15, cf. Luke 5:29)
3. What might this decision have cost Levi?
4. What does eating a meal with people say and represent?
5. What is the reaction of the religious leaders to Jesus’ dinner companions? (v. 15)
6. What lay behind their objection?
7. Who has Jesus come to call?
8. Were there any at Levi's party that night that Jesus didn't come for? If so, why hadn't he come for them?
9. Why did the tax collectors' accept Jesus?
10. Are you one of those for whom Jesus has come? What does that mean you are saying about yourself?
Note: The parallel passages in Luke 5:27-39 and Matthew 9:9-17 reveal that Jesus came to call sinners to repentance, and that the Pharisees were rebuked because they should have known that God desires mercy not sacrifice (Hos 6:6, quoted by Jesus in Matt 9:13). In Hosea, God's people Israel were guilty of the 'vilest adultery in departing from the LORD'. Theft, oppression, adultery, idol worship, and prostitution filled the land. When Israel saw his sickness and sores, he turned to Assyria, who was unable to cure and heal him (Hos 5:13). God promises to reject them and turn against them 'until they admit their guilt and they seek my face; in their misery they will earnestly seek me' (Hos 6:1). Then comes a wonderful promise 'Come let us return to the LORD. He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us; he has injured us but he will bind up our wounds. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us.' (Hos 6:2-3). The priests, in the context of Hosea 6, are murderers, lying in ambush with bloody footprints (Hos 6:8-9). God says to these religious hypocrites, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings' (Hos 6:6).
Discuss: What is the best wedding which you’ve ever attended? What made it so good?
11. What do you think lay behind the question of 'some people'? (Luke 18:12; cf. Matt 9:14)
12. How does Jesus answer their question? (Mark 2:19-22)
13. Why is it inappropriate for the disciples of Jesus to fast at this time?
14. When will the disciples of Jesus fast? (Mark 2:20, cf. 14:41)
15. Is Jesus critical of the old ways?
16. Why do you think that we should expect changes when Jesus comes? (Mark 14:24, cf. Heb 8:7-13)
17. What is the reason Christians have to celebrate?
Note: When is feasting a fast? Often in the Old Testament, fasting is an expression of sorrow and repentance (Jon 3:5, 7). Fasting may declare mourning (1 Sam 31:13). However, in Isaiah 58:3-10, God addresses the nation that fasted in a way that did not please him. They were at the same time fasting and humbling themselves before God, and yet that very day they were exploiting their workers, quarrelling, and hitting each other! Yahweh declared that this fast was not acceptable. The acceptable fast is this:
Is not this the fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter-when you see the naked to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood. (Isa 58:6-7 NIV)
Discuss: What is the benefit of society having the same day off every 7? What is the benefit of the Sabbath day to the individual?
18. The new pulling away from the old: what was the Pharisee's objection to the disciples picking at the heads of grain on the Sabbath?
Note: God's Law gave permission for a person to take ears of a neighbour's corn, provided that hands and not sickles were used (Deut 23:25). However, the Pharisaic Sabbath regulations contained in the Mishnah said that if the act was done on the Sabbath, it was breaking the law. Plucking the ears was reaping, rubbing the corn in your hands was threshing, throwing the husks was winnowing, and eating was preparing food (Leon Morris, Luke: TNTC, 135).
19. A defence from the Scriptures: what was Jesus' point in reminding the Pharisees of what David did? (vv. 25-26, 12:35-37, cf. 1 Sam 21:4-6; Lev 24:8-9)
20. Why was the Sabbath (rest) given? What was the effect of the excessive regulation of the Sabbath? (v. 27, cf. 3:4)
21. How does Jesus see his authority over God's institution? (v. 28)
22. What does this say about Jesus?
23. What good things can you and should you do on your day off?
Note: The Pharisee's allowed the rescue of an animal if it fell into a pit on the Sabbath (Matt 12:11-12). Yet they objected to Jesus as a lawbreaker for a healing a man! But in Mark, the emphasis falls on a more sinister hypocrisy. Jesus is accused as a lawbreaker for healing and saving life. But the Pharisee's hold themselves guiltless even though on that very Sabbath day they begin plotting with their enemies the Herodians to take Jesus' life. Well may Jesus ask them 'which is lawful to do on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil?’
Some people love the new. Some love the comfortable, the old. Some people like to be on the cutting edge of technology. Others like the bugs to be ironed out by others before they commit to the new thing.
The electric typewriter was once cutting edge technology. You could type in a line and check it before it printed out. What a good idea! Now, of course, they are museum pieces.
There are benefits for lovers of the old. There is certainty, security, and predictability. But the new brings about changes with which the old timers struggle. Uncomfortable changes and new approaches are introduced, challenging old conventions and the received wisdom.
Well, there is something of this clash in our passage today. Jesus is God’s latest release, with new approaches and new things to say. He brings with him new attitudes to people, food, and rest, and in doing so, he makes waves with the old guard.
We pick up the story in chapter 2 verse 13. Again we find Jesus teaching a large crowd, but he turns from the crowd to an individual. There was a casual bystander, Levi the son of Alphaeus, going about his business. Levi was, as far as we know, someone not looking for Jesus, and not expecting Jesus to come into his life. Yet Jesus steps in and changes Levi’s life forever.
Perhaps you are a bit like Levi. Perhaps you are not expecting Jesus, not looking for Jesus, just going about your business, but in it is as if Jesus walks past you and calls you to follow. What are you going to do?
We know a little bit about this man Levi. Matthew gives him the name Matthew (Matt 9:9-13), because it’s him! Matthew, also known as Levi, was later to become an apostle and martyr. But at this point he was a tax collector working by the sea.
Now it is no disgrace to get a job with the ATO after you’ve finished your accounting degree. It’s even OK to get a corner office and waterviews, like Levi had. But being a tax collector in Jesus’ days was a different story. Tax collectors were the sort of dodgy people with regular spots on A Current Affair and Today Tonight. Their job was to take money from their poor countrymen to give to their rich invaders. Their work enabled the Roman occupation forces to continue, so they were traitors to their people. And they often skimmed a bit off the top for themselves. So it is not surprising that the word ‘tax collector’ is synonymous with ‘sinner’. Simply belonging to the profession rendered you a sinner.
And then Levi receives an invitation on the run. Verse 14, Jesus says “Follow me.” These were two words from Jesus that would change Levi’s life, for Levi got up and followed. Luke adds that he left everything: his booth, his career, his security.
How irresponsible is this? Levi leaves a well paying, if unpopular, public service job to follow an itinerate preacher with nowhere to lay his head.
But if Levi left his job, he didn’t leave his mates. Notice verse 15, where Levi hosts a reception dinner, with Jesus as the guest of honour. He opens his house. He invites people from work. Indeed, he invites others likewise despised and looked down upon. But Levi had met Jesus, and he wants others to meet him too. That is the desire of every follower of Christ.
But not everyone is happy with Levi’s hospitality. The Pharisees and the teachers of the law had scruples about who they associated with. They had heard reports about the new teacher from Galilee and they had come to check him out. Is Jesus from God or not? And their investigations revealed unusual activities for a religious person. He eats with ‘tax collectors and sinners’. The Pharisees drew their line. We don’t eat or associate with these sinful people. And they may have had good reason for this. Psalm 1 after all says, “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, or stand in the way of sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers.”
But Jesus did all of these things, sitting with sinners and the wicked, associating with them, even eating with them. And he gives his own reason for so doing, Verse 17:
17And when he heard, Jesus said to them, “The healthy do not need a doctor, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners.”
Some time ago there was a great TV commercial for the Sydney Morning Herald employment section. There’s a man waiting in the Maternity Ward waiting room. He is very nervous, and he’s pacing, all the while wincing at the women’s screams in labour. And you think, “Here is a squeamish expectant father.” Then a nurse runs out and says, “Come in quickly Doctor.” And you see he is not the husband, but the obstetrician. And the end of the ad says, “Need to find a new job! Get the Sydney Morning Herald.”
That is like the Pharisees here. They were doctors afraid to get their hands dirty. They didn’t associate with sin-sick people.
But Jesus is different. This new doctor actually does house calls, for Jesus needs to be with the sick to help them. Sure there are health risks in being a doctor, seeing all those sick people. But the Pharisees real problem is not that they are bad doctors. They are bad doctors, but they are even worse patients. And the worst sort of patient is the one in denial, who says, “I’m not sick.”
Why does Jesus associate with sinners? Because Jesus came as a spiritual doctor. But only those sick with sin need a spiritual doctor. And the Pharisees simply don’t think of themselves that way. They are righteous, not sinners. And they have no need for Jesus.
So why has Jesus come? He’s come as a doctor for the sick. He came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance (see Luke 5:27-32).
Are you a sinful person? Do you look back on your life littered with awful acts, horrible omissions, and blushing thoughts? Can you say with the Psalmist, “Do not enter into judgement with your servant, O Lord, for no-one living is righteous before you”? If so, then you are the sort of person Jesus came for. Things look good for you, for you qualify for free medical attention from Jesus. For Jesus came not to call the righteous, but sinners. Jesus was known as “the friend of tax collectors and sinners” (Matt 11:19). Consequently, Jesus had not come for those like the Pharisees, who thought themselves healthy, because they thought themselves righteous. The thing is, there is no one righteous, only God alone. You and I must confess our sinfulness, and only in so doing can we know that Jesus came for us.
But Jesus not only brings a new attitude and approach to the treatment of those who are spiritually ill and sin-sick. He also brings a new attitude to fasting.
Now ‘to fast’ is to go without some or all food for a period. It often is related to mourning or sorrow, particularly for sin. Originally, there was only one regular day of fasting a year required of the people of Israel—it was on the day of atonement for sin. As time went on, four other national fasts were added. But by the time of Jesus, the Pharisees had made a point of adding fasts here, there and everything. They fasted twice a week, on Mondays and Thursdays. John the Baptist’s disciples were also fasting. Perhaps this was a regular fast, or perhaps they were fasting at the death of John the Baptist. And further, at the time of Jesus, fasting was thought to hasten the coming of the Messiah and his kingdom.
So the question is, What makes Jesus and his disciples different? Everyone else in the religious world is fasting! Why not Jesus and his disciples?
Has anyone ever been to a Middle Eastern wedding? I was invited to a friend’s wedding: he is Lebanese, and she is Jordanian. They had to search around for a church building big enough to fit everyone in, and the reception center could fit a thousand. It was an enormous feast for cousins, friends, relatives, work mates, and acquaintances. There was even a smoke machine when the bridal party entered.
The movie title, ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding’, says it all. Weddings are where you get fat, not go hungry.
Jesus answers the Pharisees’ question with a parable. Parables served to make keen enquirers think while they confuse the merely casual hearer or the proud opponent.
The parable shows that it is inappropriate to fast and mourn with him, Jesus, there. What is the reason for feasting and fasting? Fasting is about sorrow and sadness. But Jesus has arrived. He is the Christ, the Messiah. With Jesus with them, it is not the time for going without. It is for digging in, celebrating, and pass the hommus. Notice how Jesus thinks of himself: I’ve arrived, so the party can start.
But Jesus does point to a day for sadness, when the bridegroom will be taken from them. The words imply violence, even death. It is, even at this early stage in Mark’s Gospel, a hint that Jesus is not just the life of the party, but the suffering servant, acquainted with grief, and that he has come to die on a cross, to serve by giving his life as a ransom for many. And on that day, the disciples will mourn, and weep, and fast.
Can the new ways relate to the old? The fasting question is just the tip of the iceberg, for Jesus’ coming turns upside down the way we relate with God and each other. That’s why we have two parts of the bible: an Old Testament, or covenant—those books written before Jesus came, which testify to Jesus, and a New Testament, or covenant—which teach us about Jesus life, death, resurrection, and the churches’ life under her risen Lord. Jesus’ point is that his coming involves a break with the past. To be sure, Jesus’ coming is in continuity with the Old Testament. The God of the Old Testament is the same as the God of the New. The Christ of the Old Testament is the Jesus of the New.
But the new has come, and that involves changes. When he chooses twelve to be designated ‘apostles’, Jesus is consciously starting again in re-establishing the foundation of God’s new people. So Jesus brings change to all these things: sabbath, ritual washings, fasting, and food laws As Paul says in Colossians 2:16-17:
Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. (NIV)
In the same vein is the question about the sabbath. Again, God had established the pattern of six days work, one day rest, not only in the creation of the world, but also in the 10 commandments, with the fourth commandment. God was a bit like a union rep, making sure everybody, slave or free, had time off, to rest, recouperate, and to think of God. And like an environmentalist, God also made sure that the fields also rested. That was the way God himself had worked at the creation, and that was what God established for Israel.
The Pharisees responded to God’s commands by providing even more commandments, embellishing them and particularly the sabbath command so that they might be sure to keep it. One source said, “If Israel were to keep two sabbaths according to the rules, they would be immediately redeemed.”[1] And one of their rules was not to pluck grain on the sabbath. That is why the Pharisees question the disciples’ actions in verse 24:
24and the Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”
Jesus has three replies.
The first reply is precedent. Verses 25-26:
25And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he and those with him were in need and hungry, 26how he went into the house of God when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the bread of the presence, which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and he also gave some to those who were with him?”
“Go read your Bible,” says Jesus. “Look at what David did (2 Sam 8:17). He was not of a priestly family. Yet he ate the priest’s bread when he and his men were chased by Saul. He was hungry and in need, and he ate and incurred no guilt."
The second response relies on the purpose of the sabbath, verse 27:
27And he said to them, “the Sabbath came about because of man, and not man because of the sabbath,
What is the Sabbath for? It was for people’s benefit. The Pharisees were men trying to protect the Sabbath, but the point of the Sabbath is to protect man. The rest day was to give men rest, not to exhaust them by unreasonable and ridiculous rules.
And the third response raises the issue of Jesus’ identity, who Jesus really is? Verse 28:
28so then the Son of Man is Lord also of the Sabbath.”
Here Jesus reveals his hand. The phrase ‘Son of Man’ is often used by Jesus of himself. At first glance, it seems a humble title. It shows him human. But against its Old Testament background, and for those with ears to hear, the Son of Man was a claim to divinity, as made clear by Daniel 7:13-14:
In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshipped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed. (NIV)
You can see, then, that the Son of Man is a mighty figure. He receives authority, glory, and sovereign power. All nations worship him, and he reigns forever in an everlasting kingdom. That is who Jesus is.
It is not surprising that the one who receive s all authority, glory, and sovereign power is also Lord over the Sabbath. He is Lord of the Sabbath because he is Lord. And he is Lord of the Sabbath because he is the Son of the Man. The word ‘Sabbath’ was also used to describe of the end time of Messianic rule. The Saturday Sabbath rest was meant to be a little picture of what life would be like when God’s Christ ruled forever. And so Jesus is Lord of both God’s eternal kingdom, and of the shadow that pointed to it, the Saturday rest for the nation Israel.
So, Who is the Jesus? This is the question that Mark’s Gospel both asks and answers. Jesus is a spiritual doctor, come to deal with people’s sin problem. He is the bridegroom, the life of the party. At his coming, you cannot fast, but celebrate. But he is also the bridegroom who one day will be violently taken away. That day will be a day of grief and mourning, as Zechariah says, as for an only Son (Zech 12:10). And he is the Son of Man and Lord of the Sabbath, the one who will be worshipped by every person, whether from the height of heaven or the depths of hell.
And why has Jesus come? He has come to call sinful people like tax collectors to follow him. They are people who weren’t really looking for him, like Levi. Jesus has come to call not the righteous but sinners, to repentance. And in doing so, he ushers in a new age, a New Testament, which breaks away from the old.
What is the cost of following Jesus? Well, like Levi, the cost of following Jesus is to leave everything you have and value. It will involve considering yourself a sinner, not among the righteous. And it will involve repentance, turning from your old ways to God’s new way. For Jesus offers a fresh start for sinners
Let’s pray.
[1] Paul Barnett, Mark, 57.
13Καὶ ἐξῆλθεν πάλιν παρὰ τὴν θάλασσαν· καὶ πᾶς ὁ ὄχλος ἤρχετο πρὸς αὐτόν, καὶἐδίδασκεν αὐτούς. 14Καὶ παράγων εἶδεν Λευὶν τὸν τοῦἉλφαίου καθήμενον ἐπὶ τὸ τελώνιον, καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ· ἀκολούθει μοι. καὶ ἀναστὰς ἠκολούθησεν αὐτῷ.
15Καὶ γίνεται κατακεῖσθαι αὐτὸν ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ αὐτοῦ, καὶ πολλοὶ τελῶναι καὶ ἁμαρτωλοὶ συνανέκειντο τῷ Ἰησοῦ καὶ τοῖς μαθηταῖς αὐτοῦ· ἦσαν γὰρ πολλοὶ καὶ ἠκολούθουν αὐτῷ 16καὶ οἱ γραμματεῖς τῶν Φαρισαίων ἰδόντες ὅτι ἐσθίει μετὰ τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν καὶ τελωνῶν ἔλεγον τοῖς μαθηταῖς αὐτοῦ· ὅτι μετὰ τῶν τελωνῶν καὶ ἁμαρτωλῶν ἐσθίει; 17καὶἀκούσας ὁ Ἰησοῦς λέγει αὐτοῖς [ὅτι] οὐ χρείαν ἔχουσιν οἱἰσχύοντες ἰατροῦ ἀλλ’ οἱ κακῶς ἔχοντες· οὐκ ἦλθον καλέσαι δικαίους ἀλλ’ ἁμαρτωλούς.
18Καὶ ἦσαν οἱ μαθηταὶἸωάννου καὶ οἱ Φαρισαῖοι νηστεύοντες. καὶ ἔρχονται καὶ λέγουσιν αὐτῷ· διὰ τί οἱ μαθηταὶ Ἰωάννου καὶ οἱ μαθηταὶ τῶν Φαρισαίων νηστεύουσιν, οἱ δὲ σοὶ μαθηταὶ οὐ νηστεύουσιν; 19καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς ὁ Ἰησοῦς· μὴ δύνανται οἱ υἱοὶ τοῦ νυμφῶνος ἐν ᾧ ὁ νυμφίος μετ’ αὐτῶν ἐστιν νηστεύειν; ὅσον χρόνον ἔχουσιν τὸν νυμφίον μετ’ αὐτῶν οὐ δύνανται νηστεύειν. 20ἐλεύσονται δὲἡμέραι ὅταν ἀπαρθῇ ἀπ’ αὐτῶν ὁ νυμφίος, καὶ τότε νηστεύσουσιν ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇἡμέρᾳ. 21Οὐδεὶς ἐπίβλημα ῥάκους ἀγνάφου ἐπιράπτει ἐπὶἱμάτιον παλαιόν· εἰ δὲ μή, αἴρει τὸ πλήρωμα ἀπ’ αὐτοῦ τὸ καινὸν τοῦ παλαιοῦ καὶ χεῖρον σχίσμα γίνεται. 22καὶ οὐδεὶς βάλλει οἶνον νέον εἰς ἀσκοὺς παλαιούς· εἰ δὲ μή, ῥήξει ὁ οἶνος τοὺς ἀσκοὺς καὶ ὁ οἶνος ἀπόλλυται καὶ οἱ ἀσκοί· ἀλλ’ οἶνον νέον εἰς ἀσκοὺς καινούς.
23Καὶ ἐγένετο αὐτὸν ἐν τοῖς σάββασιν παραπορεύεσθαι διὰ τῶν σπορίμων, καὶ οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ ἤρξαντο ὁδὸν ποιεῖν τίλλοντες τοὺς στάχυας. 24καὶ οἱ Φαρισαῖοι ἔλεγον αὐτῷ· ἴδε τί ποιοῦσιν τοῖς σάββασιν ὃ οὐκ ἔξεστιν; 25καὶ λέγει αὐτοῖς· οὐδέποτε ἀνέγνωτε τίἐποίησεν Δαυὶδ ὅτε χρείαν ἔσχεν καὶ ἐπείνασεν αὐτὸς καὶ οἱ μετ’ αὐτοῦ, 26πῶς εἰσῆλθεν εἰς τὸν οἶκον τοῦ θεοῦ ἐπὶἈβιαθὰρ ἀρχιερέως καὶ τοὺς ἄρτους τῆς προθέσεως ἔφαγεν, οὓς οὐκ ἔξεστιν φαγεῖν εἰ μὴ τοὺς ἱερεῖς, καὶἔδωκεν καὶ τοῖς σὺν αὐτῷ οὖσιν; 27Καὶ ἔλεγεν αὐτοῖς· τὸ σάββατον διὰ τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἐγένετο καὶ οὐχ ὁ ἄνθρωπος διὰ τὸ σάββατον· 28ὥστε κύριός ἐστιν ὁ υἱὸς τοῦἀνθρώπου καὶ τοῦ σαββάτου.
13And he went out again to the seashore, and all the crowd came to him, and he taught them. 14And as he went by, he saw Levi the son of Alpheus, sitting at the tax collectors booth, and [Jesus] said to him, “follow me”. And getting up, he followed him.
15And while he was reclining for a meal in his house, many tax collectors and sinners also were reclining for a meal with Jesus and his disciples, for they were many, and they followed him. 16And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he would eat with the sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 17And when he heard, Jesus said to them, “The healthy do not need a doctor, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners.”
18And the disciples of John and the Pharisees were fasting, and they came and said to him, “Why are the disciples of John and those of the Pharisees fasting, but your disciples are not fasting?” 19And Jesus said to them, “The groomsmen are not able to fast when the bridegroom is with them, are they? For as long as they have the bridegroom with them, they are not able to fast. 20But the days are coming when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and at that time they will fast. 21No-one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth upon old clothes. If they do, the new patch tears away from the old, and the tear becomes worse. 22And no-one puts new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the wine will burst the wineskins, and the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. But new wine is put into new wineskins.
23And on the Sabbath he was passing through the grainfields, and his disciples began to pick the heads of grain along the way, 24and the Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?” 25And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he and those with him were in need and hungry, 26how he went into the house of God when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the bread of the presence, which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and he also gave some to those who were with him?” 27And he said to them, “the Sabbath came about because of man, and not man because of the sabbath, 28so then the Son of Man is Lord also of the Sabbath.”