Title: Jesus Calling Sinners (Mark 2:13-17)
Contents
13 When Jesus went out again to the seashore, all the crowds came and he was teaching them. 14 As he was passing by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the customs office, and he said to him, "Follow me." While he was sitting down to eat, many tax collectors and sinners were sitting with Jesus and his disciples, because there were many of them following him. 16 When the scribes of the Pharisees saw Jesus eating with sinners and tax collectors, they said to his disciples, Why do they eat with tax collectors and sinners? 17 When Jesus heard this, he said to them, “Those who are healthy have no need of a physician, but the sick. I did not come to call a physician, but sinners.”
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This is the age of certifications. If you don't have a license, you can't submit an application anywhere you want, and there are many cases where you can apply for a license to get a license. In some cases, certification is a necessary condition, that is, without a certification, there are cases where only a certification is required, and there are exams that benefit from additional points if there is a certification. It is this society that discusses qualifications even if they do not require visible qualifications. 'You don't have the right to say that!, no, I have the right to say this, you bastard.'
Where can I file an application? Some people get 'born after 1970', some get a four-year college graduation certificate or major, some have academic background but lose motivation in 'final school transcript', 'military service or exempt' items There are men who get caught in , and there are many women who become miserable from "a well-groomed, unmarried woman who is taller than 160". Those who have a past may be frustrated with the items 'Persons who have no grounds for disqualification for appointment as educational officials' or 'Persons with no grounds for disqualification for overseas travel'.
Nothing is easy. Not just the exam papers, but everything. All exams are related to qualifications. Qualifications to vote, qualifications to buy a house, - of course, in this case, whether you have the qualifications for money - even if you apply to the church as an evangelist, it is written this way in the announcement. Driver's License Class 1 Ordinary Holder.
The stage moves from the seaside to the customs, I don't know if the customs was on the beach or in the city centre. But one thing is certain: he was a publican.
The fact that Levi was a publican is a very important point in this story. At that time, tax collectors were the people in charge of collecting taxes, and even though they were Jews, they were living their lives receiving the most reproach from the Jews. He was a person who lived on the rust of the country, just like the current Ministry of Finance and Economy, politicians, and public officials, but heard the voices of patriotism from the people. Because everyone was exploiting the people, they were expected to be scorned by other tax collectors if they received only the taxes they set themselves, so they were unable to live even if they were to live righteously. They were more sinners than men.
They could not come to the synagogue, and even the tax collector's family would be despised. They didn't even become judges, and they weren't even given witnesses. Prostitutes and sinners were their class. Even today's tax officials and police officers are being reviled, but they are not comparable to the tax collectors of that time. In short, they were people who did not want to get close to them, and the people did not want to pretend to know them unless it was really necessary. That person is the Levi who appears here.
A man named Jesus came into the life of the tax collector Levi. At that time, Levi received a request he had never heard of from those who watched him. The request of a man named Jesus was, 'Come with me.' Levi knew that when he asked me to follow him, he wasn't going to a corner and making a secret deal. Because the giving and receiving of money was so overtly public that there was no need to ask for money to be hidden, like the traffic cops of today.
Jesus called Levi exactly, and Levi understood what he was saying. Levi got up and followed him. Luke writes that Levi left everything and followed him. It is similar to what the other disciples did in the past when they followed Jesus at his call.
Levi had a great feast for Jesus, who had called him. The feast was not a small feast. Not only was it not a small feast, it was a troubled feast from the start. Because the characters in question were the main characters of the feast. Jesus was also the problem figure, and the sinners who were with the publicans were also the problem characters. The banquet soon became a yard that could provoke quarrels. The Pharisees and scribes came up with the 'qualification problem'.
If Jesus proclaimed the righteousness of God and taught the kingdom of God like that, that is, if Jesus was truly related to God, he would not be able to associate with sinners. Mentioning God was not to be with unqualified sinners. For, according to their knowledge, God and the sinner could not coexist, and God's righteousness and the sinner's unrighteousness could not coexist. It is not meant to be together. See where the arrows of their attacks go. They are not attacking sinners or tax collectors. By referring to the qualifications of sinners, they attack Jesus who eats and drinks with sinners. It means you are doing something you shouldn't be doing. We must not bring unqualified people into this righteous Jewish society. Jesus associates with unclean people, and it is clear that Jesus is not righteous. Your teacher, Jesus, doesn't know the psalm that says that sinners do not belong to the congregation of the righteous.
Jesus' answer was both easy and clear.
It was said that I was a doctor who came to heal the sick who was a sinner. What are the responsibilities of a legislator? What has been entrusted to Jesus? He is the one who comes as a councilor and saves and heals. He is the One who raises the dead, the crippled, the paralytic, and the tax collector, who rises from the seat of sinners and leaves them.
There are many people who say that they are not in a position to believe in Jesus because they are not righteous. No matter how much delusion is free, there is no such delusion in delusion. On the contrary, it is misunderstood and misunderstood. There are many people who say they do not believe in Jesus because they do not have the qualifications. Oh, I can't stop drinking, I can't stop smoking, and I'm telling lies like I'm eating, so I'm dirty and I don't have the right to believe in Jesus.
But, dear saints, See today's text. And listen to what Jesus has to say there. Think about the meaning of today's text and look to Jesus. Who did Jesus call? Didn't you call Levi, the representative of sinners? Why did you call him? Why did you call him to follow him, then go into his house, eat and drink with him, and sit among the banquets of sinners? What does this mean?
Those who say they do not believe in Jesus because they do not have the qualifications to believe in Jesus are misunderstood, but those who claim to believe in Jesus are also mistaken. They believe that they will go to heaven, but they use the illusion as their own food and live with their own contempt and abuse in their arms.
The blood of Jesus overcomes sin. Our sins cannot overcome the blood of Jesus. Our death cannot overcome the life of Jesus. We gain a new life through the merits of Jesus, the God who heals us. If we extend our original life, it does not mean that we will live forever for a thousand years of bliss. It is not the responsibility of the begotten to be born, nor is it the responsibility of the patient to cure the disease. Life belongs to the sovereign of life, and treatment belongs to the physician. Everything is a grace that flows from top to bottom, and it happens outside of my body and into my body. With folk remedies, it is impossible to remove the head, put on a new head, remove the body, and replace it with a new body.
A clean person cannot and does not need to believe in Jesus. Please do not worry about my chastity. To believe in Jesus is to believe in Jesus' purity and righteousness, but not to believe in my holiness and purity. Isn't it the believer's faith to believe in the purity of Jesus and the sacrifice of Jesus? Please don't look at yourself and talk about your faith. When Jesus calls someone, who can be called if he sees the righteousness and purity in him and calls him? Isn't Jesus coming to a dirty world and to us who are living a dirty life in a dirty world?
There is only one righteousness before God. There is no one righteous except Jesus. We do not have any other certifications. Our certification is simply the blood of Jesus, His cross. Nothing else is needed anymore. If you have the blood of Jesus, that is everything, and without the blood of Jesus you are nothing. The blood of Jesus is our need and our sufficient. God has sent this Son to us, who is the love of God to us, and it is grace for us that the Son came to us and gave us new life by his blood and flesh and by his life. Jesus Christ is our identity. To live knowing this fact and not forgetting it is to live with the fullness of the Holy Spirit.
Therefore, I hope that you will live every day depending on this Jesus, spend the rest of your life giving thanks for the grace of Jesus who came to me like Levi, and praise God who has triumphed in the end by sending His Son. It is the life of a saint who lives even after death, and it is the life of those who sat down with Jesus at the heavenly feast. I hope this blessing comes to you.