God Has Mercy For The Most Despised | Mark 2:13-17 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Gospel of Mark Series)

I greet you in the name of Lord Jesus Christ, the resurrected Lord and the soon returning King. If you can meet me in your copy of God's word in the book of Mark chapter two. If you're visiting with us, we've been going together as a family through the book of Mark. And week after week, as we hear from this word, we never cease to be amazed at just how majestic and wonderful he is. And that will only continue to be true as we come to this text in verse 13 of Mark chapter two in a very familiar passage, but we trust that the Holy Spirit would enlighten us to see fresh revelation that would benefit us in our sanctification and even benefit perhaps somebody in here who doesn't know Jesus.

In Mark two thirteen, we read, 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 reclined 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. Lord, we come before you with this text in front of us. And, Lord, you know the hearts of all men.

You know the condition of our hearts in this place. You know exactly what we need to hear. We trust, Lord, as this text, as this service has been prayed over, that you will indeed move in an obvious way. Lord, we realize our weakness, our frailty, our inconsistent habits. But Lord, there is something in us because of your spirit that desires to know you and be like you.

So we ask, Father, through this text, would you empower us to obey, and would you draw us to worship you? Lord, you see our generation, the flood of distractions, the death, the destruction, the the confusion. Lord, we need an extra measure of your power. Would you supply it in this place for the name of Jesus Christ's sake? And in his name we pray.

Amen. After declaring and demonstrating his authority to forgive sins, the Holy Spirit takes us by the hand, and he brings us before the Lord Jesus as he demonstrates that grace, that ability to extend pardon to the undeserving in a very, very moving scene. And this is accomplished as Mark introduces us to a man by the name of Levi who was known as a collector of taxes in Jesus's day. Now the significance of Levi's occupation will be explained in a moment, but it's good for us to know that the very same man that we are witnessing about today is in fact believed by the majority that he is the same person as Matthew, the tax collector, that we read of in the book of Matthew, which is the first book in our New Testament library. And the reason why that is the consensus is because there is an exact almost word for word account of this conversion story in the book of Matthew, and instead of the name Levi being used, it's Matthew.

Now you might be wondering why two names for the same person. Culturally speaking, that was very common in Jesus' day where you would have somebody who was labeled or identified by more than one name. One of the disciples actually has three names in our bibles. His His name is Peter, and in some places, Simon, and another is Cephas. So there's nothing to be confused about that, and there's nothing contradictory about it.

What's more important is that the story of Levi's conversion is strategically placed right after Jesus forgives and heals a paralyzed man. And that is a spiritual thing because this emphasis is to tell us that there is a greater reach in Jesus' forgiveness. It goes to places that you would not fathom. It touches the hearts that you would not believe, and that is the case when we come here with Levi. But more than that, the fact that it's told right after a miracle indicates that this conversion in itself is a miracle.

It's even a greater miracle than the one who had lifeless legs and was told to pick up his bed and go home. And so we come here to see that Levi's story is a miraculous story. An old preacher said something that I love to repeat from time to time. He said the greatest miracle that God can do today is to take an unholy man from an unholy world and make him holy, then put him back in that unholy world and keep him holy. And that is what we are going to witness today, a very unholy man who is then made holy and then giving us the inspiration that he can do the same today.

Levi's testimony is given to tell us that redemption and healing in the soul is available to the most repugnant and repulsive of all, and that is certainly true of our world today. There is if if you're honest with yourself, there is a category of sinners perhaps in your heart that you perhaps deem as hopeless and too ugly in terms of sin and too horrendous in terms of actions and belief that you almost write them off as reprobates to the degree that they will never have a chance to be saved. May I present to you Levi to give you the hope that perhaps somebody that you dearly love that is so far out can actually come into contact with the grace of Jesus Christ and be saved because of it. Consider three things with me this afternoon. The calling of Levi, the conversion of Levi, and the conflict around Levi.

The calling of Levi. After being told that Jesus was fulfilling what he was called to do, what he was sent to do at this point in his ministry, to teach and preach the good news, we now see Jesus very briefly in motion. There is a transition, a physical one, because we read in verse 14, as he passed by so here's Christ walking from one direction to the next. We may just write that off as unimportant, but it is extremely significant because in those brief seconds is a person on that same path who will forever have his life altered because of Jesus Christ. Don't get distracted now.

They're just people. And so what we see here is Jesus passing by and in passing by, meditate to realize what that means. He passed by and he saw Levi sitting at the tax booth. No random detail. There is Matthew, and I'm gonna use Levi and Matthew interchangeably, same person.

There is Matthew sitting in a tax booth while Jesus is crossing him in that path. And this is important because you and I have to understand culturally how deplorable tax collectors were. Those of you who grew up in church, this is, like, common. You understand that. But just realize just how much they were hated as I explain who tax collectors were to the Jews.

They were traitors. They worked for the Romans. The Romans oppressed the Jews of this time. And for you to volunteer to work for the Romans in the eyes of the Jews was disgusting. How dare you?

You already seen that we are burdened by this people. You already seen that we don't have the freedom that we desire, and here you are only strengthening their cause over us. But more than the fact that their position declared a lack of faithfulness and fidelity to their people and even to their God, these tax collectors couldn't help it. Their position of authority and power tempted them, and they would give into that temptation to make a profit for themselves. So they would cheat with the numbers.

They would manipulate. They would press. And whatever extra they would get out of their oppressed brethren, they would put it right into their pockets. Ancient Jewish commentaries and writings tell us that to the general public, tax collectors were no different than thieves and murderers. They were illegitimate witnesses in a court setting.

They were shunned to participate in the worship service at synagogues. And we even read here at one point in the Mishnah, which is the oral traditions of the Jews in ancient times, that a tax collector was so deplorable that even if he entered into someone's house, that house would be deemed as unclean. You have to understand what they felt about these people. And that's amazing because, in other words, to the Jews, the tax collectors were just as despicable and worthy of social isolation as the leper. And you could almost say that these men were even more to be despised than the leper because the leper didn't have a choice in the matter concerning his condition, but the tax collector did.

You you were so unfeeling about your reputation that you were willing to be a part of something that you knew would cause people to despise you, but they could care less. And here's the beautiful thing, that this is where and when Jesus calls Matthew to himself while he is sitting at the tax booth. Levi wasn't attending the service in verse 13 by the sea. He wasn't eagerly hearing the teachings of Jesus. He was right in the middle of his sin.

He was sitting there. He was comfortable there, and it was there where he heard the voice of the shepherd calling him to himself, wanting him to himself. Note even the very detailed word here in verse 14. As he passed by, he saw Levi. What did those eyes communicate?

What I see there is that when Jesus saw Levi, he knew exactly who Levi was. He knew that he had a corrupt character. He knew that he was part of something that was dishonoring. He knew the burden that Levi placed on the fellow citizens who were innocent and already struggling. He knew of the of the stigma around his occupation.

He saw all of it, and yet still out of the same lips, he says, follow me. I want you. While understanding full well who Levi was, an agent of pain, and someone who lost all feeling concerning his own reputation, a spiritual leper, The Lord wanted him, and that same mercy that he is displaying towards Levi is the same mercy that is so powerfully drawing sinners today. Christ doesn't want you to meet him halfway. Listen, if you're a doubtful person concerning the grace of Jesus Christ, as you're there swimming in your sin, yes, with filthy hands and even perhaps a perverted mind, wow, while you're listening to the sermon, your mind is twisted.

Hear what I have to say. Jesus doesn't want you to prove yourself to be worthy to come to him. He wants to rescue you exactly where you are. And he calls from the shore for you to reach out your hand, and his arm is long enough and strong enough to pull you out of muck and mire. And that's exactly what he is doing and wanting to do even in this place today.

There is an invitation ringing out loud because the very essence of that invitation is it has the power to change you. You don't change yourself so you can come to Christ. You come to Christ so he can change you. And he longs to change you. He longs to receive all glory in changing you, and he here is seeing Levi in his sin, and he says, I want you now.

Right there. You'd be amazed to know the skepticism. You'd be be amazed to know the hesitation of people coming. Oh, I just don't know if I'm if I'm worthy. I don't know if I'm a candidate.

No. You are a candidate. You are exactly the person that Jesus is looking for. As we read later on, that he comes for the sick, a physician is drawn to those who need the physician, not to those who think they have no need of him. I wanna I want you to see something quickly.

Turn your bibles quickly with me to Romans chapter five, and look at these amazing statements about who Jesus comes for. Three verses. Romans five six first. Look at these words. For while we were still weak, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly.

Weak, unable to fulfill the law, unable to prove yourself, unable to be obedient and remain obedient while we were still weak. Romans five eight. But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners. So not just even attempting our righteousness, but being weak at it. But while you were sinning and comfortably doing it, disobeying, living for your passions and your pleasures, While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

It doesn't end there. Yeah. While you were weak, while you're still sinners, Romans five ten. For while we were enemies, for while we were still weak, verse six. For while we were still sinners, verse eight.

Verse 10, for while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his son. Much more that we are reconciled shall we be saved by his life. Enemies. Open rebellion to God. Sticking your nose to the heavens and raising your fist and saying, I know what I'm doing, and I'm gonna do it gladly.

It's one thing for one man to die for a friend or for a child, but it's another thing to die for an enemy. It's one thing to to die for somebody who's trying to get right, but they don't have the power to get right. But for somebody who turns their back and knows exactly the kind of blasphemy they are performing, and yet still Christ says, I still want you. I'm coming for the blasphemer. I'm coming for the one who hates me.

I'm coming for the one who despises my law and my character. I'm coming for them too. For while we were weak, while we were still sinners, while we were enemies, while he was sitting at a tax booth, Jesus says, I want you. I want you to follow me. And Levi was called, yes, while sitting there, but Levi was called for a limited time frame.

Verse 14. And as he passed by, as glorious as this grace is, you have to understand that it has a window of time, and Levi only had so much time to work with. Jesus did not rent a room across from the tax polls so that he can have a few weeks of a one on one campaign to convince Levi that he needed to surrender his life. He was passing by. It was a short opportunity, and Levi had to Levi had to respond to that because the physical picture here provides a biblical illustration of the urgency of salvation.

You don't really hear the word hell anymore in church. Right? It's kind of a rare word. I remember somebody told me once after I preached on it, I don't believe that you should use hell to try to convince sinners to come to Christ. Oh, really?

So what do you tell Jesus then? You have a problem with Jesus' evangelism. If you have a problem with me there is no doubt in my mind that many will be in hell who knew exactly how to be saved. They can even tell you how what the gospel is. The problem is not their lack of the knowledge of the gospel.

The problem is their hesitation or unwillingness to surrender to the call of the gospel. Let me take it further. I believe there will be many in hell who would even say and admit that they were even at one point interested or eager to repent and believe. But as they reflect on their life at on earth, they remember they push it off until tomorrow. And once tomorrow came, they delayed it until next week.

And then once next week came, that conviction that once so sharply cut their hearts and brought an awakening to their conscience was ultimately dulled until it essentially disappeared, until they whisked away into eternity. Many will understand that their place in judgment was not because they didn't hear, was because they didn't say yes when they had the chance to. And there are so many sobering illustrations of this in the Bible, and one of the strongest illustrations is with a man named Felix in Acts 24, who had Paul as a prisoner before him. And Felix was hearing his case because the Jews accused him of all these weird things, including treason, and so Felix was going to hear him. But Felix was interested in more than just what the Jews had to say.

In acts twenty four twenty four, Felix and his wife, Drusilla, we read, after some days, Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was a Jewish, and he sent for Paul and heard him speak about faith in Christ Jesus. We don't know if it was Felix or his wife who was Jewish that wanted to hear what Paul had to say concerning Jesus Christ. Despite the fact, Paul gladly with those chains came before and says, let me tell you about the Lord Jesus Christ. And so he preaches, and so he teaches. And Felix is there, I'm sure, on some kind of a throne with his hand on his chin listening intently, and then something happens in verse 25.

And as he reasoned, Paul, about righteousness and self control and the coming judgment, Felix was alarmed and said, go away for the present. When I get an opportunity, I will summon you. Here's the sad part. Felix says, I will fetch for you when I'm ready, and there is never a recorded moment where he ever asked for that opportunity again. And I am just so impressed by Paul's gospel presentation because the way he spoke and what he spoke about clearly disturbed Felix.

Not that we intend to disturb or offend, but the Bible tells us so clearly what he said that shook Felix. He mentioned righteousness. He mentioned self control. He mentioned judgment to come. Now let's just be honest today.

How much do we hear of that in our gospel presentation? How much do we hear of God's holiness? How much do we hear of the repentance that is needed? The self control there is speaking of the repentance that is needed to say yes. How much do we hear of the judgment to come if you refuse to surrender to Jesus Christ who delivers you from the righteous standard of God?

If we wanna know how to preach, let's go to the preachers in the bible. And we see here that he presents these things, and it clearly had this man shook because the guilty condition of his soul was brought before him, and he wanted to shake it off. And so he says, depart from me. I will come for you in a more convenient time. But listen to me, there is never more of a convenient time to surrender than Christ than today.

Because the more you resist, and maybe you're in this place and you have resisted, you've heard week after week the gospel. Listen to what I have to say. The more you resist today, the harder it is to say yes tomorrow. You don't believe me, do you? Well, look at Felix.

In Acts twenty four twenty seven, do you wanna know how long Felix had Paul in his presence and at his disposal? In Acts twenty four twenty seven, we read, when two years had elapsed. Two years. Two years, Felix was succeeded by Porcup Festus, and desiring to do the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul in prison. Two whole years.

And he wasn't saved. Didn't call for Paul to explain the gospel again. Didn't ask for more details. Didn't ask him to be led to the to the Jesus that saved Paul. Two years.

And that's why the Holy Spirit says, today, as the Holy Spirit says, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts. You have an ability to harden your own heart, and you can make it much more callous than it was yesterday. And it can come to the point where you were so hardened that now you're just coming week after week and nothing moves you. Nothing. Listen to me.

I'm being very, very serious. You can come to the point where God can warn you once, just once, and you will never feel the urgency of that warning again after one time, and God is completely justified in all of that. We have this strange concept as though we're doing Jesus a favor and he has to wait on our terms, and when we're ready, we'll come to him today. And if it comes today and you don't answer today, who says you're gonna answer tomorrow? Felix didn't.

Oh, and Moses told Pharaoh about the plague to stop. You know what Pharaoh said concerning the frogs? Moses says, when do you want it to end? He goes, tomorrow. Tomorrow?

You can have it today. Yeah. But for some reason, I wanna wait till tomorrow. We are strange creatures, sons and daughters of Adam, confused in so many ways. We see here that Felix waited till tomorrow.

So so what was holding him back? Would you like to know? Verse 26. It says here, at the same time, he hoped that money would be given him by Paul. So he sent for him often and conversed with him.

Money, riches. The only reason why he kept Paul close is because he thought that there would be some bribe to have him released, and so he kept them close. And so he was hoping that one day Paul would even say, look, I really wanna get out of here. I have a missionary in a journey to fulfill. Here, take some money or his friends would come and provide some kind of extra cash.

The thing that was weighing down Felix, at least one thing, was the love of the world. The love for things. The love for gain. And it's very possible that there are some who have been sitting here for weeks and months. And your heart is only getting harder and harder because you refuse to say yes.

For what? Money? Your little empire? Your cute boyfriend? Girlfriend?

Fear for your family? Whatever the case may be, would you sense the warning from Felix's life? And if you have that feeling of warning, be encouraged by Matthew. When the Lord asked him to leave, when he asked him to follow him, he did not reply with saying, can you just let me finish my shift? I'm in the middle of my work here.

I got a couple of more hours. Maybe I'll talk to you in my break time. Did not say, Lord, I mean, I'm a I'm a very affluent man. I have high position here. I I would like to retire in a respectable way.

Can you just give me a couple weeks while I put in my notice and and then I can follow you? Nothing of the sort. He sensed the urgency of the moment. It's either now or never. And I'm gonna say yes now.

And he did. And to the human understanding, this might have been an inconvenient time. Jesus, why did you call him while he was sitting at the tax booth? But let me tell you something of the ways of the Lord. The call to salvation, and even after you're saved, the call to obedience is oftentimes unfavorable to the favorable to the flesh.

It's very rare where your flesh is gonna say, yeah. Let's do it. I'm in agreement. I think this is the perfect time. Oh, you can find a man broken enough who is desperate enough, but that is rarely the case in America.

You have people here who tend to give Jesus terms. Can I tell you my own growing up in a Christian home? I actually gave Jesus an age. Lord, when I'm 30 years old, I will follow you. Ain't that isn't that nice?

19, 18 years old, knowing knowing full well that this Jesus fellow is real. He is indeed God. But I have a life to live, man. I got things to do. Jesus, you might get in the way.

So, Lord, when I'm 30, hopefully, I'll be married. I'll bring my wife too even if she doesn't believe in you. 30 years old. How does that sound? What kind of agreement are you making with Jesus?

Wanna wait till you finish school, till you get serious with Jesus? You wanna explore a little bit of the world? A dangerous, dangerous game to play Russian roulette with your soul. So what is your excuse? There is no better time to serve Jesus than today.

There is no better time to be saved by Jesus than today. Because anything else that is delayed is only wasted time when it could have been invested into eternal reward and joy at this present moment. Levi heard. He realized that even in his physical predicament, you're actually calling me a tax collector to to come and follow you. I will do it.

And perhaps the reason why people do not sense the urgency is because they don't realize how horrendous their sin is. I'm telling you, I've talked to enough people to come to this conclusion. Many many people think that God is just a little bit better than us. Just a little bit. Many many people in America, which is like the Disneyland of the world, think that heaven is a little bit better than where we're at today.

That's why you have people saying, you know, I don't know. I wanna do this and do that before he comes and brings his kingdom. I'm telling you the people living in huts in communist China are not thinking the same thing. They're desperate for the return of Jesus Christ. Because they don't have this concept that it's a little bit better than what we have going on here.

And I'll tell you that very soon we're not gonna be thinking that anymore here in America. The call for Levi to be saved, But concern the conversion of Levi, we can easily expand in great detail what was proven in his change with Jesus. Despite the fact that he left something that was profitable, something that secured his future, and just threw it all away to say, Lord, I will go wherever you want me to go. Consider the celebration that Levi has because of this occurrence. 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.

This is not just Matthew trying to honor Jesus. This is Matthew trying to introduce Jesus. And this man who could not comprehend how someone like him can actually be called by someone like him could not keep that grace to himself, but goes to great lengths to make sure that others can have the same chance that he had. And so it is with the person who has been truly transformed by Jesus. You cannot keep it to yourself.

You wanna do what you can, and you have here Levi opening his home. Lord, come over, and I will bring as many people as possible. How true is that zeal when we first come to know Jesus Christ? Luke tells us something more detailed. Luke says in five twenty nine of his book, and Levi made him a great feast.

Made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with him. So he celebrates. Jesus reclines. He's comfortable. And people are coming to converse with him and hear him and perhaps be saved from him and by him.

We see here that Levi had a great change immediately, evangelistic zeal, but it's even greater than that. I want you to see how. Levi, we see his actions, but we don't see his words. There's not one moment in any of the gospels where you have a recorded speech given by this disciple. But I wanna prove to you in a subtle way how Levi actually proves the depth of his salvation in what he doesn't say.

Remember how Mark describes the celebration. We are told clearly in verse 15, and as he, Jesus, recline at table in his house being the house of Levi. You heard it from Luke five twenty nine that Levi held a great feast in his house, and a large company was there. That tells me that this man was wealthy. He could host a great feast and he can host a great number of people in his home.

This guy had money. This guy was wealthy. But have you ever considered how Matthew himself writes of his own testimony? Have you ever looked at Matthew's version of his conversion and what he says he does for Jesus after he was saved? Would you like to see it?

In Matthew chapter nine verse nine, you will see it. And it is very, very revealing of the character of this man, though inspired by the spirit. In Matthew nine verse nine, As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, follow me, and he rose and followed him. Pause. Matthew is writing this.

So you can imagine what's going through his mind as he's coming to this point in the gospel writing about his own story, about how Jesus met him and saved him and changed him. And so he says it almost word for word as Mark does, Almost word for word as Luke does. And then you come to verse 10. And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. Mark, they all went to Levi's house.

Luke, Levi had a great feast and he had a large company of people there. Matthew, Jesus was reclining at table at the house. What are you doing there, Matthew? I'm trying to conceal myself. I I wanna veil my hospitality and my generosity.

I don't I'm not really interested in making my works for Jesus known. And so with some kind of subtleness and with a strategic uncleanness, He wants to he wants to teach people through his writings. Yes, Jesus sits and dines with sinners and tax collectors, but I don't really want to mention how big the party was. I don't really want to mention that it was my house and that I held a great feast. I'm not sure how far along Matthew's life was when he wrote this gospel, surely after the resurrection, the ascension of Jesus.

But one thing I can assess by this observation, he was mature in his faith, And he had a wisdom and a humility. And the Holy Spirit honored that and translated that in the scriptures, so that when you compare Mark and Luke and Matthew writing of himself, you would see, wow, Matthew. What are you trying to do there? I wonder if this verse ran through Matthew's mind in Proverbs twenty seven two. Let another praise you and not your own mouth.

A stranger and not your own lips. Can I tell you something about the power of this gospel? It really changes you in a fine tune way. Doesn't just give you some confidence that you're gonna go to heaven, it chisels you. And the Holy Spirit, after you say yes to the Lord Jesus, enters into your life.

We sang it. He is alive in me, and he commits himself to conforming you into the image of the very one who saved you. And so we see here even with Matthew, though no recorded word is given, in his own writing, he is silent about his own works. He would not dare to try to put any spotlight on himself, but on Christ and Christ alone. And I think that is so encouraging because I look at this day today, and I I can't think of of a more self loving, self centered, self praising, self advertising generation.

The good thing about our generation is that anybody can have a platform. The bad thing about this generation is that anybody can have a platform. People who do not deserve a platform are getting platforms. And here's the worst thing, they're the most viral. Some of the things I look at, this is viral?

And they get money for it on top of it. But I will tell you a cure to the sickness of this culture, it is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Because when you realize the humility of Jesus Christ and when you let his power enter into your life, the same fragrance of Christ is adorned upon you. And Jesus now comes in and he will do things in you that you never thought he would be able to do. Not only will he change the way you think and speak about others, he'll change the way you think and speak about yourself.

This is the power of the gospel, and it's available to you. It can break shackles, break habits, and it can transform you to such a degree that you will not even be able to recognize yourself. And so we see here that the conversion of Matthew is so sweet and so obviously working in him, even in ways that we might have not immediately perceived. Look at the conflict around Levi. Let me briefly mention about the issues.

We see here in verse 16, 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? Why would this bother you? Why is this offending you so much? Because this religious group were known to separate themselves from common people. The very word Pharisee means separate one.

Pharisees, we are separated. We're the separate ones. And the idea of being associated or coming into contact with a sinner was completely foreign to the school of thought. These men would have nothing to do with somebody that did not hold to their traditions or their impeccable observance of those traditions. They were repulsed.

They were disgusted. They would show that just even by their associations. And the sight of these Pharisees looking upon a holy man who obviously performed miracles to have dinner and to express one of the most intimate ways of being related to somebody was jarring. And so they asked, in a subtle accusatory way, what is he doing having dinner with these kind of people? And he says it to the disciples, but Jesus hears it.

And I love that. He hears everything. So Jesus answers and he says, in a paraphrase fashion, I am a spiritual doctor. I go to the spiritually sick. That's what I do.

That's who I go for. That's who I associate with. That is my mission. That is my heart. And amazingly, these men couldn't understand it.

These are the type of doctors who avoid sick people and distance themselves from the disease. You know what kind of a doctor that is? A useless one. And that's what legalism is. It is useless religion.

Legalism that says we are pure and holy by not associating or not believing that God can change, you're not going to great lengths to show compassion and understanding to people who are warped in their mind. You are just like a doctor who, when they see a sick people, run the other direction. Useless. But Jesus is the great physician. He's drawn to the broken, even the broken in the mind, broken in heart, broken in their actions, broken in their vocabulary, and he wants to heal them.

And so he comes to do just that. Now, I am fully aware that this pharisaical commentary has been turned into license for unwarranted liberty. So you have people it's usually the Christians that try to be cool, and they wanna hang out with sinners, and, they're not just hanging out with sinners, they're sinning with the sinners. Jesus ate with sinners. Jesus ate with tax collectors.

Yeah. He ate with them not to be like them, but to heal them. That's all I'm gonna say about it. That's what he he came to them to heal them, not to enjoy their company and their sin. And so we see here that as much as Jesus is rebuking them, it goes even further in Matthew's version.

And we're gonna end here in this evangelistic message this afternoon to understand Jesus' wisdom and design for his people and for any person who engages with this word, and I pray that's every single one of you. Matthew chapter nine and verse twelve and thirteen. Matthew chapter nine verse twelve and thirteen. But when he heard it, when Jesus heard the criticism of this crowd, he said, those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick, Go and learn what this means. I desire mercy and not sacrifice.

For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners. Do you see the added phrase? Go and learn, and he quotes from Hosea six six. I desire mercy and not sacrifice. You know what's so amazing here?

Jesus tells the religious elite who are known for their apparent expertise in the law to go and learn. Talk about a sting. Hey, you. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. You seminary professors. Come over here. Go and learn what this verse says. Excuse me.

You're talking to men who have memorized large portions, even books of the law. And Jesus has the boldness to look at them in the eye and says, you clearly haven't understood what this verse means, so go back into your little office, pull out the book, and look at this verse, and understand what I mean by it. Go and learn. And that's that's very instructive and insightful, isn't it? Because what I see from this is that God's word was designed so that it would be learned in in a way that would transform your perception and your practice.

That's what true learning is when it comes to your involvement in the scriptures. When knowledge of the word of God is acquired but not applied, our relationship with the word of God is extremely flawed as a need for reform. It needs to be totally altered because the very Pharisees who knew these scriptures clearly did not learn these scriptures. Even though it was stuffed in their brains and that they could quote it offhand, Jesus still looks at them as unlearned men. Go back and learn.

That tells me what true learning is of the bible. When I come to this is to truly learn so I can truly change. And in this case, the lack of compassion of the Pharisees and the coldness in their hearts towards other people was a clear sign that you did not allow the word of God to have its way in you the way it was designed to have its way in you. And so when I look at people who are extremely sophisticated and well taught and well spoken, but then I look at the character and how they treat others, I know one thing. Despite the knowledge, they have not learned.

They haven't. They have not learned the way Jesus said you're supposed to learn. May God help us to truly learn. He says those who are sick, those are the ones I've come for, and those who call themselves righteous, I did not come for. You know what that means?

Jesus cannot save a person who does not see their need to be saved. Jesus cannot heal anybody who does not see their sickness. When he says, I came not to call the righteous, he's talking about those who believe they are righteous when they are not. And so do you wanna know how you can disqualify yourself from salvation? Believe that you don't need salvation.

We had a question. What is the unforgivable sin? What is the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit on Friday? And we tried to explain it. But let me tell you the unforgivable sin today.

It's a sin that's not repented of. The sin that Jesus will not forgive is the sin that you will not choose to acknowledge and say no to and embrace the forgiveness for that sin. So the worst kind of people to evangelize to and to convince of the gospel are people who think they are good. The most difficult men. Because like a person who doesn't see the cancer and refuses to acknowledge that they are, in fact, affected by some illness and doesn't go to a doctor, it's the same way for a person who does not need salvation.

They look at themselves and they go, I'm fine. I'm very limited in my vocabulary. I'm very limited in my thought process. I can only really say so much before some of you start falling asleep and maybe some of you are already on your way there. But what I've said, I hope, will touch the heart of the person who came in here thinking they were good, but came to the realization that they are not good.

And Jesus is willing to save you exactly where you are. Lord, we thank you for this brief message. And we ask, Lord, that as we reflect at your table of what you've done for us, That the saint would have a renewing joy in their salvation, and the sinner would be broken. Broken, but they would recognize it as a blessed brokenness, because you are right here waiting to heal them. Thank you for being the one who came for us while we were weak, while we were sinners, while we were enemies.

If we become numb to that truth, awaken us by the spirit to see how good that is. In Jesus' name, amen.