I remember playing sports at recess when I was a kid. And you probably remember how this went. All the kids would be standing together and two team captains would be selected. And they would then, one player at a time, pick who they wanted on their team. And invariably they would pick the best ones first and you’d always be left with the ones that weren’t as good at the end.

Why did it go that way? It went that way because we want the best players on our team who will give us the best results possible. We want to win.

It is the same way in the business world, too. An employer wants the best employees in order to get the best results. That is simply the way we think and operate as people.

But one of the things that I love about the bible and church history for that matter are the people that God chooses to use. Common as rain in a thunderstorm kind of people. Sometimes even despised and rejected by the world. Very often the people that God chose were the least likely candidates. They were people that others would have likely picked last, and yet God picked first.

·Moses was a shepherd with a speech impediment and God called him to confront the powerful ruler on earth and lead His people out of Egyptian captivity.

·David was a shepherd boy that God called to be King of Israel.

·Nehemiah was a cupbearer in service of a foreign king and God chose him to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.

·Peter and John, described as uneducated and untrained fishermen, yet Jesus chose them as 2 of His prominent disciples.

·Mary Magdalene: Jesus cast 7 demons out of her and she became a notable follower of Jesus.

·Mary, the mother of Jesus. A teenager, not from a family or place of influence, yet God allowed her to be the earthly mother of Jesus.

·And there are so many others in the bible and throughout history that are just like those I mentioned. People that the world would look at as ordinary but that God used in extraordinary ways.

Why would God do things that way? That isn’t how we operate. Those aren’t the people that we would have chosen, most likely. We would have chosen people of influence. People of reputation. People with a large platform of influence. Why does God choose people like that?

First of all, God just flat out does things differently than we would do. And I’m glad He does. His ways are always better than ours and the things that don’t make sense to us are just reminders that God is bigger and better. And God knows all things perfectly and we don’t.

Second, God often chooses the least likely people for another very distinct reason. I Cor 1:27-29 says this: but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, ²⁸ and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, ²⁹ so that no ^[t]man may boast before God.

In other words, God uses the weak to show how strong He is. God often uses people that the world would dismiss so that His power and His purposes will be done through weak, yet willing vessels. God often chooses the least to show that He is the greatest.

And when God uses unlikely people, the spotlight is put on Him. People say, man, I know that person and that isn’t them. That has to be God working in and through them. And we find that principle at work this morning in Mark 2:13-17 as we continue to work our way through this gospel account of the life of Jesus.

Verses 13-14:

1.An unlikely disciple (v.13-14)

Now, we are told in verse 13 that after healing the paralytic man, Jesus went out by the seashore (Sea of Galilee). And as we’ve seen as a theme throughout Mark, crowds were coming to Him. And as the crowds came to Jesus, we find another theme. Jesus took that opportunity to teach them truth.

And then in verse 14 we find another very important moment in Christian history as Jesus calls another one of His 12 disciples. Now, the disciples who had been chosen by Jesus so far were unlikely people in the sense that they were common in society. They weren’t kings or dignitaries or politicians. They weren’t wealthy or influential. They were fishermen, in fact. To this point, in the gospel of Mark, we have a record of Jesus calling Peter and Andrew and James and John.

They were common men who answered the call of Jesus to follow Him. They were seemingly unlikely people for Jesus to call as His disciples.

But this person, Levi, more commonly known as Matthew, was unlikely for a completely different reason. The scripture tells us that he was sitting in a tax booth. And we know from Luke’s gospel that he wasn’t a clerk sitting in the tax booth, he was actually a tax collector.

Now, I mentioned this a few weeks back. Tax collectors were hated by the Jews at this time. They were, first of all, seen as traitors to their own people. The Jewish tax collectors, like Levi here, were hired by the Roman government to exact taxes from their own people. The Jews saw them as defectors to their own people, working for Rome and working against them. Consequently, Jewish tax collectors would not just have been disliked, they would have been socially shunned by other Jews.

But aside from that, they were well known to be thieves as well. Many of them would charge more taxes than the people actually owed. And they would take the excess that they collected for themselves. They were extortionists.

Tax collectors were so hated, in fact, that they are often used as the personification of sin in the gospels. For example, Luke 7:34: The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a ^[y]drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and ^[z]sinners!’

And we find that kind of language in other passages too. The term tax collector was synonymous with the lowest kind of sinner in Jewish society.

Now, because of tax collectors’ extortion, many of them would have been well-off financially. Levi was well off financially. I will show you the evidence of that from Luke’s gospel here in a bit.

With that background, it’s amazing, but Jesus saw Levi, knew completely who Levi was, and yet still chose Him to be one of His closest disciples! Levi was an even lesser candidate than Peter, Andrew, James, and John. At least they had reputable jobs before following Jesus. No one would have hated them because of their profession. But Jesus called Levi, a man that Jews would have resented!

Despite that, there still would have been a great cost for Levi to follow Jesus. Even though he would have been despised by many, he had a steady, and seemingly lucrative job. But he left it all to follow Jesus. We don’t know the soil of Levi’s heart. We don’t know what was going on in his life at this time. Possibly he was fed up with his life. Possibly he was ashamed of his life. We don’t know. The bible doesn’t tell us. All we know is that Jesus chose to call him and he responded in obedience.

What a great reminder that is. It doesn’t matter one’s past or present. Jesus will meet people where they are. A person simply needs to commit to follow Him. And we’ll talk about that more in a bit.

Now, what did it actually cost Levi to follow Jesus? For Levi it meant a loss of wealth. It meant a loss of comfort. It meant giving up what was familiar to follow the unknown.

Why? Why give that up?

Jesus would later tell a parable that I think is applicable here. Matthew 13:44: ⁴⁴ “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

In that parable, the man sold everything he had in order to buy the field because the treasure that he found was so great. He came across this treasure and it was captivating, it was so glorious, that in joy, he went and sold everything else to acquire that treasure! Obviously, in that parable Jesus was making it clear that He is the greatest treasure to be pursued.

And for Levi, this would prove to be a costly call, but a glorious call. In the way that salvation always happens, God put in Levi’s heart an understanding of the treasure of Jesus. And Levi stepped out of that tax booth to follow a greater calling. And he did this, because, like the parable says, out of joy, not duty, not obligation, but joy….he gave up everything for the treasure of Jesus, the One who called to him and invited him to follow.

Unfortunately, sometimes today people talk about the Lord like this. Give your heart to Jesus and your life will be so much easier. Life will be great. God exists for you. He will give you whatever you want. No cost. No cross. Only blessings in this life and heaven in the next. Sign me up for that! That is an easy pill to swallow. That is easy-believism.

But that isn’t the call of the NT gospel. The call of Jesus is this, repent and believe. The call of Jesus is Luke 9:23: If anyone wishes to follow Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow me.

I believe there are many in the Western world who identify as Christians, many of which are not. They like the concept and construct of the cultural Jesus that many have put forth. Or the construct of a Jesus who does their bidding. But the call of Jesus is a call to discipleship. It is a call to follow Jesus! Meaning we go where He goes, we do what He tells us to do, we say what He tells us to say. We follow Him. And, oh, how beautiful that is. It is not always the easiest road, but it is the pathway to life and joy and peace and blessing that transcends the things and concerns of this world.

Levi, answered that call and followed Jesus, leaving his former life behind.

Now, verse 14 alone is amazing. Jesus literally chose one of the last that others would have chosen. He would have been that last kid picked on the playground. Despite Levi’s sin and reputation, Jesus graciously extended a call to Him. That is amazing enough. But then verse 15 shines a spotlight on the mission and the mercy of Jesus even more.

Verse 15:

2.The astonishing invitation of Jesus

We not only find Jesus calling Levi, the tax collector, to follow Him, but here we find Jesus dining with lots of tax collectors and sinners and calling them to follow Him as well.

Interestingly the term sinner here means more than just sinner as we tend to think about sinners.

Listen to this from the NAC: The reference is not to immoral or irreligious persons but to those who because of the necessity of spending all their time earning a bare subsistence were not able to keep the law, especially the oral law, as the scribes thought they should. As a result the scribes despised them. Perhaps a better translation would be “outcasts” (GNB).

Sinners or outcasts, people that the religious leaders had written off as unimportant and unworthy of God because of their sin and neglect.

So, imagine the scene. Jesus, this holy, miracle worker. This man who had amazed the crowds with His words and with His works. And here Jesus is, in a house, eating a meal with a room full of tax collectors and sinners. Thieves and those who were outcasts and despised by the religious leaders. This would have been scandalous for a religious person. How did this meal even come about? It’s pretty amazing, actually. Mark doesn’t give us much info, but Luke does.

Luke’s gospel tells us that this meal took place at Levi’s home. Listen to Luke 5:27-29: After that He went out and noticed a tax collector named ^[m]Levi sitting in the tax booth, and He said to him, “Follow Me.” ²⁸ And he left everything behind, and got up and began to follow Him.²⁹ And Levi gave a big reception for Him in his house; and there was a great crowd of tax collectors and other people who were reclining at the table with them.

Do you see what is happening here? Here is this wealthy man, Levi. In a home large enough to gather lots of people. Levi, had just given up his job to follow Jesus but already it is clear by his actions that his mission in life had changed. Just called by Jesus and now Levi was bringing lots of people to meet Jesus! And he was bringing the people he knew. Again, Levi, because of his job as a tax collector would have likely only had friends who were other tax collectors and sinners. Birds of a feather flock together. He brought who he knew to meet Jesus. Tax collectors and sinners.

So, why would Levi tell others about Jesus? Why would he bring them to a meal at his house to meet Jesus. Because He was excited. We talk about things that we are excited about. We share the things that we love. The things we care about are on our lips. And even though Levi had just begun to follow Jesus, even though Levi didn’t know a lot about Jesus yet, he was thrilled. And he threw a party in order to introduce others to Jesus.

And it says here in verse 15 that many of them were following Jesus.

Jesus eating with these kinds of people was scandalous. But even more scandalous than that…Jesus was allowing these tax collectors and sinners to follow Him. These were now His people. Redeemed and changed, with new mission and purpose, following Jesus.

What is that? That is grace. That is mercy. That is kindness.

Jesus gave them what they didn’t deserve. And He didn’t give them what they did deserve. He was kind to them. And He allowed them a place at the table. He allowed them to follow Him.

But good and bad run parallel tracks. As this was an exciting time seeing sinners come to know and follow Jesus, the scribes of the Pharisees went on the offensive. They were unhappy! They were angry and incredulous.

Verse 16:

3.The callous indignation of the religious leaders

Here was their unstated accusation, ultimately. Why would someone claiming to be a holy man of God dare identify with, much less eat, with people like that!

And here was their implication: We would never do that! We are righteous. We are clean. We wouldn’t eat with dirty sinners like that.

Don’t miss the backdrop of the comparison of the grace of Jesus vs the pride of the religious leaders. Don’t miss the remarkable truth that grace leads to fellowship while pride leads to separation.

While this whole event should have been celebrated by the religious shepherds of Israel, it wasn’t. The very ones who should have celebrated the most, were the most angered by it. Thieves and sinners identifying with Jesus to the dismay of the religious leaders.

Yet, notice who was at the table with Jesus. The unrighteous. Notice who wasn’t. The self-righteous. One group at the table with Jesus; the other outside.

The ones who thought they had it all together didn’t come to Jesus. The ones who knew they were messed up did come to Jesus.

We find the unrighteous indignation and condemnation by those who thought they were righteous. And so, Jesus, explained to them why He was eating with tax collectors and sinners.

Verse 17:

4.The mission of Jesus explained

Here Jesus used an earthly illustration to highlight a spiritual truth. Sick people need help. Sick people need a doctor. And the spiritual truth. Jesus said, I did not come to call the righteous, or self-righteous. I came to call sinners. The self-righteous seek to be their own savior and thereby exclude themselves from being rescued from their sin. Jesus came to call needy sinners to salvation.

Now, this verse should cause us all to rejoice! Because we are all sinners.

While the Pharisees met the tax collectors and sinners with condemnation; Jesus met them with grace.

While the pharisees met them with distance; Jesus invited them into fellowship with Himself.

While the pharisees met them with judgment; Jesus met them with mercy.

So, what do we do with these verses today?

1.Perhaps today you are separate from God. Maybe it is because of self-righteousness. Maybe it is because you think you are unworthy. Are you hungry enough to come to the table of grace? Are you desperate enough to call on Jesus? Call on Jesus today. Turn from sin and surrender to Him today.

2.For the Christian: If you feel like you are not a very good candidate to be used by God because of your past or because of self-perceived weaknesses, well….you are the kind of person God normally uses. Be willing. Be obedient. Just use what God has entrusted you and let Him multiply it and use it for His glory. Let God work in and through you to do what you can’t do, but He can.

3.Reminder: To be a disciple is to be with Jesus, follow Jesus, and bring others to Jesus. It is a disciple who is making more disciples. Who can you bring to Jesus? And how can you help them grow to be a mature disciple of Jesus?

If you’ve been part of our church for a while, you probably know that I don’t preach Mother’s Day sermons typically. I have come to realize in the years I’ve been in pastoral ministry that Mother’s Day is a tough day for many. Obviously, we celebrate our mothers and the ladies in our lives that have meant so much to us.

But for some, they’ve lost their mother. For some women they’ve battled infertility being unable to conceive. For others they have had multiple miscarriages. And for them, Mother’s Day is one of the harder holidays.

So, what I’ve chosen to do in the past is thank God for our moms. And show that video of kids talking about their moms. And then preach a message that is generally not related to the holiday. And so, today I want us to take a week off of our Mark study. And I want to think through what it means to live for Jesus no matter the calling He has placed on our life.

All Christians have callings on their lives. For some it is motherhood or fatherhood. And for some it is not. But we’ve all been called to be Godly friends. We’ve all been called to be good Christian neighbors. We’ve all been called to be ministry minded Christians living on mission for Jesus. But no matter the calling, we are to conduct ourselves as ambassadors for Jesus.

Some of the clearest pictures of love can be seen in faithful, Godly mothers. But what we are going to study today isn’t just a call for mothers, although it is. But it is a call for all Christians.

What I want to talk about today is what it means to imitate God and to walk in love. I preached through Ephesians back in 2021-2022. And I want us to turn to Ephesians 5:1-2 this morning.

I’m not going to get into a lot of background for time’s sake. But the Christians living in Ephesus lived in a pagan, sinful city with an incredible amount of temptation and idolatry.

And in a setting like that, trying to live for Jesus, what they really needed more than anything else was a deep understanding of who God is and how they could know Him more deeply. So, Paul wrote this letter that is full of theological truths about God AND….about how man can have a relationship with Him.

--Now, theology is the study of God. It is what we should believe about God based on what the bible reveals to us about God. But here is something that we must not forget. The goal of theology is not just an educational pursuit. It is not just that we have all of these facts about God rolling around in our heads. But the goal of theology is the knowledge of God that leads us somewhere! Theology should lead us to the destination of worshiping and loving God more passionately. In the way that we think, the way we talk, the way we act, we way we live our lives in this world.

The first half of the book is what we must believe about God and the second half of the book is how we must live based on what we know about God.

Now, the truth that theology should lead to doxology is a great segue into chapter 5 and the verses we are going to study today. So, lets read 5:1-2

Verse 1: Now, I will say this almost anytime we come to the word therefore in a passage. When you see the word therefore in the bible you should always ask the question, “what is the therefore, there for?” It is a transitional word that is referring back to something or somethings that were written earlier in the text.

So, back to chapter 4, Paul wrote about a lot of practical things that we should characterize Christians. And if you go read chapter 4 later, you might feel a little overwhelmed. And then, obviously, as we come to chapter 5, we read something else that seems, at first glance, to be an even more daunting task for the Christian.

Look at 5:1: Therefore, be imitators of God!

Given what we find in chapter 4 and then here in 5:1, how in the world can the Christian ever possibly hope to live according to the calls of chapter 4 and then 5:1?

2 things I want to share from verse 1.

--The word for imitator is the Gr word mimaytays, where we get our English word mimic from. Now sometimes when we mimic someone it is for the goal of mocking them. Obviously, that is not what this kind of mimicry is. This is mimicking in the sense of imitating because we want to be like the person we are imitating, in this case, our Lord.

Now one other thing that is important here is that this phrase, be imitators of God, is a command. The verb is an imperative and in the construction of this phrase, it is to be ongoing. In other words, the way Paul wrote this, under the inspiration of the HS…..this is commanded by God that we seek to continually imitate Him. Which is a noble and lofty command, but it is also one that seems so difficult….unless we really dig into what this means.

So, first of all, what is our motivation behind imitating God? It is one thing to say ok, I want to imitate God. But we know that in life in general, the motivation behind anything we do is going to be the key driver to why we do something and how excellently we do something or if we do something. So, what should be the motivation behind the Christian desiring to imitate Christ?

·One of the motivations for imitating God is found right here in this verse. We must remember His love for us (verse 1)

--It says to be imitators of God as beloved children of God.

When people trust in Jesus for their salvation, they are adopted into God’s family. And when people understand the price that has been paid for their adoption, the death of Christ in their place, that drives them to love and worship God! And a child of God should desire to imitate their Lord more and more throughout their life as they pursue God and as they realize His love for them.

So, first and foremost, foundationally, to imitate God we must know and love God, as His beloved children.

The motivation to imitating God is love for God because of Who He is and what He has done for us.

Now, obviously there are some things about God that we simply can’t imitate. For example, we can’t imitate God’s omniscience. We can’t imitate His omnipresence. But there are many areas where we can imitate Him. We can love others. We can serve others. We can look at the example of Christ and desire to imitate Him in many areas.

So, here is how we should view this phrase, “be imitators of God.” This is a command, be imitators of God….but it is a command that is so much more than just a command; within this command is a favored invitation from God to His children.

In fact, whenever we find a command in the bible from God to us that seems impossible, we should get excited, not overwhelmed. Because whenever we find a command from God to us that seems impossible, we should know that it is an invitation to see God’s power at work in our lives, doing through us what we could never do alone.

This is not a call that adds more to our spiritual plate. This is not a call to harness our own power to try to live like Him. To the contrary, this is a call for us to rely on Him. This is a call for us to rest in His power, not ours. This is not a command that is to be riddled with guilt when we fall short. This is an invitation from God to His people to experience His mercy, grace, love and presence even in the midst of our inadequacies and shortcomings.

When we read a text like this and we get to a point of understanding that God is calling me to do something that I cannot do….that is when we are reading the bible correctly. Because this command is not about us; it is about God’s power working in us who are surrendered to Him and longing to imitate Him, driven by love for Him. That is what the whole bible is about, in fact. What we couldn’t and can’t do, God did for us!

That’s what this call, to imitate God, as beloved children is all about. A recognition that God is inviting us to allow His power to be at work within us, His children.

Ephesians 3:16: that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man,

It is not about what you and I can do, it is about what Christ has done for us. It is about surrendering to Him to let His life live through us.

What is a practical example of what this looks like to imitate God? Look at verse 2.

Walk in love. How does the Christian walk in love? What does that mean? Well, just like a baby watches his or her parents in order to learn how to physically walk, so we are to watch our Lord to find out what love is and what it means to walk in love.

It says, walk in love…..just as (or in the same way that) Christ has also loved you and gave Himself up for us.

--I John 3:16-18: We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. ¹⁷ But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his ^[g]heart ^[h]against him, how does the love of God abide in him? ¹⁸ Little children, let us not love with word or with speech, but in deed and truth.

The call to be a disciple of Jesus is a call to lay down our own desires for the benefit of others. Like Godly mothers do, like Godly dads do, like Godly friends do and so forth.

Now, what does that look like practically, day in and day out in the life of a Christian? Well, really quickly, let’s go back to the end of chapter 4 where we find a few characteristics that are the opposite of what walking in love looks like. And we also find a few things that characterize what love does look like. Look at verses 31-32.

--Those things, bitterness, wrath, anger, slander, malice….those things are definitely not the fruit that love grows in a person’s life. Love doesn’t produce bitterness. It doesn’t produce sinful anger or malice. It doesn’t produce slander.

· Love doesn’t produce unloving behavior. Never! Now, that doesn’t mean that love overlooks sin or that love never confronts. That is part of what love is. Love guards against those things in verse 31, in fact.

Here is what love does…..love produces, verse 32 tells us, things like kindness toward others, a tender heart toward others, and it produces forgiveness.

We find a lack of love in verse 31 revealed by the fruit of evil action and intentions. And then in verse 32 we find examples of what love looks like….kindness, tenderness, forgiveness.

--What undergirds all of our actions and intentions in life is either love for God and consequently people or a lack of love for God and people.

And sometimes walking in love means radically denying oneself for the benefit of others. Which is what Jesus did.

Notice, what Paul wrote in verse 2: walk in love, just as Christ also loved ^[a]you and gave Himself up for us

God’s love is revealed to us through His sacrificial offer of forgiveness. And in order for forgiveness to be possible, God’s love led to His Son, Jesus, to come to the earth to die in our place to offer us forgiveness and reconciliation to God. If God’s love was non-existent toward us, then forgiveness would not be possible. But since God does love us, Christ did lay down His life for us, so that we could experience His forgiveness as we partake of His life.

Therefore, part of imitating Christ means extending love to others as an offering to God.

Listen to this:

·Forgiveness ends where our love ends.

--One theologian said it this way, Unforgiveness is the measure of self-righteousness just as forgiveness is the measure of love.

--Sacrificial love. In fact, the word used for love, walk in love, is the word agape, which is a love of the will….it is choosing to be sacrificial, giving of oneself for the benefit of another. The idea is walking in selfless, sacrificial love toward others just as Christ did for us.

And this is all a choice that we have to make as Christians.

--Walking in love isn’t something that we naturally drift toward in life.

--When someone cuts you off in traffic, our fleshly inclination isn’t to have a deep love for that person well up in our hearts. Our inclination is to call that person names and think all sorts of nasty thoughts and give them some hand gestures.

--When someone says or does something hurtful that cuts us deeply, our natural inclination isn’t to want to do things to serve and help them. Our natural tendency is to cut back, to get even. To wound them back.

Loving others is a choice of the will. And it is a Spirit empowered choice.

·Romans 5:5: the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

·II Cor 5:14: For the love of Christ controls us,

·I Thes 3:12: and may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another, and for all people

·--Gal 5:22: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, (again, this command to love isn’t all about us gritting our teeth. It is about dependency on our Lord).

--This is all about surrender. I like the word surrender better than commitment related to God. When a person commits, they are still in control. But when a person surrenders, they are not in control. This is all about surrender. God, here is my life. Live your love through me.

--And at the heart of choosing to love others is a recognition of the love that we have experienced from God.

·Love that has been experienced should lead to love that is extended to others.

4. The goal of our love is the glory of God.

Look at verse 2. Just as Christ gave Himself up for us….as an offering and sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.

We have experienced God’s love, if indeed we know Christ. We have, as the Psalmist wrote, tasted and seen that the Lord is good.

--The driving force behind our love for others is our love for God.

--And our ambition now, our goal, should be to bring glory to God as we mimic him as we live a life of love extended to others.

It’s all about His glory!

Living the Christian life is not about trying harder to become people of love. It is about living close to the God who has loved us in Christ. And the more deeply we experience His love, the more deeply we will begin to show love to others. And we will do this for the glory of the great God who has saved us.

Would you bow your heads and close your eyes?

In closing,

1.Do I know God?

2.If Christ is my example, am I pursuing Him to know Him better in order to imitate Him?

3.Am I walking in love toward others? Am I sacrificial in my love for others?

Imagine living in a world where your best efforts were never quite enough. Never sufficient. Imagine being locked in a world of fear and worry, not knowing what was going to happen to your soul after you die. Imagine just hoping that the culmination of your life’s work was enough to make God happy with you.

If you study world religions, they are all different. Some are similar and some are radically different than others. But when you cut through all the minutia of beliefs, ultimately you end up at the same destination. In all other religious systems aside from Biblical Christianity (and I say biblical Christianity, not all “Christianity” is actually Christian), man has to do something to earn salvation and find favor in that system’s concept of God.

And we will see today that during Jesus’ time on earth; the Pharisees had turned Judaism into that as well. They had corrupted the teachings of the Old Testament. And because of that, their teaching was absolutely incompatible with the teachings of Jesus.

Now, this is the beauty of the gospel. It’s not what we have done or can do; it’s all about what Jesus did. It is about Jesus, the Son of God, coming to the earth and dying as a substitutionary atonement to satisfy the holy wrath of God against sinners who simply repent and believe in Jesus.

And in our study of Mark today, we are going to see the truth that Jesus didn’t come to refine a certain religious system in order to make it better. He came to do what no religious system of works and ritualism can do. He came to breathe life into those who were spiritually dead in their sin.

Now, two weeks ago in our study of Mark, we saw Jesus call someone to be His disciple that shocked everyone. He called Levi, aka Matthew, who was a tax collector to be one of His primary disciples. Tax collectors were hated. They were thieves. He was the last one that anyone thought Jesus would call as His disciple.

Jesus rocked the religious and cultural boat by calling Levi to follow Him. And the religious leaders questioned Him about it! Because after Jesus called Levi, Levi threw a party at his house in honor of Jesus. And Levi invited his friends. Other tax collectors and sinners or outcasts of society.

And as Jesus was eating with tax collectors and sinners, the religious leaders questioned Jesus’ disciples. Why does He eat with people like that! The pride in their question is obvious. We, religious leaders, would never eat with people like that! And Jesus’ response to them was this, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Now, after that, we come into verses 18-22. Read them.

Now, these are very important verses. Much more than we might think at a quick glance. Because Jesus was revealing something that hits at the very heart of the gospel. Jesus was about to make it obvious that what He came to teach was not at all what the Pharisees were teaching. The Pharisees taught a religion of self-righteousness; while Jesus taught a gospel of grace. The Pharisees taught a system of you have to do it, while Jesus taught a system of you can’t do it, but I can do it for you.

And right after calling a tax collector and eating a meal with tax collectors and outcasts, Jesus was about to make it clear that He came to radically disrupt the false teaching that was prevalent in His day.

1.Jesus changes everything! (v.18-20)

Verse 18: First, fasting is usually referred to as meaning the temporary abstinence of eating food. There was actually only one required fast in the OT and it was to be done on the Day of Atonement. Lev 16 tells us that. Now, there are quite a few times in the OT where people chose to fast for various reasons. But only one that was required. However, the Pharisees of Jesus’ day fasted every Monday and Thursday. Remember Luke 18:11-12: The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. ¹² I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’

Now, we also know that the Pharisees would not only fast twice a week, but they would often pray long, eloquent sounding prayers in public, they would publicly give to the poor….and they would do all of this in order to be seen and applauded by others. It was for their pride, not because they loved God or people. Jesus often rebuked them for these things, for example in Matthew 6. In Matt 6:1 Jesus said: “Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise, you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.

And then He talked about fasting and giving to the poor and praying in public (don’t pray in public to be applauded by others because of your great prayer).

And here in Mark 2, we find that some of the disciples of John the Baptist and those who followed the Pharisees fasted often. And yet Jesus and His disciples didn’t fast as often.

Quick note: Some of the John the Baptist’s disciples had not yet begun to follow Jesus. Many had but some had not yet. Now, that was JTB’s desire, but some had not yet begun to follow Jesus.

Now, in verse 16 the religious leaders asked, why does Jesus eat with tax collectors and sinners. Here the question is why do Jesus’ followers not fast. And in both questions, we clearly find both accusations as well as pride.

The religious leaders were implying that we don’t eat with people like that. Because of the outward appearance of holiness that the Pharisees tried to maintain, they would never associate with sinners like that. And the religious leaders and those who didn’t break away from JTB to follow Jesus, said we fast often and Your followers don’t. Implied in that, here is another thing you have wrong, Jesus. You associate with the wrong people and you don’t do the right things that we do.

Well, Jesus explained why they didn’t fast in verse 19.

Verse 19: At that time in history and in that culture, engagements to be married would often last for a long time, sometimes even years. So, when it came time for the wedding it was a huge point of celebration. It was a time of feasting and jubilation. There was actually a ruling by the Rabbis that during a wedding no one could fast. Fasting was forbidden during a wedding because it was to be a celebratory time. So, the analogy that Jesus used was perfect! They understood culturally exactly what Jesus was saying.

However, with us reading this long after and with us having the whole bible to be able to view this through, we understand that this was more than a simple analogy. This was a Messianic analogy of Jesus as the Bridegroom. Jesus, at this time, was with His people, His church, His bride, in the flesh. And because of that, celebration was in order. Jesus, the bridegroom, was with His people. That was cause for celebration, not for fasting or mourning. But a time was coming when He would not be with His people in the flesh.

Verse 20: This was a clear and obvious reference to the death of Jesus, the cross of Jesus. Jesus knew His mission. But His time to fulfill that mission was not yet completed. So, for now, there was celebration. There would be a time for mourning and fasting but it wasn’t yet there.

Now, in verses 21-22 Jesus shifts into a set of analogies to further make His point. And, once again, He used analogies that everyone in that day would have understood.

2.The incompatibility of the gospel and false religion (v.21-22)

Verse 21: To repair a piece of clothing that was torn, a patch was sewn on. But if it was an unshrunk piece sewn onto a shrunk piece of clothing, what would happen? The first time it was washed, the garment would tear even worse.

Verse 22: New wine would be put in new, flexible wineskins. If new wine were put in old, brittle wineskins, as the wine fermented the old skin wouldn’t have room to expand and it would burst. Both of those analogies were common knowledge in that day. Jesus was drawing on an everyday experience to make His point.

What was Jesus saying? Jesus was simply stating that the old, legalistic traditions of the religious leaders and His way were incompatible! Jesus was saying that He was inaugurating something new and it didn’t fit the Pharisees system even in the slightest. Now, that doesn’t mean that the OT was wrong or incorrect or unimportant. No, it just means that the application of the OT by the Pharisees was wrong. Here is a great warning: Even though they had the revelation of God in the OT scriptures, they had built a false system out of them.

We see that today as well, don’t we. So many groups that have the bible and use the bible as their text, and yet they twist the interpretation to where even though it might sound right, it’s actually completely wrong. The Pharisees did this. They taught a works-based system of religious effort.

Yet, what did the OT teach? Did it teach that a man was saved by good works? Absolutely not!

People often question how were people saved in the OT? Same as the NT and now. By faith in God. Romans 4:3: For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” (Gen 15:6)

The OT saints were saved by faith in God’s promises, which we now know were ultimately fulfilled in Christ.

Ezekiel 36:26: Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

--A new heart. Not a revitalized heart. Not a rehabilitated heart. A new heart. II Cor 5 if anyone is in Christ He is a NEW creation!

Jesus wasn’t going to fit into their system of legalism and self-righteousness to rehabilitate people. No, by His death, burial, and resurrection He was going to raise His people to new life! Not by their own works of righteousness, but by His good work!

John 11: “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies,

Romans 8:11: But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies ^[e]through His Spirit who dwells in you.

Jesus didn’t come to patch up the old religious garment, so to speak. He came to do something completely new!

The form of Judaism that rejected Christ and that continues to reject Christ today is not compatible with biblical Christianity.

And here is why. Jesus came to fulfill the Law and establish a totally new covenant. And to try to fit the new way of Jesus into the corrupt way of the Pharisees was an impossibility. Because somewhere along the line for the religious leaders it turned into, keep the laws of God as best as you can, do as much good as you can, live a better life than your neighbor. When the greatest commandment was always this, “love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.” And out of that love for God, we joyfully obey Him. Not to earn salvation, but because we have salvation!

You see, religion says, try harder, do better, be better. Jesus says you must be born again.

Religion says behavior modification is of utmost importance. While Jesus came to transform people, not from the outside in, but from the inside out.

Religion patches external actions. Jesus gives new life and purpose in life.

Christianity isn’t an updated, refined version or an extension of the Pharisees Judaism. Paul wrote about these things a lot! Go read Galatians for example. Paul wrote that those who surrender to Jesus need not follow Jewish rituals. He argued that the Law was simply a temporary guardian until Christ came, and that ”a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ”.

So, what was Jesus stating in His analogies here in Mark 2:21-22? The absolute exclusivity of the gospel. You can’t mix the gospel with other religious systems and still have the gospel.

The equation Jesus + something else = salvation is a heretical equation. The message that Jesus and the apostles taught is the only message that can save. Eph 2:8-9: For by grace you have been saved through faith; and ^[h]that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; ⁹ not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

But this false gospel of Jesus + other things for salvation is more prevalent than you might think.

There are so many who believe that it is Jesus + baptism that save a person. Jesus + good works that save. Jesus + church membership or participation. And while baptism is important, while church membership and participation are important, while good works do matter…..none of those things are needed alongside Jesus to save a soul.

Another thing that is becoming more common even in some big denominations today is a touch of universalism.

Chuck Aurand’s article in the Beacon.

Listen, those things are irreconcilable with the gospel. It isn’t Jesus + anything. It is in Christ alone that we are saved.

3.The problem with self-righteous religion

The religious leaders were very disciplined in their lifestyle and morality.

The religious leaders were very disciplined in their knowledge of the scriptures.

The religious leaders were very disciplined in their ritualism.

And yet, they missed the point completely.

Do you know what is often the greatest nemesis of the gospel? We often think that perhaps the greatest enemy of the gospel is things like a rogue, godless government. Or a secular society that embraces all sorts of lewd behavior and beliefs. We might think it is moral agendas that are shoved in our faces. But perhaps the greatest nemesis of the gospel….the greatest strategy of the devil is this. Self-righteousness.

It is tricky. It is a sly strategy of our enemy. Self-righteousness feels right. It caters to our desire to play a part in salvation.

Self-righteousness is idolatry, ultimately.

On a mission trip to India years ago I saw, in the shadow of starving people, food was left to rot at the base of a statue of a false, dead god!

Listen, please hear me. There is not one ounce of difference between bowing to a statue of a false god hoping for grace….and in a person trusting in their own self-righteousness. We have just as much hope of being able to save ourselves as a statue to a false god does.

There is no difference. In both cases it is idolatry.

The good news of the gospel is not that God makes bad people better. The good news is that God makes a dead person alive! The good news is that God takes wicked people and gives them His own righteousness! Not based on their good works, but based on the good work of Jesus.

There are ultimately two kinds of religions in the world. The religion of human achievement, which is never enough and can never save. And then there is the gospel of divine completion. Jesus completed the task that we can’t complete. He finished what we could never even start. And thereby inaugurated a new covenant of grace, offered to those who can’t save themselves.

So, rest in that grace. By faith receive that grace. Maybe you have spent your life trying to clean up to come to God. Maybe you have tried so hard to do more good things than sinful things and living under the burden of hoping that will be enough. It’s not. And that’s ok. Christ did for us what we can’t do. We simply have to receive that in faith.

So, let’s take a minute to thank God for sending His Son to seek and to save the lost. To inaugurate a new covenant of grace. To do what we can’t do.

1.What are you trusting in today? Your own efforts? Religious rituals? Have you confessed with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believed in your heart that God raised Him from the dead?

2.If you know the Lord, have you given thanks to God lately for saving you? Remember that time before you knew the Lord and thank Him for His grace.

3.Just take a moment now to ask God to work in your life as you submit yourself to Him.