8

The Scandal of Grace
(Mark 2:13–17)

And He went out again by the seashore; and all the people were coming to Him, and He was teaching them. As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting in the tax booth, and He said to him, “Follow Me!” And he got up and followed Him. And it happened that He was reclining at the table in his house, and many tax collectors and sinners were dining with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many of them, and they were following Him. When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that He was eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they said to His disciples, “Why is He eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners?” And hearing this, Jesus said to them, “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.” (2:13–17)

The Bible is clear that salvation cannot be earned through good works, personal merits, or any form of self-righteousness (cf. Titus 3:5–7). Human achievement cannot obtain salvation, since even the best deeds of unredeemed people “are like a filthy garment” before a holy God (Isa. 64:6). Only the power of divine accomplishment can provide forgiveness for sin and the hope of eternal life in heaven (cf. Rom. 1:16). What sinful human beings could never do through their own efforts, God did by sending His Son “as an offering for sin” (Rom. 8:3). The gospel message centers on the truth that “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:3; cf. Gal. 1:4; Eph. 1:7; 5:2; 1 Peter 2:24; 3:18; 1 John 2:2; Rev. 1:5), so “that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16; cf. 11:25–26; 20:31; Acts 16:31; Rom. 10:9). Through His death on the cross, the Lord Jesus paid the penalty for sin for all who would believe in Him, so that they might be reconciled to God. He who was entirely without sin became the bearer of sin “so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21). The sins of the redeemed were imputed to Christ at the cross, where He suffered for them as a substitutionary sacrifice (cf. 1 Peter 2:24). Conversely, through faith, the righteousness of Christ is imputed to the redeemed, so that they are declared righteous by God Himself (cf. Rom. 4:5–6; 5:19). Believers have been “justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 3:24). Thus, salvation is entirely “by grace … through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Eph. 2:8–9; cf. 2 Tim. 1:9).

Though the message of salvation is clearly set forth in Scripture, many false teachers throughout history (beginning with early legalists like the Judaizers—cf. Acts 15:1, 5) have attempted to add human works to the gospel of grace. Self-righteous works are not compatible with God’s gracious work of divine pardon. As Paul explained in Romans 11:6, referring to salvation: “If it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace.” Those who distort the gospel by insisting that good works are necessary for justification place themselves outside of biblical orthodoxy. Responding to such people, Paul warned the Galatians:

Put simply, a gospel based on human achievement and self-righteous efforts is a false gospel. Salvation comes only from the justifying righteousness of God, made available through the all-sufficient work of Christ on the cross.

The scribes and Pharisees represented the epitome of legalistic self-righteousness in Jesus’ day. Largely as a result of their influence, the religion of first-century Israel had deteriorated into a works-based system obsessed with observing external rituals and keeping man-made traditions. The apostate religious leaders taught that a righteous standing before God had to be earned through one’s own effort. The apostle Paul, himself a former Pharisee, lamented that reality in Romans 9:31–32: “Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works.” Confident in their self-righteousness, Israel’s religious elite refused to recognize their precarious spiritual condition—that they suffered from spiritual bankruptcy, bondage, and blindness (cf. Luke 4:18).

The irony of self-righteousness is that it condemns true righteousness. Nowhere was that principle more clearly illustrated than in the Pharisees’ denunciation of Jesus. They measured spirituality not only in terms of one’s external adherence to Old Testament law but also to man-made traditions (Mark 10:20). When Jesus showed no interest in conforming to nonbiblical rules and restrictions, the scribes and Pharisees accused Him of not being holy (cf. Matt. 12:22–24). To make their point, they scornfully referred to Him as “a friend of tax collectors and sinners” (Matt. 11:19; Luke 7:34; cf. 15:1–2). No epithet could have been more derisive. As those who defined their holiness in terms of separation from sinners, the Pharisees considered anyone who befriended sinful people to be the enemy of God (cf. Luke 7:39). They rejected Jesus, then, because He was not afraid to associate with those whom they considered unclean and unsavory. What the Pharisees regarded as a scandal was, in reality, the ultimate demonstration of God’s grace toward utterly undeserving sinners. The Lord compassionately pursued the repentant unrighteous while simultaneously rejecting the impenitent righteousness of the Pharisees.

In rejecting Jesus as the friend of sinners, the scribes and Pharisees demonstrated their willful ignorance regarding the Messiah’s mission, which was to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10). The Lord did not approve of sinful actions or attitudes. He did not befriend sinners in order to endorse their lawless deeds or encourage their rebellious desires. Rather, He came to deliver sinful people from spiritual bondage and death. His purpose was not to condone sin but rather to rescue people from it.

Jesus identified all people as sinners, especially the scribes and Pharisees (cf. Matt. 23). Blinded by their self-righteousness, the religious leaders were unwilling to acknowledge their true condition. Holding tightly to the notion that they were righteous, they denied their need for a Savior and subsequently rejected the Messiah. By contrast, the gospel message is for those who recognize and admit that they are not righteous. That is why Jesus’ ministry focused on those who were well aware of their own desperate condition. The “tax collectors and sinners” of Jewish society made no claims to be righteous. They knew they fell far short of God’s law. Consequently, they were ripe for the gospel (cf. 1 Cor. 1:26–31).

The glory of the gospel is that God receives unworthy sinners. Forgiveness is not granted to people who are good enough to earn it but to those who know they are not, repent, and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. The scandal of grace is that God saves those who do not deserve it (cf. Rom. 5:6–11). Systems of works-righteousness require people to earn divine favor through their own efforts. But that is an impossible task (cf. Phil. 3:4–9). The true gospel declares that sinners can do nothing to merit forgiveness or earn eternal life. All they can do is cry out to God for mercy, and by grace alone, He saves them (cf. Luke 18:13–14). The kingdom of salvation opens its doors to those who mourn over their sin and hunger and thirst after the righteousness they know they do not possess (cf. Matt. 5:3–6).

In 2:1–12, Mark recounted the story of the paralyzed man who was healed by Jesus in a house in Capernaum. That healing miracle validated the authority of Jesus to forgive sinners (v. 10). This section (2:13–17) reveals the people to whom Jesus extends that forgiveness—namely, repentant sinners. The dramatic incident recorded in these verses illustrates the fact that no sinner is beyond the reach of God’s grace. Jesus was willing to save even the lowest of the low, a hated tax collector. Mark’s account of the call of Levi (Matthew) revolves around four main points: the call of a social outcast (vv. 13–14), the community of sinners (v. 15), the contempt of the self-righteous (v. 16), and the condemnation of the Savior (v. 17).

THE CALL OF A SOCIAL OUTCAST

And He went out again by the seashore; and all the people were coming to Him, and He was teaching them. As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting in the tax booth, and He said to him, “Follow Me!” And he got up and followed Him. (2:13–14)

After Jesus healed the paralytic (2:1–12), He went out from the house in Capernaum and began teaching again by the seashore. Much of the Lord’s teaching ministry took place outdoors because it was not possible to contain the massive throngs inside a house or building. Mark’s earlier account of the paralyzed man illustrated that point, since the man and his four friends were “unable to get to [Jesus] because of the crowd” (v. 4). So Jesus left the house and went to a place where more people could hear Him teach. He did not leave to escape the crowds but in order that even larger crowds could have access to Him. As He traveled along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, all the people were coming to Him, and He was teaching them. Jesus often ministered near the shores of Galilee (cf. Matt. 13:1–52; Mark 3:7; 4:1; 5:21). On this occasion, the content of His teaching undoubtedly consisted of the message of the gospel. As Mark explained in 1:14–15, “Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’”

As Jesus made His way back into the city of Capernaum, after ministering along the shore, He passed by a toll station in which He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting in the tax booth, and He said to him, “Follow Me!” Jesus’ words must have sent shockwaves through the surrounding crowd. No reputable rabbi would speak invitingly to a tax collector. Any association with such a despised member of Israelite society would be scandalous. Self-respecting Jewish people, and especially religious leaders, would never want a tax collector as an associate or follower. But Jesus shattered all the stereotypes.

Levi, better known by his Greek name Matthew (cf. Matt. 9:9), was of Jewish descent, as both his name and the name of his father, Alphaeus, indicate. As a tax collector in Capernaum, the largest city on the Sea of Galilee and situated on a busy trade route, Matthew was part of a lucrative financial operation. What he gained in material wealth, he lacked in terms of social respectability. Tax collectors were among the most hated and despised people in first-century Israel. They were considered the dregs of society and the worst of sinners (cf. Matt. 18:17; 21:31; Luke 5:30; 7:34; 18:11). For Jesus to call a tax collector to follow Him was an unconscionable act of social impropriety, especially in the eyes of the religious elite.

Due to the Roman occupation of Israel, the Jewish people were required to pay taxes to Rome. In Galilee, the responsibility to collect those taxes fell to Herod Antipas, the tetrarch, who sold tax collection franchises to the highest bidder. Those who purchased a franchise were required to meet a minimum quota for Rome, while anything they collected beyond that was theirs to keep (cf. Luke 3:12–13). That arrangement made tax collecting a profitable business venture for anyone with high financial aspirations and low ethical standards. Tax collectors continually looked for ways to squeeze extra money out of people and were aided in their collection by thugs and low-life sorts. Beyond the poll tax, income tax (about 1 percent), and land tax (one-tenth of all grain, and one-fifth of all wine and fruit), taxes were levied on the transport of goods and produce, the use of roads, the crossing of bridges, and other miscellaneous activities. Those assorted duties and tariffs were especially prone to corruption, since they could be easily inflated and collected under threat of harm. Tax collectors were notorious for exploiting people, charging more than was necessary or reasonable and then, for those unable to pay, loaning money at exorbitant interest rates.

Worse, tax collectors were seen as traitors to their own people. They extorted money from their fellow Jews in order to support the corrupt infrastructure of foreign oppression as well as to line their own pockets. Consequently, they were considered unclean, barred from attending the synagogue, and prohibited from testifying in a Jewish court. In short, tax collectors were classed with robbers, turncoats, and liars—the most-debased sinners for whom repentance was deemed especially difficult. As one commentator explains:

According to the Talmud, there were two kinds of tax collectors. The gabbai were responsible to collect the more general taxes, like the poll, land, and income tax. More specialized taxes, like tolls for using roads and bridges, were collected by the mokhes. (See Alfred Edersheim, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1974], I:515–518.) A tax booth would be owned by a great mokhes who would employ a little mokhes to sit there and actually collect the taxes. From Mark’s description, it is clear that Matthew was a little mokhes. Because he was in constant contact with the people, daily charging them as they passed his toll booth, Matthew would have been one of the most familiar and hated men in Capernaum. One commentator describes his occupation in these words:

Matthew’s booth appears to have been located near the shore, meaning that he likely collected tolls and tariffs from those involved in the city’s bustling fishing trade.

Jesus was not deterred by the social stigma attached to Matthew’s profession. Instead, stopping at the tax booth, Jesus looked at Levi and said to him, “Follow Me.” The Lord had earlier issued that same imperative to call His first four disciples (Mark 1:16–20). Matthew must have been as shocked as those in the crowd who witnessed this invitation. Undoubtedly, Matthew knew who Jesus was. Jesus had made Capernaum His ministry headquarters (Matt. 4:13), and word about Him had spread throughout the entire region (Luke 4:37). What Matthew knew about Jesus paled in comparison to what Jesus knew about him (cf. John 2:25). The Lord saw an outcast who was wretched and miserable, deeply distressed by the weight of his guilt and ready to repent. That Levi was the very kind of person whom Jesus had come to save became apparent when he did not hesitate in responding to Jesus’ call. Without delay, he got up and followed Him. His rapid response was miraculous, a reflection of the supernatural work of regeneration that had taken place in his heart. According to Luke 5:28, Matthew “left everything behind” to go with Jesus. He had been a man of the world, who had sold his soul for a lucrative career in a despised and dishonest profession. In that moment, Matthew was transformed from a tax-collecting lover of money into a Christ-following lover of God (cf. Matt. 6:24). Everything that controlled his life up to that point no longer had any meaning. The money, the power, the pleasures of the world all lost their grip on his heart. Under conviction, all he wanted was forgiveness and he knew Jesus was the only one who could provide it. He had a new heart, new longings, and new desires (cf. 2 Cor. 5:17). In contrast to the rich young ruler, who chose temporal riches over eternal life (cf. Mark 10:21–22), Matthew abandoned his toll booth, and the fortunes it made him, in order to follow the forgiving Son of God.

In leaving behind his career, Matthew understood there was no going back. Because his life of sin was connected to his profession, his repentance had significant implications. His livelihood could no longer come through the illicit collection of taxes. Like Paul, Matthew realized that “whatever things were gain to [him], those things [he] counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, [he began to] count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus [his] Lord” (Phil. 3:7–8). The former extortionist, traitor, and outcast was transformed into a disciple. Though he lost a career, he gained an eternal reward and an “inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven” (1 Peter 1:4). He lost material possessions but gained spiritual life; lost earthly security but gained a heavenly future; lost financial reward but gained an unfading crown of glory (cf. 1 Peter 5:4). Matthew may have been barred from the synagogue, but he was accepted by God and granted salvation.

THE COMMUNITY OF SINNERS

And it happened that He was reclining at the table in his house, and many tax collectors and sinners were dining with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many of them, and they were following Him. (2:15)

Matthew’s transformation led immediately to a celebration. Out of his gratitude, he held a large reception for Jesus in his home (cf. Luke 5:29), so that many tax collectors and sinners were there. In order to accommodate such a sizeable gathering, Matthew’s house must have been large—indicative of the lucrative nature of his career as a tax collector. The celebration centered on a feast, at which Jesus was the guest of honor. The Lord was reclining at the table in Matthew’s house surrounded by his sordid friends who were dining with Jesus and His disciples. Matthew’s companions primarily consisted of fellow tax collectors and sinners. The group would have included known criminals, thieves, thugs, enforcers, and prostitutes—all part of the outcast network of which Matthew himself had been part. From the perspective of the self-righteous religious leaders, these people represented the dregs of society. From Jesus’ viewpoint, they comprised the mission field. They were sinners and knew it—the very kinds of people He had come to seek and to save.

The fact that Jesus was reclining at the table with them suggests a prolonged meal at which there would have been ample time for conversation and discussion. No respectable rabbi would ever have broken bread with such a group of social miscreants and religious outcasts, let alone attended the event. In first-century Israel, sharing a meal together was a statement of social acceptance and friendship. For the Messiah to eat with these kinds of people was beyond outrageous in the minds of the religious leaders.

Verse 15 contains the first appearance of the word disciple (mathētēs in Greek) in Mark’s gospel. The word means “learner” and can be applied specifically to the Twelve (cf. Matt. 10:1), or in a more general sense to all the followers of Jesus (cf. Matt. 8:21–22; John 6:66; 8:31). In this instance, it included Peter, Andrew, James, and John, whom Jesus called in 1:16–20, along with Matthew. There were also numerous others who were beginning to follow Jesus. Speaking of those dining with the Lord at the banquet, Mark explains that there were many of them, and they were following Him. Matthew’s dramatic conversion was illustrative of many others who believed in Jesus that day. Like Matthew the tax collector, they lived at the fringe of society, comprising a ragamuffin community of sinners. Yet, by the grace of God, they were transferred from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of salvation (Col. 1:13).

The banquet at Matthew’s house became a revival. It was a celebration held to honor Jesus and to proclaim the story of forgiveness, as Matthew shared his testimony and as the Lord personally interacted with Matthew’s friends. The crowd of society’s most unsavory characters, considered unsalvageable by the religious establishment, were befriended by Jesus for the purpose of saving them. They were sinners in need of God’s grace. The Messiah Himself extended that grace to them, and many of them believed in Him.

THE CONTEMPT OF THE SELF-RIGHTEOUS

When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that He was eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they said to His disciples, “Why is He eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners?” (2:16)

Having witnessed what happened at the tax booth (v. 14), the Pharisees followed Jesus as He and His disciples made their way to Matthew’s house. They were careful to make sure that nothing He did escaped their scrutiny. Though they refused to defile themselves by going inside, they saw that Jesus was eating with the sinners and tax collectors. Unable to quell their indignation at such scandalous impropriety, they expressed their contempt from outside the house. Apparently waiting until the banquet was over, the scribes of the Pharisees cornered His disciples and “grumbling” (Luke 5:30) against them, asked, “Why is He eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners?”

The scribes of the Pharisees were experts in both the Mosaic law and the countless man-made traditions their sect had developed through the centuries. (For background information on the scribes and Pharisees, see chapter 7 of this volume.) They claimed to be holy, but in reality they were only superficially moral. Their righteousness was not the result of the transformation of the heart by God but was an external, hypocritical righteousness consisting of nothing more than rule keeping, judgmentalism, and outward show. The Pharisees expected Jesus and His disciples to observe their legalistic prescriptions and extrabiblical regulations. When He did not, they reacted with anger and resentment.

Their question to the disciples was not born out of curiosity but contempt. Their tone was not inquisitive but accusatory and vindictive. It was clearly rhetorical, intended as a cutting rebuke for what they viewed as despicable behavior on the part of Jesus. Eating and drinking symbolized acceptance, welcome, and friendship. That Jesus would share a meal with such a disreputable group of unclean reprobates enraged their vindictive hearts. In fact, the Pharisees prided themselves on maintaining strict separation from all such people.

Ironically, their judgmental attitudes exposed the true nature of their hypocritical religion. They arrogantly considered themselves to be spiritually whole, when in reality they were spiritually blind and destitute. Many of those they condemned as sinners were, in fact, the ones who had received God’s gift of salvation through faith in Christ. Devoid of grace, the Pharisees clung to a spiritually dead system of superficial legalism. In response, Jesus rejected their self-righteous apostasy and focused instead on people who humbly recognized their sin and repented of it.

THE CONDEMNATION OF THE SAVIOR

And hearing this, Jesus said to them, “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.” (2:17)

Upon hearing the protest of the scribes and Pharisees, Jesus answered them with a stinging rebuke of His own. He said to them, “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.” Luke notes that Jesus added the words “to repentance” (Luke 5:32) after the word “sinners.” Matthew explains that Jesus also said, “But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire compassion, and not sacrifice’” (Matt. 9:13). Putting the accounts from Matthew, Mark, and Luke together, it is evident that Jesus’ answer consisted of three parts.

First, Jesus used a medical analogy to illustrate the compassionate nature of His ministry to sinful people. The Pharisees would have readily agreed that tax collectors and sinners like Matthew were spiritually sick. In light of their condition, such sinners were obviously in need of spiritual critical care. Who then could argue that the Great Physician should not attend to their desperate state? Jesus’ illustration exposed the calloused hearts of the Pharisees, because they would have preferred that He shun sinners instead of helping them. The Lord’s analogy also exposed the spiritual blindness of the Pharisees, by underscoring the self-evident fact that only those who recognize they are sick seek out the help of a physician. Those who think they are healthy see no reason to go to the doctor. Because the Pharisees had deluded themselves into thinking they enjoyed spiritual vitality, when in reality they were spiritually dead (cf. Eph. 2:1–3), they were unwilling to seek true life in Christ.

Second, Jesus answered the Pharisees from the Old Testament Scriptures. According to Matthew 9:13, He told the scribes to “go and learn what this means: ‘I desire compassion, and not sacrifice.’” The phrase “go and learn” was a rabbinic expression used to rebuke foolish ignorance. The potency of that phrase would not have been lost on the scribes, who were rabbis themselves. The biblical quotation “I desire compassion, and not sacrifice” comes from Hosea 6:6, and establishes the truth that God is more concerned with a merciful heart than with the hard, hypocritical observance of external rites (cf. Prov. 21:3; Isa. 1:11–17; Amos 5:21–24; Mic. 6:8). As God told Samuel, “God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Sam. 16:7; cf. 15:22). Coldhearted legalism may look holy on the outside. But it does not please God who weighs thoughts and motives. In their unwillingness to show mercy to others, the Pharisees betrayed the corrupt condition of their stony hearts. Though they claimed to rigorously keep the law, the Lord’s use of Hosea 6:6 exposed their failure to do so. They prided themselves on observing the letter of the law—by dutifully performing sacrifices and ceremonies. They had utterly neglected the spirit of the law, as demonstrated by their unwillingness to extend grace and mercy to those who needed it (cf. Matt. 5:7; Luke 6:36; James 2:13).

Third, Jesus reiterated the purpose of His ministry, by declaring, “I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” In other words, the Lord’s saving mission was not directed toward those who were self-righteous but rather toward those who knew they were not righteous. Jesus did not come to call hypocritical legalists into His kingdom. Rather, He came to save those who knew they were sinners. The Pharisees, of course, regarded themselves as righteous. Consequently, they arrogantly assumed they did not need to repent (cf. Luke 15:7). Their self-delusion resulted in a fatal misdiagnosis of their spiritual condition. In their own minds, they were holy. In reality, they were more lost than tax collectors who knew they were rejected by God. Jesus made that point abundantly clear throughout His ministry. On a different occasion,

God seeks those who, recognizing their sinfulness, cry out for mercy and depend fully on His grace. By contrast, the Pharisees were so far from God that, although they could identify other people as sinners, they were unable to recognize their own miserable condition.

Whereas the religious leaders had no mercy on those whom they regarded as less holy than themselves, the Lord Jesus extended God’s grace to all who sincerely sought it in faith (cf. John 6:37). Because they thought they were righteous, the Pharisees refused to show compassion toward others. Because He truly is righteous, Jesus graciously demonstrated the mercy and love of God toward sinners. When He attended to the needs of the spiritually desperate, the scribes and Pharisees raged with hate against Him. Yet, despite their protests, the merciful Great Physician gladly extended forgiveness to repentant sinners and welcomed them into His kingdom of salvation. He still does so today (cf. 2 Cor. 6:2). With Jesus, where sin abounds, grace abounds much more.

The church of Jesus Christ consists not of perfect people but of forgiven people. Believers know they are not righteous and cannot by their own power become righteous. Rather, they have been granted the very righteousness of God as a gift of grace through faith in Christ (cf. Rom. 3:21–26; 4:5; 2 Cor. 5:21). On the basis of Jesus’ finished work, they have been pardoned and accepted by God, being trophies of His grace for all of eternity (cf. Rom. 9:23). As Paul told the Christians in Corinth: