Transcript:
For the most part, people want to have a good reputation. It is common for individuals and organizations to hide or deny actions that the general population considers to be wrong.
Our reputation is determined not only by what we do, but also by who we associate with. If we are seen or photographed with someone who is known for doing bad things, then that reflects poorly on us. Therefore, people who want to protect their reputation are careful about who they are seen and associated with.
As Christians, we correctly think it is doubly important to guard our reputation because we represent Jesus. If a Christian has a bad reputation, that could turn a non-believer away from the faith. Therefore, Christians generally are more careful than non-Christians about hanging out with the wrong people lest we sully not only our name, but also the name and image of Christ.
However, Jesus did not seem to be concerned about who He spent time with. The gospels are very clear that Jesus dined with people of very low repute. He did so because bad people need the truth of Jesus just as much as good people.
Mark 2 is one of the chapters which documents that Jesus was known for spending time with sinners. This passage should prompt us to reevaluate our assumptions when it comes to associating with people who have bad reputations.
Early in His ministry, Jesus attracted large crowds. In some cases the throng of people made it difficult to get to Him. One time in Capernaum, four men brought a paralytic to Jesus so that Jesus could heal him, but there were so many gathered together they could not even get into the house where Jesus was preaching. They made a hole in the roof and lowered the paralytic in front of Jesus. However, instead of healing the paralytic, Jesus said, “Child, your sins are forgiven.”
Mark 2:6 But some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts,
Mark 2:7 “Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming; who can forgive sins but God alone?”
The scribes were correct that only God can forgive sins. By forgiving sins, Jesus was claiming to be God.
Mark 2:8 Immediately Jesus, aware in His spirit that they were reasoning that way within themselves, said to them, “Why are you reasoning about these things in your hearts?
On the one hand it is easy to understand why the scribes did not yet grasp that Jesus is God. On the other hand, Jesus had performed many miracles. It is reasonable to think that by this point they should have figured out there was something very different about Jesus.
Mark 2:9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven’; or to say, ‘Get up, and pick up your mat and walk’?
Mark 2:10 But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the paralytic,
Mark 2:11 “I say to you, get up, pick up your mat, and go to your home.”
Jesus healed the paralytic in order to prove He is God.
Mark 2:12 And he got up and immediately picked up the mat and went out before everyone, so that they were all amazed and were glorifying God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this.”
One of the concepts Christians have to grasp in order to comprehend the Bible is why God performed miracles. This passage teaches this very clearly. Jesus healed the paralytic in order to prove He is God.
Throughout both the Old Testament and New Testament, healings and miracles were used as proof. They were used to authenticate that the Old Testament prophets were speaking on behalf of Yahweh. Jesus used them to demonstrate He is God. The authors of scripture used them to prove they were writing the words of God.
Mark 2:13 ¶ And He went out again by the seashore; and the entire crowd was coming to Him, and He was teaching them.
Mark 2:14 ¶ And as He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting in the tax office, and He said to him, “Follow Me!” And he stood up and followed Him.
Mark 2:15 ¶ And it happened that as He was reclining at the table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and His disciples. For there were many of them, and they were following Him.
Tax collectors are mentioned 21 times in the gospels. Those references show that tax collectors had a very bad reputation in 1st century Judaism.
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John used the term sinners in 29 different verses. It was obviously a criticism to call someone a sinner.
The terms “tax collectors” and “sinners” were used multiple times throughout the gospels to refer to undesirable people. In this verse Mark is telling us that Jesus was hanging out with people who had bad reputations.
Mark 2:16 And when the scribes of the Pharisees saw that He was eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they were saying to His disciples, “He is eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners!”
From our perspective here in the 21st century, when we read this we know the scribes were wrong to criticize Jesus. However, do we do the same? What would we think if a pastor and his wife invited prostitutes to dine at their house? That is essentially what Jesus was doing.
Mark 2:17 And hearing this, Jesus said to them, “Those who are healthy do not have need for a physician, but only those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
If we want to share the good news of Jesus with all people, at some point we have to engage people who live ugly lifestyles and have bad reputations.
Mark 2:18 ¶ And John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting; and they came and said to Him, “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?”
Mark 2:19 And Jesus said to them, “Can the attendants of the bridegroom fast when the bridegroom is with them? So long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast.
Jesus pointed out that a wedding feast is not the time to fast.
Mark 2:20 But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day.
Jesus’ point was that the disciples were not fasting because Jesus was with them. Just as a wedding feast is not the time to fast, so too the days when Jesus was on earth were not the days to fast.
Mark 2:21 ¶ “No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; otherwise that patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear results.
Mark 2:22 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost and the skins as well; but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins.”
The scribes and Pharisees were trying to interpret Jesus in light of the Mosaic Law. Jesus declared that He was bringing something new. Just as new wine will break old wineskins, so too plugging Jesus into the Old Testament Law does not work.
For the most part, people want to have a good reputation. Our reputation is determined not only by what we do, but also by who we associate with.
As Christians, we correctly think it is doubly important to guard our reputation because we represent Jesus. Christians tend to be careful about hanging out with the wrong people lest we sully our name and the name and image of Christ. We also think poorly of Christians who do not protect their reputation.
However, Jesus did not seem to be concerned about who He spent time with. The gospels are very clear that Jesus dined with people of very low repute.
Mark 2 tells us Jesus was dining with tax collectors and sinners. In 1st century Judaism, those people were the lowest of the low. The scribes looked down on Jesus for doing this, but Jesus declared that He came to call sinners, not the righteous.
Prostitutes, criminals, drug dealers, gays, lesbians, and transgenders all need Jesus. The only way they will hear about Jesus is if Christians spend time with them. However, Christians tend to look down on other Christians who associate with such people.
We cannot condone what they do, but in order to convince them to abandon their current lifestyle and serve Jesus instead, we need to engage them. Jesus was not ashamed to be seen with sinners. Perhaps we need to stop being ashamed of that as well.
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“Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.”
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