Mark 1:32-2:20 - Skip Heitzig

[Music] welcome to expound our weekly worship and verse by verse study of the Bible our goal is to expand your knowledge of the truth of God as we explore the Word of God in a way that is interactive enjoyable and congregational [Music] father in heaven we're about to open up your book your truth your words inspired by God in errant and all that they speak of and you have a word or several words to speak to us pertaining to our lives our condition our situation our pain and our joys and we give you permission to do that we've come Lord to learn we've come father to empty ourselves of ourselves and to be filled with your Holy Spirit and to grow in the Grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ so father I pray your spirit would help us and would speak to us I mean in a firm way in a real way an authentic way in a way that would change the way we think that little by little week by week Bible study by Bible study we would be more conformed into the image of Christ Lord the last thing I ever want to do is to do something and say words that changes no one where we just go living our lives as normal we cannot run in on something eternal something really big called the gospel so father we pray your spirit would simply do your work in each heart here at our other campus in Santa Fe people listening by radio watching on the internet whatever means but by all means Father shape us in Jesus name Amen one of the most profound statements ever made was made in the Gospel of John chapter 1 you say skip wrong book were in March after one I know but listen up he said and the word became flesh that is so profound I can't even get my head around that great is the mystery of godliness Paul said to Timothy that God was manifested in a body in flesh the Greek term for God is the word thais theology comes from that theocratic has that in it Thais means God the in Greek the Greek word for man is anthropos anthropology philanthropy all have that idea of man in it what makes Jesus absolutely unique is that he is both thais god of very God and anthropos and the theologians give it a special title a special name that the nature of Jesus is the anthropic the anthropic Thais and anthropos God and man mixed together in one person that he is fully God and fully man great is the mystery of godliness God manifest in the flesh the four Gospels have four different port rails of Jesus each a little bit different mark will focus on the servant nature of Jesus he's always busy he's always active he's the tireless servant finding needs pursuing men and women who have needs and being pursued by men and women who are in need that's the tireless servant there's actually no one fitting name that could sum up Jesus Christ Billy Sunday the great evangelist from many years ago the ex baseball player professional baseball player turned fiery evangelist Billy Sunday noted that in the Bible there are 265 different names for Jesus Christ and that is because no single name can capture all that he is so he is the god man not just a good man but God man and here he is the one who is a servant ministering to people in need now here's where we're at in Chapter 1 in verse 21 Jesus goes to the synagogue reads from the text of Scripture teaches from that text of Scripture and heals a man who's in church that day in synagogue that day who's possessed by a demon and I said last week not everybody who goes to church is necessarily a great person you might be sitting next to a demon-possessed person right now now that doesn't mean you nut your husband go I knew it that is that is so you dude but in the synagogue in Capernaum there was a demon-possessed man and jesus healed him ministered to him if you recall last week I painted a picture for you so that you understand now what a synagogue service was like in antiquity that there was the Hassan the minister of the synagogue who kind of kept the place up there was the ruler of the synagogue in this case his name was gyrus he was the one who ordered the service for the people the service structure for the people of God the worship service there were the elders who maintained important seats near the front of the synagogue service then there was a delegate of the congregation the delegate of the congregation was somebody chosen on a particular day to read from the text and to teach from it and that was Jesus next to Jesus would have stood an interpreter since the text is read in Hebrew but the people didn't speak Hebrew they spoke Aramaic because that was the language of the captivity so when the Jews returned from the Babylonian captivity and kept it for hundreds of years they spoke Babylonian Chaldean Aramaic then there were these almond Earth's two or three people who would take the gifts to the poor so Jesus goes into the synagogue the service is underway he teaches people and he heals somebody who's demon-possessed the people marvel now in verse 32 at evening when the Sun had set they brought to him all who were sick and those who were demon-possessed why demon-possessed well news travels fast this teacher this guy who great gave that like awesome sermon in the synagogue service he has power over demonic spirits bring your demon-possessed friends tonight so they all came out now whyatt evening because it was the Sabbath day they weren't able to travel at least those who lived a considerable distance away and wanted to get help from Jesus because they were Jewish they would not dare travel until the Sun set and you could go outside and see those three stars shining in the Twilight and that was your signal that the Sabbath was over the next day had begun and now that the Sabbath is over you can go as far as you want you see you couldn't travel on a Sabbath day according to their law or their interpretation of the law the rabbi said you could only travel 2,000 cubits a cubit is 18 inches so about a thousand yards you couldn't you could only travel 2,000 cubits but get this some Jews wanted to stretch it because you know if they could just walk a little bit further they could reach the destination that they get on the Sabbath and so they stretched it to instead of 2,000 cubits three thousand cubits using the measurement of the Roman cubit which is not one foot six inches but one foot nine inches which is funny and interesting and ironic because then they would be accused by the legalistic traditionalists for following the value system of the world rather than the value system of God and that debate was endless and legalistic people do that they try to just kind of find out where their parameters are and what the limits are and they try to just do it just so but anyway the Sun has set the evening has come so news has spread so quickly they brought anyone who is sick anyone who is oppressed with a demon spirit verse 33 and the whole city was gathered together at the door then he healed many who were sick with various diseases and cast out many demons and he did not allow the demons to speak because they knew him here is a picture of the tireless servant Jesus Christ seeking out ministering to loving on people who have need he didn't say look I worked so hard and studied so hard and preached so hard in the synagogue service leave me alone tonight this is comp time for me I want the evening off a picture of Jesus relentlessly pursuing needy people you know Jesus some of you he has been pursuing for a long time the Bible says he is not willing that any should perish some people come to church casually they come to sort of check it out spot it out see if they like it or not grade it etc everything accepts surrender there life to the one who wants to save their soul and here is Jesus working miracles ministering salvation to the people who come now in the morning verse 35 having risen I love this a long while before daylight it's wonderful to get up before daylight sometimes hard sometimes my body doesn't want to but to get up before the crack of dawn when nobody is stirring there aren't sounds there aren't cars there are very few dogs even barking at that time and to spend time with the Lord here's a picture of Jesus God God in human flesh praying having risen a long while before daylight he went out and departed to a solitary place and there he prayed you should know that three times in the Gospel of Mark mark describes Jesus praying each time mark describes Jesus praying it's nighttime it's a solitary place and it's somehow related to the opposition of the religious people against him or some form of opposition in this case the demon-possessed man opposing him in the synagogue which we read about last week all three of those things you find every time mark describes Jesus praying it's night a solitary place and there's some oppression or opposition going on and Simon and those who were with him searched for him he had obviously gotten up before Peter was awake when they found him they said to him everyone is looking for you but he said to them let us go to the next towns that I may preach there also because for this purpose I have come fourth and he was preaching in their synagogues noticed that throughout all Galilee and casting out demons now synagogues were the focus or at least part of the focus one of the main focuses of Jesus ministry that's why Nicodemus in John chapter three could say to Jesus we know that you are a teacher come from God he couldn't have said that unless he developed a reputation as a synagogue teacher so he went to other towns to other synagogues using Judaism which he was birthed into as their Messiah as the platform now a leper came to him notice a leper not a leopard a leper a wild animal it's not a person with the disease it is imploring him kneeling down to him and saying to him if you are willing you can make me clean now stop right there and analyze that prayer if you are willing you can make me clean now that doesn't sound like there's a whole lot of faith there at least that's what some will say I have been actually been in in the past rebuked by people who have heard me pray Lord if it is your will and I ask him for something and they stop me say you you can never pray that if it is your will you need to say Lord I claim it in the name of Jesus by the authority of all of heaven that this will be done that that person will be healed or whatever you're praying for and and my rebuttal is always the same but I don't know if that's God's will or not well then it's not a prayer of faith and you won't get anything well keep reading because this guy does get something and his prayer is if you are willing if you are willing and I love the prayer you are leaving open the sovereign will of God not dictating to God what his Liz frankly I don't know what God's will is much of the time unless it's something clear in the scripture it's a clear scriptural principle bad I can follow those are the things that govern and oversee our lives but have you ever been in grey areas where you just wonder scratch your head I wonder if it is God's will for this to happen or not so that's how he comes if it is your will he says you can make me clean now this guy's a leper he has leprosy when you read that in the Bible it means one of two things it's the broad term to describe all sorts of skin diseases or number two it's the narrow term to describe the most loathsome kind of disease if it's category number one the rod the rabbi's the scribes have catalogues 72 different skin diseases all under the realm leprosy anything from a burn to a boil to psoriasis to an itch and if you remember your scripture Leviticus 13 if a person had leprosy or was suspected of leprosy any broad skin disease at all he went to a priest and it was examined and he was quarantined etc and then if it didn't get worse he was pronounced clean it was obviously one of these 72 skin diseases short of the the narrow one okay this one is in category number two this is the narrow loathesome disease known as the living death or Walking Dead it's that which started as a spot on your arm or your foot and your arm or foot would eventually end up as a stump it deadened the nerves it necrosis a progressive necrosis took over that form is called Mycobacterium leprae or Mycobacterium leprae mitosis aka Hanson's disease something that was prevalent in the ancient world if you remember according to our study in Leviticus a person who was examined by a priest if he was suspected of having this kind of a disease because it's highly contagious he had to rip his clothes shave his head he had to cry out unclean be fifty paces away from civilization and not allowed to have any social interaction whatsoever according to Leviticus 13 he was kept outside the camp that's the kind he has now before we read what Jesus did this is what you ought to know what most rabbis did in those days they shunned them why did they shun them well I don't want to get that disease I don't want to come close to somebody like that I dare not breathe in his air or touch him now that would make sense but they became calloused one rabbi wrote whenever I see a leper I throw stones at him lest he come near me horrible isn't it another rabbi even wrote I refused to buy an egg on the street that has been walked on by a leper now in contrast to that verse 41 then Jesus moved with compassion stretched out his hand and touched him and said I am willing be cleansed as soon as he had spoken immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed I'm sure when Jesus started reaching his hand toward him everybody gasped right cuz nobody did that people turned away from lepers you don't turn toward them but Jesus did now when he touched him that touch spoke volumes more than what Jesus had said he could have said I'm willing yeah I'm willing I'm willing stay there he said I am willing but then when he touched him that touch spoke volumes more than anything he could ever say here's a demonstration of love and compassion here's a man who imagined here's a man who had not had human touch for who knows how long if he was married he hadn't felt the embrace or the touch of his wife or his child climb up on his lap or his grandkids come up and say grandpa I love you with the kiss on the cheek he hadn't experienced any of those filial kind of relational things that we often take for granted so that touch oh wow so unique and he strictly warned him this is fascinating and sent him away at once and he said to him see that you say nothing to anyone but go your way and show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing those things which Moses commanded as a testimony to them however he went out and began to proclaim it freely now I don't cite him for that if I had a loathsome disease and was pronounced incurable by the priesthood and now I'm instantly healed it's hard to keep that quiet especially since my friends and family know it already say what happened to you nothing yeah but like you're totally cleansed yeah I know whatever it'd be hard to keep that quiet so it began to proclaim it freely and to spread the matter so that Jesus could no longer open they enter the city but was outside in deserted places and they came to him from every direction why would Jesus tell him to not tell anybody it seems sort of to defeat the purpose of evangelism number one to proclaim it to broadcast it would have made Jesus like a magnet for all sorts of people who were following Jesus for the wrong motivation or would then follow Jesus for the wrong motivation hey there's a dude who will heal yeah let's follow the guy who will give us whatever we need people with the Warped motivation of the name it and claim it mentality they would have followed Jesus for the wrong reasons reason number two he said keep it quiet it would be like painting a bull's-eye on Jesus it would attract undue attention from his enemies and it was not Jesus time you're gonna see this rising up through the gospel narrative that culminates at the crucifixion when Jesus enemies finally who have been plotting to put him to death and that begins early on by the way when they finally get to that point so that people wouldn't follow him with wrong motivations number one and number two so that undue opposition before the time from Jesus enemies wouldn't come so what does Jesus do he says here go to the priest and offer the sacrifices okay now I'm gonna take you back again and see this is why it's good to go through the Bible otherwise if you had not read Leviticus you'd just be going huh I don't get it which is a lot of Christians do because they never read it but you've read it and you remember after Leviticus 13 comes here it is profound Leviticus 14 where it says in verse 1 this is the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing the law anticipated the possibility of a man being cleansed even from the most loathsome narrow contagious disease colep recei so what was he to do he was to go to the priest he'd be inspected he was to bring two doves with him two birds one was killed the other bird live bird was dipped in blood and then let go you remember he was quarantined for another week and then if all was good he was released so go to the priest Jesus is saying follow the book follow the law do things according to Levitical protocol which would send a message to the priest that someone with messianic power is in their midst ooh it's like Jesus giving his calling card to the priesthood just go show yourself to the priest claiming Leviticus 14 making the necessary sacrifices that should pique their interest why because if I read my Bible correctly nobody in Israel had been cured of leprosy since the days that namin the Syrian was cured by Elijah the Tishbite the tishbite prophet in the Old Testament it was the last time in their midst in their country somebody was miraculously healed with leprosy so this should arouse the interest of the establishment now there's something ironic I just want to bring your attention Jesus tells this guy to keep it quiet and what does he do he tells everybody today Jesus tells us to tell everybody and we out right we keep it quiet he says tell it from the rooftops shout from the housetops tell everyone that I have come that I have eternal life for them oh no if I want to do that typical pattern human pattern to do exactly the opposite that Jesus would command us to do somebody once wisely said evangelism is simply one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread has your life changed do you have hope and satisfaction and purpose and meaning and then just tell people that tell people that hey let me tell you what I used to be like and you may look at me now and think I'm pretty awesome and you'll be surprised if you don't know I never thought you were awesome I mean this is the changed you I hope that didn't happen to you but we tell verse 1 of chapter 2 and again he entered Capernaum after some days and it was heard that he was in the house now presumably this is whose house Peter's house because that was the house in chapter 1 Jesus doesn't have his own home the son of man has no place to lay his head he's at Peter's house his mother-in-law was healed in that house so Jesus is staying in the house with Peter but I love it that it says it was heard that he was in the house how cool to say Jesus is in my house it was heard hey I hear that Jesus is in the house what do people hear about your house all the noises and words songs programs that you watch on television how much of that noise of what can be heard would tell people Jesus is in this house Jesus was in the house immediately many gathered together so there was no longer room to receive them not even at the door it's a packed house and he preached the word to them I love it the greatest need for these people was to have truth told to them revealed to them so he preached the word to them God's truths to them then they came to him bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men and when they could not come near him because of the crowd they uncovered the roof where he was so when they had broken through they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying I'm glad that we live in this state because you're gonna up be able to understand this if you lived in another state and you're trying to picture people breaking through the house and if you have a pitched roof house how do you how do you do that how do they climb up there in those places in the ancient Middle East the architecture is very similar to a native New Mexico architecture where you have clay and wood beams and flat roofs and why a flat roof well because they didn't make pitched roofs it is a drier climate like this and also so that the family could go up on the roof because they would often put a little lean-to on top or some kind of a veranda covering of branches so that in in warmer months you might even sleep outside you you could go outside and retire and the cool of the day toward the afternoon enjoy yourself with the family it was like an extra room a patio that gave you a beautiful view it was common in those kind of homes so there was typically a stairway on the side of the house that went up to the top of the roof these four guys had faith and you're gonna see that in a minute and they're thinking about their friend who's a paralytic man we gotta figure out a way to get you to Jesus we've seen what he can do we've heard what he has promised we've got to get you to Jesus but now I can relate to this they hated crowds they hated lines I hate lines I don't know about you but you know waiting in long lines like in traffic now honestly I just got to tell you there is no traffic in this city in this state none never ever ever complain about it oh you don't have to take my route listen I took the 405 freeway every day for years where you don't go by miles you go by hours to get from one place to the next bumper-to-bumper and I hate that's why I'm not really fond of going to Disneyland and standing in line for like four hours to go on a four minute ride so I to buy this nifty little pass it was a year-round pass and I'd go like as soon as it rained I would hit Disneyland and go like on a couple rides nobody was there and then I would leave the park and then a couple days later I find an off time and go back and go on a few more but I hated long lines these guys look at they couldn't even get into the house the doors packed it's jammed there's so many people hey let's go on the roof so they broke through the roof they had a breakthrough now the roofs had wooden beams with slabs of adobe dried clay it were placed on top and then a smearing of wet clay on top for sealing the chisel through and broke through now if this were Peters house what do you think mrs. Peter was thinking about now here's Jesus my house is packed I don't have enough horderves to these people and now somebody's breaking in my roof thank you this is all from following your Jesus Peter I mean I don't know if that ever came up but it would in a lot of homes put it that way now look at this look at verse 5 when Jesus saw whose faith whose faith their faith not the guy who had the diseases faith the paralytics faith when he saw their faith their faith those four guys then he turned and said to the paralytic oh I love this I love this because this overturns the notion again perpetrated by the faith churches that say if you're not healed it's because you don't have enough faith to be healed you have a disease you have a malady you have a problem you could be healed it's part of the atonement they tell you you just need to have enough faith and if you don't get healed the onus is on you not God because God has said you can be healed well I don't read that here I don't read that this guide this paralytic had any faith in Jesus at all he might not have even known Jesus he saw their faith so I would say hey mister faith healer you sound like you've got more faith than any of us let's use your faith for this healing now shall we I'm coming to you I'm faithless this person's been pretty beat up doesn't have much faith but boy the way you talk you seem like you have more faith than anybody in this town so let's just borrow yours for this one he saw their faith and he said to the paralytic something interesting in fact it must have bummed out his four friends he expected Jesus to look at their faith and then turn to their friend and say you're healed but he said son and they're going come on this is it your sins are forgiven and I'm sure they went oh man we broke through the roof might spend the night in jail for this so anti-climactic such a letdown so why would Jesus turn to the paralytic and say son your sins are forgiven I'll give you three reasons I think all of them fit the picture fit the bill and are correct number one prior thinking number two priority and number three power I'll explain it was the prior thinking of the Jews that anyone who was sick was sick because they were a sinner the ancient Jews often linked suffering and sin the rabbi's would even say whoever is sick will never be healed of their sickness unless their sin is dealt with first that was their thinking you got a deal with the sin do you remember the book of Job remember of jobs three friends friends who came to comfort him and basically said you're a big sinner job that's why you have a big lot of suffering Elif as the temanite one of his friends even said whoever perished being innocent in other words innocent people don't suffer like this obviously then joke you're not innocent that's prior thinking reason number two priority Jesus said to that man the most important thing that needed to be said what was his greatest need at that point now his friends would say a physical healing Jesus would say no it's not forgiveness of sin is the greatest thing because you can be healed and go to hell when you die and what good is the healing then as Jesus said what will the profit a man if he gain the whole world but lose his own soul and what will a man give in exchange for his soul so because of prior thinking because of priority the most important thing to deal with was this man sin and so he said son your sins are forgiven you third is power that's in verse six and the following verses some of the scribes were sitting there reasoning in their hearts why does this man speak blasphemies like this who can forgive sins but God alone now analyze their statement what they said is true part of it but part of it is false here's the true part only God can forgive sins that's true is that true but they accused Jesus of blasphemy now that was false only God can forgive sins and Jesus said I forgive your sins your sins are forgiven he was making quite a statement of who he was of who he is so it was part right and it was part wrong but immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves he said to them why do you reason about these things in your hearts Jesus not only knew the sins of the paralytic he knew the hearts of these men now get this which is it easier to say to the paralytic your sins are forgiven you or to say arise take up your bed and walk but that you may know that the Son of man has power on earth to forgive sins he says to the paralytic he said to the paralytic I say to you arise take up your bed and go home ok now stop which is it easier to say think about that is it easier to say your sins are forgiven or is it easier to say rise take up your bed and walk no it's easier to say your sins are forgiven it's harder to say rise take up your bed and walk ok so let's say we're in a social setting there's a whole bunch of people gathered around you is it easier for you to say with the crowd watching your sins are forgiven or is it easier for you to say come on get up walk it's easier to say your sins are forgiven why because nobody can see that part it's internal if you say rise take up your bed and walk and it doesn't happen you're in trouble right you're false people had their hopes up you couldn't pull through so simply on a superficial level it's easier to say your sins are forgiven because you're dealing with internals a part that nobody can see on the outside so now watch what he says but that you may know that the Son of man has power on earth to forgive sin he said to the paralytic I say to you take up your bed and go to your house to say your sins are forgiven or to say rise up and walk it's impossible for a man to say that what's impossible for man both of these are possible only for God one who could say one of these could certainly say the other statement and that's his point watch this I want you to know that I have power over the stuff you can't see the internal the forgiveness of sin so what I'm gonna do is show you that I have authority over the external the physical world the natural world and when I heal this man and you see that miracle in the natural realm understand and be assured that I also have authority over that part that you can't see the supernatural realm the forgiveness of sin prior thinking priorities and power those are the three reasons Jesus said your sins are forgiven immediately verse 12 he arose took up his bed and went out in the presence of them all so that they were all amazed I would consider this an understatement and glorified God saying we never saw anything like this I don't know if you've ever actually seen a true physical healing I don't mean not like I have a cold and I prayed for it and I didn't sneeze I'm not talking that I'm talking something that is really an obvious medically attested to healing but I will guarantee you I've seen one seen a couple of them and I never went and went oh ho praise God I burst out weeping it was so emotionally shaking to see someone who had nerve damage and could not move his hand and the doctor said he has injured his radial nerve and will not be able to move his hand again to watch that hand open up and begin to work again astonishing so they were all amazed yeah understatement of the year and they glorified God saying we never saw anything like this and they went out again by the sea and all the multitude came to him and he taught them there it is again was to give them truth teach them and as he passed by he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting in the tax office and he said to him follow me so he arose and followed him Mark and Luke called him Levi his Hebrew name levy Matthew gives us the other name which is Matthew thank you hence the book of Matthew but his original name was Levi because he was from the tribe of Levi matthew was probably a name Jesus gave to him now check this out this is not uncommon Jesus often renamed people am I right Simon I have a new name for you I'm gonna call you Peter a little small stone you're a chip off the old rock rocky or pebbles would be more accurate so he gave him a new name he renamed James and John who were referred to as sons of Zebedee he called them sons of thunder because they wanted to call down fire on the samaritan village so kind of tongue-in-cheek humor new nickname you know nuclear boys sons of thunder matthew was a name no doubt given to Levi by Jesus Matthew means the gift of God the gift of God are you kidding this is a tax collector the Jews hated tax collectors hated them there were traitors why on earth would Jesus call him the gift of God because that's how Jesus saw him he saw the potential to take a crook and make him a gift by changing him you know Jesus looks at you others might look at you and see failure written all over you or sinner written all over you or traitor written all over or whatever it would be Jesus as I can take you and make you a gift to others I see what no one else can see and I can do for you what no one else can do so we called him Matthew a couple things we know about him he was Jewish probably from the tribe of Levi now if that's true and we believe it is most scholars believe that to be true that would mean being a tax collector that he's a renegade PK you know what a PK is right would we call it a pastors get in this case priest kid you know this guy had a background he went to Sunday school or Sabbath school his whole life in fact in the Gospel of Matthew Matthew quotes the Old Testament more than any of the other Gospel writers he really was soaked in the scripture he knew the scripture he probably ran away from that he didn't want to be a religious person he didn't want to join the priesthood so he became a tax collectors so that's the second thing we know about him II was a religious person from the tribe of Levi a PK but he became a tax collector I mentioned the Jews hated tax collectors they were placed in the category of worthless defiled vile sinners if a tax collector touched a house it was rendered unclean one Jewish author said in those days I have never yet seen a monument erected to an honest tax collector they were considered traitors because typically like Matthew they were Jewish but they worked for Rome the Roman government the enemies of the Jews who had taken them captive now but get this taxes were conducted by a method known as tax farming the Romans would give to the highest bidder the ability to extract taxes from the people there was a certain amount that Rome required whatever else he could gouge from the people by oppression he could keep for himself so they were barred from the synagogue service they couldn't go into synagogue if one felt oh I got to go talk to God you weren't allowed in the synagogue if you were a tax collector now I just want to enlighten some of of us who think we might have it bad with taxes and I typically do I am one who would espouse get the government out of the way and lower taxes and all that but I just want to give you a little perspective check there were so many taxes in those days it was ridiculous number one there was called the poll tax anyone male or female if you were a male age 14 to 865 female age 12 to 8 65 you paid a poll tax that was simply your tax for being alive for breathing Roman air you paid the poll tax number two there was income tax on top of the poll tax a flat 10% for everyone number three there were the ground taxes one-tenth of all the grain one-fifth of all the wine was given to Rome Harbor taxes import taxes Road taxes in Galilee in the Mediterranean there were fish taxes you would be taxed per net that you would bring in and per individual fish on top of that were the cart taxes you would be taxed per wheel on the cart if your cart had four wheels or three wheels or a wheelbarrow kind of a cart one wheel you'd always want that because you get taxed less so there were enormous taxes it became such a burden and Matthew got a chunk of all of it so he was hated the third thing we know about Matthew is he's very decisive Jesus came to him one day at the tax booth and he said follow me and it says notice so he arose and followed him Matthew had more to give up probably than any of the other disciples very wealthy a shoo-in for the rest of his life with the Roman government if you left your job working for the Roman government and you walked away from it you could never walk back in that door and get your job back close the door that's white Luke when he describes this scenario said he left everything and he followed Jesus now probably Matthew had heard of Jesus maybe even saw a miracle or two obviously to be that decisive and to follow Jesus you wouldn't do that for just anyone now what happened is he was dining in Levi's house that many tax collectors and sinners sat together with Jesus and His disciples for there were many and they followed him when the scribes and the Pharisees saw him eating with tax collectors and sin you're meant to sort of sneer when you say that that's how they did it they said to his disciples how is it that he eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners now you know that the Jewish view of eating whenever you ate with someone was to enjoy the most intimate form of fellowship revelation 3 behold I stand at the door and not jesus said if anyone opened the door I will come in and eat with him sup with him have a meal with him you're bringing somebody into that intimacy of fellowship that is unlike anything else so this was a farewell dinner where Matthews simply wanted to share his faith with his friends and share his Lord with his friends and he gets accused by the religious elite when Jesus heard it he said to them those who are well have no need of a doctor or a physician but those who are sick I did not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance we get forgiven in the same way a patient who goes to a doctor gets cured the patient has to admit that something's wrong how odd would it be for you to be in the doctor's office and he calls you and the doctor said what's wrong nothing why are you here no reason just love doctors offices well okay thank you pay your copay and get out of here you have to admit something's wrong blessed are the poor in spirit jesus said you have to acknowledge I'm sick I need to be cured I'm a sinner I need to be forgiven those who are well don't need a doctor but those who are sick I didn't come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance what Jesus is doing by this statement is indicted them in spiritual malpractice you guys are a bunch of spiritual quacks you can diagnose the disease but you can offer no cure you can point your finger at the sinner and the tax collector and sneer at them you quacks don't you know that sick people need good doctors I've come to cure the sick spiritually sick the sinner see the Pharisees did nothing to win people to faith all they did is point fingers at people Jesus came to cure I've always loved the story of Oliver Cromwell who led England during a time of crisis and one day when his soldiers his men came to him and said that they had run out of silver and gold with which to mint coins for the Empire and they said there is no silver left there is no gold left the only silver and gold left in all of England are the statues in the great cathedrals Oliver Cromwell smiled and said melt down those Saints and get them back into circulation it's a good - good word for us I think we need to be sort of broken down and we got to get into circulation we can point our fingers at all the bad stuff happening in the world Jesus came to cure and to heal then says verse 18 the disciples of John and the Pharisees were fasting they came and said to him why did the disciples of John and the Pharisees fast but your disciples do not fast there was only one mandatory day fasting to remember when that was he studied Leviticus now you know it Yom Kippur Day of Atonement that's the only day they're told to afflict their souls or to fast but the Pharisees and the scribes did it twice a week Mondays and Thursdays why'd they do that well probably they wanted to draw close to God that was their original thinking but eventually they really did it to be seen by people because Jesus made a note that they loved to fast by painting their faces as if they were sick and gaunt and malnourished and stand on the corners of the streets during rush hour in Jerusalem kind of moaning and mourning so people go wow look at those holy rollers and Jesus said I'll tell you what they are they're a bunch of actors hypocrites jesus said to them can the Friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them as long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast but the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them and they will fast in those days once again these religious people believe that an outward kind of a sobriety seriousness even morning was holy jesus was saying that would be like totally inappropriate because i jesus am with these guys right now I'm the bridegroom was with a bride we're all together it's to be a time of joy not mourning the day is coming speaking of the future of his death and ascension into heaven when he would be a way that there will be a time for fasting but now is the time for joy let's just close on that note mum more could be said and I wish we had more time to finish the chapter I mean I'm ready to do so but you have children we have commitments and we like to keep our time commitment though we're not a slave to it we just want to honor that and we think honor the Lord but go out on that note rather than this being what marks you that frown that dour doleful morning look i mean how attractive is that people will see even go what's up I'm a Christian and you will be treated like a leper unclean go away from me don't want to catch that I hope it's not contagious but if you have a freedom a joy a schwa de vivre as the French call it that will be noticed it will be attractive and people will say I want to get some of that is Jesus with you celebrate him he's in your Mets celebrating amen ole father thank you that you've taken away the garment of mourning and you've given us the garment of praise the oil of gladness and joy Lord some of us indeed have broken hearts some of us feel bombarded attacked by the enemy saddened by events that are happening in our lives people that we love people around us news that we've heard but Lord Jesus you are both God and both man you know what it's like to be a man you know what it's like to be God as man you relate to everything we go through as God you have the power to deal with everything we go through and so as the writer of Hebrews tell us so we do even now as we close this service we come before your throne boldly that we might approach the throne of grace to find help mercy in time of our need and we praise Lord that you will lift our spirits as Jesus lives and abides in our house this body and where we live at our home our family I pray that it would be noised abroad that it would be heard that Jesus lives there it's in his name his strong name that we pray amen you

Channel: Calvary Church with Skip Heitzig

Views: 6,838

Rating: 4.8888888 out of 5

Keywords: Calvary Church, Skip Heitzig, Mark, John the Baptist, John Mark, synagogue, missionary, New Testament, clergy, baptism, satan, devil, King of the Jews, kosher, law, disciples, Simon Peter, Andrew, James, John

Id: k80llzzgTd8

Length: 58min 7sec (3487 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 11 2018