2. JESUS EATS WITH AND SINNERS Mark 2:13-17 (Matthew 9:9-13; Luke 5:27-32) 13 And he went forth--Jesus goes from Capernaum. Capernaum means "Village of Comfort." It was one of the chief cities of Galilee. It had a custom station where Matthew collected the taxes (Matthew 9:9), a Roman garrison, and a synagogue, built by the Roman centurion. The ruins of a synagogue at Tul Hum, said by McGarvey and other travelers to be the site of Capernaum, show it to have been finer than any other in all Galilee. No city could have enjoyed more exalted privileges. There Jesus not only resided, but taught in the synagogue, in homes, and on the seashore; did many miracles, and there five of his apostles lived. To it, in its wasted opportunities and despised privileges, Jesus said: "I say unto you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee." (Matthew 11:23-24.) again by the sea side; and all the multitude resorted unto him, and he taught them.--The Lake of Galilee. The shore of this lake was a favorite resort of Jesus when surrounded by great multitudes. Jesus often taught by the seaside. (Mark 4:1; Luke 5:1.) By taking a position at the water's edge, or on a boat fastened at the shore, he could prevent the people from surrounding him. As they stood or sat on the shore, he could easily make his voice reach all the multitude. He never lost any time in teaching people. He demonstrates that his followers ought not to wait for an opportunity to speak in fashionable church houses before teaching the people, but that they ought to teach wherever and whenever they can get hearers. 14 And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus--Luke (Luke 5:27) speaks of him as Levi. But in Matthew (Matthew 9:9) we have the name of Matthew instead of Levi. The three narratives clearly relate the same circumstances, and point to Levi as identical with Matthew. He probably had two names as Peter and Paul. sitting at the place of toll,--He was a tax collector and was sitting at his place of business in the customhouse. The revenues which the Roman government derived from conquered countries consisted chiefly of tolls, tithes, and harbor duties, taxes on public pasture lands, and duties on mines and saltworks. Customs were the taxes imposed by the government on both imported and exported goods. The Romans taxed almost everything--fish, trees, houses, doors, columns, and all property, real and personal. All human governments take this course and the burden of taxation grows heavier and heavier. This is the history of all human governments and the cause of their overthrow. Increased taxes become so burdensome, people rebel, rise up and overthrow the government. Christians cannot participate in such rebellions against civil government. and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose and followed him.--Like Peter and Andrew (Mark 1:16-20; John 1:40-42), he did not delay his obedience but arose immediately and followed Jesus. He was not here called to be an apostle, though later he was made one. He was called as a disciple (learner) and a constant associate of Jesus. He, like those previously called, had to be schooled and trained before becoming an apostle. The apostles were chosen later. (Mark 3:13-14; Luke 6:13.) Luke (5:28) says: "He forsook all," which shows the great interest he had in Jesus from the start. He was called to a higher life, a nobler work--to gather no longer perishable money for the Roman treasury, but to gather souls for heaven. 15 And it came to pass, that he was sitting at meat in his house--Jesus and the guests were eating in the house of Matthew. Matthew made Jesus a great feast in his own house. "A great multitude" was present. (Luke 5:29.) The guests consisted of Jesus and his disciples, publicans and sinners. disciples:--Levi, being a publican or tax collector, had been excommunicated by loyal Jews, and hence forced to associate with the outcast, such as publicans and sinners. In making this feast in honor of Jesus, he invited his old associates, publicans and sinners, to enjoy his hospitality. for there were many, and they followed him.--Probably it was a farewell feast, preparatory to leaving all and following Jesus. 16 And the scribes of the Pharisees,--These were learned men who copied, preserved, and explained the law of Moses and the traditions of the elders. (Ezra 7:6; Ezra 7:12; Nehemiah 8:1; Matthew 15:1-6.) They were called doctors of the law (Luke 5 17, 21) and lawyers (Matthew 12:35). Mark (1:22) suggests that the scribes were teachers as well as copyists and conservators of the law. They occupied the seat of Moses, but their teaching was very defective. (Matthew 23:2; Matthew 23:13; Matthew 23:23.) They taught with authority, but it was of tradition. They enforced the letter of the law. The Pharisees sprang up about one hundred and fifty years before the birth of Christ. They were a religious sect. The name "Pharisee" means separatist. They separated from Levitical and traditional purity, and were doubtless the most numerous sect among the Jews. They would neither eat nor associate with publicans and sinners, for as excommunicated persons they regarded them as heathen. (Matthew 18:17.) They held closely to the traditions of the elders (Mark 7:3) and attached more importance to them than even to the written law of Moses (Matthew 15:1-6). when they saw that he was eating with the sinners and publicans,--Since Pharisees would hardly be found in the house of a publican, we are not to conclude that they were in the house where the feast was spread. They may have seen Jesus eating through an open hall, window or some other opening. said unto his disciples,--Doubtless the conversation here mentioned took place with the disciples while they were going in and out from the feast, or probably when they were leaving for home. How is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners?--The complaint of the scribes is here put in the form of a question. To eat in the first clause and to eat and drink in the second are equivalent expressions, both conveying the same general ideas of food and participation in it. The scribes and Pharisees were on the watch to trap Jesus, and felt confident that they had succeeded. 17 And when Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of a physician,--He either overheard the scribes and Pharisees when they asked the question, or through the disciples who went to him with it. The very idea of a healer or physician presupposes sickness--they that are whole--in good health--need no such help as rendered by physicians. but they that are sick:--The sick man, not the well one, is in need of the doctor and is the party who sends for him. The physician attends the sick, not the well. Jesus was a spiritual physician and his great mission in the world was to heal the diseases of sin. If any were really righteous as the scribes and Pharisees imagined they were, then they did not need the healing power of Jesus. The fact that these publicans and sinners were notoriously depraved and wicked showed how sick they were, and how much they were in need of the best physician. The more complicated the disease, the more need there is for a skilled physician. Jesus was that physician. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.--Luke (Luke 5:32) says: "I am not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance." While Jesus made the application to the scribes and Pharisees, as to their own self-righteousness, yet he in-cluded all mankind for the reason "there is none righteous, no, not one." (Romans 3:10.) He came not to call righteous men, for there were really none. His mission was to sinners, and therefore no one should criticize him for trying to save them. The man who is sound physically does not need the physician; the spiritually whole, the righteous, do not need to repent. If these scribes and Pharisees were all they claimed for themselves--spiritually whole, strong and healthy morally --then they needed not the physician;but, from their own view-point, these publicans and sinners were in great need of relief and of repentance. These souls were sick. Jesus was the great soul physician. Hence, he went to the sinsick--to those who felt their need of healing. The self-righteous Pharisees did not realize their own sinful condition, and, therefore, felt no need of Christ. There is but little hope for the self-righteous. Before one can be spiritually healed he must first realize his lost and ruined condition and feel the need of a Savior. There is more hope for sinners, however deep in sin and depravity they may be, who realize their unworthiness of Jesus and their lost condition without him, than for the self-righteous. There is none for them until they humble themselves and desire mercy. The objection was addressed to the disciples, but replied to by Jesus, and as usual in an unexpected way. His reply put them in their own snare. He presented the true question at issue, and stated the true principle or method of solution. Their reproach implied a false view of Christ's whole work and mission which was that of a spiritual physician. Jesus is a wonderful physician. He makes no charges for his service. Salvation is without money and without price. His invitation is universal. (Matthew 11:28.) Our spiritual physician increases the happiness of the patient by giving unto him, instead of enriching his estate by charging for his services. Physicians of the human body bleed the patient, but Jesus bled and died to heal the patient.