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Listener, do you believe that you must carry your burden of shame forever in an effort to make things right? Join Reverend Daniel as he preaches from Mark chapter 2, proclaiming good news that Jesus is able to cut you free of that burden today.

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Good morning, Church. This morning scripture is taken from the Gospel of Mark, chapter 2, verse 13 to 17. I pray that we will all be blessed when we give it to heart. Verse 13. And as he passed by, he saw Levi, the son of Alpha, sitting at the textbooth, and he said to him, Follow me, and he rose and followed him. And as he reclined at the table of in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. And the scribes and the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciple, Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners? And Jesus heard it. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners. This is the word of God. Thanks be to God.

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The last time we looked at Mark chapter 2, verse 1 to 12, we learned that Jesus, while in Kapanon, had the authority to pronounce the forgiveness of sins. If we call, he said to the paralytic, brought by four men to Jesus, Son, your sins are forgiven. Today we will continue looking at Mark chapter 2, this time at verse 13 to 17, and see that Jesus not only has the authority to pronounce the forgiveness of sins, but also to forgive sinners and tax collectors by eating with them. Let us pray. Father, we pray this morning that you take your word and apply it to our hearts by your Spirit. Holy Spirit, we pray, stir up our hearts once again to divine truth, that you will be the one that will convict us of sin, of righteousness, and judgment. We pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen. So in Mark chapter 2, verse 13 to 17, as our brother Chris read for us, Jesus was teaching the crowd beside the sea, and he passed by. And as he passed by, he saw Levi, the son of Alpheus, sitting at the textbooth and called him to follow him. The word follow, when used in the gospel settings, and especially in Mark, actually describes a response of faith. When Jesus calls people in the gospels to follow him, he kind of expects a response of faith in him. Right? They may not fully understand this Jesus whom they are following, but as Jesus called, people followed and then discovered who he is. So it's quite very different from how we see uh coming to faith today. Today we come to faith, we make sure that we understand who Jesus is, what he came to do, and what are the basic tenets of the Christian faith. But during the time of Jesus, he called followers and they just respond by faith and journey with him as a teacher, as a rabbi, and then discover who he is. And as they get to know him more, they commit their lives more to him. So it's a very relational kind of knowing. So at some point, they may have been strengthened in their faith in Jesus. So this is the initial following of Levi, the son of Alpheus. So struck by the call of Jesus to follow him, Levi, the son of Alpheus, a tax collector, rose and followed Jesus. That's what Mark tells us in Mark 2, 14. So it's not surprising that Jesus encountered tax collectors in Kapan, because the Mishnah, which is a collection of Jewish oral traditions, a written collection, described tax collectors as making daily rounds, exacting payment of men with or without their consent, or as here sitting at a tax booth with account books open and pen in hand. People arriving in Capanan from the territory of Herod Philip and the Decarolis to the east and north would be taxed by agents such as Levi, who were in the service of Herod Antipas, who was the governor, the Roman governor of Galilee and Perea. So under the Roman tax system, land and poor taxes were collected directly by the Romans, but taxes on transported goods were contracted out to local tax collectors. So they were likely not pious Jews. Levi is probably not a pious Jew because Jews concerned about the Torah or the law of God could not be expected to transact business with Gentiles or rather with the Roman governor because that would make them ritually unclean or defiled. So likely Levi is not a devout Jew, probably much despised for his role. So the Levi mentioned in our passage today was likely one of uh the middlemen or uh someone in service of a middleman who made bids in advance to collect taxes in a given area. So his own profit came from what he could extract from those he collected taxes from. And a portion of what he extracted from them, the profit stayed in his own pocket. So the Roman system of taxation in the time of Jesus depended on graft and greed, and it attracted enterprising individuals who were not averse to such means. So they were known as people who were greedy for money and working with the Romans against their own people. And it doesn't help that they are most of the time ethnic Jews who acted as middlemen. So tax collectors were despised and hated by their own people because they extracted profits from their own people to line their own pockets with profits while working with the Gentile Roman rulers. This would make them ritually unclean and someone whom you, as a pious Jew, certainly not associate with. So the Levi, whom Jesus calls to follow him, belongs to this category of persons. He is both morally contemptuous and ritually unclean because of his collaboration with the Romans. So Jesus called such as the Levi, he has no qualms in calling people despised and uh rejected to follow him. So Jesus could have stopped there, but rather, but instead of just stopping at the calling of Levi, he joins the Levi, who is now a follower of the way of Jesus, for dinner at his house, where there are then many tax collectors and sinners. So the offense to the scribes and Pharisees who had an overview of what was happening continues to heighten and grow. So we read in Mark chapter 2, verse 15 to 17, and as he, referring to Jesus, reclined at table in his house, the house of the Levi, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many tax collectors and sinners who followed him. And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners? And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners. So Jesus joins the Levi at his house, and he was found to be in the company of many tax collectors and sinners. He was reclining at table and eating with them. Our English translations leave the impression that Jesus was merely perhaps sitting at a table in the Levi's house. But the Greek of Mark chapter 2 verse 15 indicates that Jesus was reclining. He was reclining. So this was a posture adopted by the Middle Eastern culture, people of the day at feasts and festivals. So one would be seated with the head facing the table and feet extended outward from it. What is more astounding is this the reclining of sinners and tax collectors with Jesus suggests that he, Jesus himself, was the real host of the party. So Jesus was reclining, he was the host of the party, and there are many others who were there, and they were all known as tax collectors and sinners. So Jesus not only called a Levi, who is a known despised sinner in the eyes of the Jews, but he now leads a party as the host and the comprising sinners. So he's the host, taking the lead in a party of sinners. The Jewish dietary laws were intended in the time of Jesus to exclude contact with Gentiles, especially in the intimacy of table fellowship. So Jews would never eat with Gentiles as that would defile them and make them unclean. So Jesus' disrespect for this essential Jewish boundary caused great offense to the scribes. His behavior exacerbates a latent tension into an open conflict with the scribes. In Mark 2, verse 1 to 12, the sermon a few weeks ago, the conflict resulted in the Jesus' authority to forgive sins. And here the conflict results with Jesus eating with sinners. So Jesus was found in the company of not only tax collectors but also sinners. Sometimes when we read at face value, this phrase, Jesus acts with tax collectors and sinners, we assume that sinners were those who transgress God's law and people who are far away from God. Because the Jewish oral tradition, the Mishnah, actually describes sinners this way. Sinners are gamblers, moneylenders, which obviously are tax collectors, people who raise dust for sport, people who trade on the Sabbath day, on the Sabbath year, thieves, the violence, shepherds are included, and of course tax collectors. Some of the above mentioned are perhaps morally questionable and criminal and is related to in some way behavior that is unjust. But those who are included as sinners could also cover people like laborers, commoners, and even shepherds. So these are people who are too busy and too poor and too ignorant to live up to the rules of the religious authorities. So what happened was that during the time of Jesus, the Jews kind of set a boundary around the Torah or God's law, such that instead of God's law reaching out to the laws, to the Gentiles, it became like a fence that divided people. So quoting uh Rabbi Mir in the Mishnah, he states this He that occupies himself in the study of the law of the Torah is deserving of the whole world. He is called friend, beloved of God, lover of God, lover of mankind. And he clothes him with humility and reverence and fits him to become righteous, saintly, upright, and faithful. And he keeps him far from sin and brings him near to virtue. And from him men enjoy counsel and sound knowledge, understanding and mind. So to a Jew, the Torah is the standard, God's law is the standard of the deserving and the righteous. So by inference, those who are ignorant of the law, you may not have transgressed the law, but if you are a shepherd, if you are the poor, you have no access to reading the Torah, or if you are just a commoner or you are just a laborer, you are considered a sinner because you are not learned, you are not aware of the Torah and what it teaches. So they belong to a class called sinners and tax collectors. So Jesus shows us by drawing near and hosting a sinner's in the house of Levi that there's a very different standard and measure Jesus used to look at humanity. Whereas the study of the law or the Torah makes one deserving and righteous. Jesus calls and reclines with a blatantly undeserving and unrighteous. His very presence as the host of a dinner in the company of tax collectors and sinners reveals his solidarity with sinners and affirm that he came for them. So it's part of our sinful nature that uh as we read scripture, we attend Bible study classes, BSF, and so on. You know, we should uh come with an attitude of humility, right? As we study scripture, we shouldn't become a fence around others such that we think that we have more knowledge or we are more superior because just because we have uh further uh study or knowledge of scripture. And the human heart is uh such that uh subtly sometimes we tend that to think that because we of years of study of scripture, we may know more or we are more favored by God than perhaps a new believer that's come to faith. But the study of God's word or scripture should make us uh hum uh more humble before God as we realize more of the incisive truth of scripture that shape and governs our life. So for the Jew, everything has gone wrong because the Torah, God's law, has become a fence that excludes outsiders, that excludes non-Jews, and becomes the dividing marker between what is righteous and what is unrighteous. So, what is the takeaway for us today? So I believe this story illustrates the truth of Mark chapter 2, verse 1 to 12, where we went through that a couple of weeks ago, where Jesus pronounced forgiveness of sins. Here in Mark 2, 13 to 17, Jesus elaborates on this whole idea of what it means that the Son of Man has the authority to forgive sins by actually forgiving sinners, calling a Levi a known sinner despised by his own people to follow him. And he doesn't stop there, as I mentioned, he further entered his home and became the host of a party of tax collectors and sinners. So the basis of Jesus' eating with tax collectors and sinners is the forgiveness that he offers to all humanity, all mankind. And he anticipates the end-time banquet where Jesus will provide rich food for all peoples. And this is alluded to in Isaiah 25, verse 6 to 9. Isaiah 25, verse 6 to 9 says, On this mountain, the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well aged wine, of rich food full of marrow of aged wine, well refined. And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veal that is spread over all nations. So this is what Jesus did. He came in fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah by celebrating, by feasting with all who come, by calling sinners and tax collectors to be part of the kingdom of God. He's proclaiming that this is a year of Jubilee. In his ministry, he's celebrating God's free forgiveness to all who would come to him. So we see that the divide between Jesus and the scribes is accentuated by also the word followed. We read in the early account in Mark 2:14, the Levi follows Jesus and he left everything, and as Jesus called him, he followed. So do the tax collectors and sinners, right? That's why he was having a meal with them, because many of them were following them to the house of the Levi and the feast. But the polemic now, again, as the last time when I preached, is again against the religious rulers, the teachers, the scribes of the Pharisees, because they are the ones outside of God's kingdom, because they do not follow Jesus. The tax collectors and sinners have Jesus for dinner and invited him to host the dinner, whereas the scribes stand outside in judgment of the actions of Jesus, with the words in Mark 2 16. And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he, Jesus, was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners? So Jesus' fellowship with tax collectors and sinners and his condemnation by the scribes illustrates the radical nature of forgiveness. The radical nature of forgiveness. And this is what God in a word offers us this morning. Ironically, great sinners stand closer to God than those who think themselves righteous. For sinners are more aware of their need of Jesus and the forgiveness he extends. Reading of God's law, God's word should make us more humble, should make us more lowly as we consider his truth. But it shouldn't become offense that exclude others because we think that we have superior knowledge. So for the scribes and Pharisees, they were excluded, not because Jesus didn't uh welcome them, but because of their perspective, their understanding. So Jesus ends this portion of scripture with a lesson. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners. I came not to call the righteous but sinners. Jesus' radical forgiveness demonstrated in his calling of the Levi and His acting as a host in a party of tax collectors and sinners really seeks to demonstrate this point. It's a point of application for all of us today that none of us here are exempt. From forgiveness. None of us here sitting here listening to the sermon are exempted from God's full and free forgiveness. No matter how far we think we are from God or how undeserving we may think we are, Jesus' forgiveness is limitless if we only turn to Him. In the film The Mission, it is quite a dated film. Many, many years ago, I remember I first watched it during uh in fact it was a time where more than 10 years ago where I was uh we were in the vocational retreat uh preparing for ordination. So uh that time was the uh canon uh Titus Chung was there and he facilitated uh session with the ordinance and he kind of made us watch this show in the evening. So we stayed over and after we watched the show, we then we had some discussion. So uh many many points, uh many teaching points from this film. Uh the mission, I'm not sure is we are we probably can get it, uh uh find a way to assess it. It's a very dated film. So it's about uh uh Robert De Niro actually plays a character called Rodrigo Mendoza, right? He's a mercenary and a slave trader, he's a mercenary and slave trader in the 18th century South America. So quite similar to the tax collector, right? You know, uh in some way that he uh gains profits from others and abuses others in in different ways. But in this in this case, he is a mercenary and slave trader in 18th century South America. So the the show portrays him as a violent man, profiting from the misery of others, hardened by power and guilt. But then something happens that breaks him. He kills his own brother in a fit of jealousy, and overcome with shame, Mendoza plunges into despair. He then joins a group of Jesuit uh missionaries who take on him, who take him on a grueling journey into the jungle, to the very tribe he once enslaved. And here's where it becomes unforgettable. As part of uh the penance that Mandusa had to do, he drags behind him a massive net filled with weapons and armor, the tools of his old life. So Mendoza pulls it up mountains, through rivers, across rocky terrain, is heavy, slow, and humiliating. And we can, if you watch the film, you can see it on his face. He believes that he deserves the burden and he's doing penance for it. Finally, the group reaches the tribe, and one of the tribal men who should have every reason to hate Mendoza walks up to him and cuts the rope off. The burden tumbles down the cliff and into the river below. So Mendoza weeps in the story, in the show. For the first time, he's free, not just physically, but mentally, perhaps emotionally and spiritually. So that's a picture of God's forgiveness. We come to him dragging our sins, our shame, our past. We believe, perhaps some of us, that we have to carry it forever because we are the ones perhaps that have caused the conflict and we have to carry the guilt and shame. And a lot of times as Asians, we uh we we don't speak things outwardly, but we bear a lot of shame inwardly. Perhaps certain cultures we are not so open to share about shameful things, uh, particularly in ancient cultures, uh, shame. So we bear our shame uh and carry it along. So and sometimes we subtly believe that we have to carry it forever, that somehow it will make things right by carrying our guilt, by carrying our shame, carrying our sins, our burdens. But when we meet Jesus, he steps forward and cuts the rope off. He sets us free and he's able to set us free today. So, my main point today is just to help us to see that none of us today are exempted from the forgiveness that Jesus offers. And he showed it right at the onset of his ministry in the early chapters of Mark. He came for sinners. He told the paralytic uh, get up, take up your mat and walk. Your sins are forgiven. And then he demonstrates it in a few verses later by associating with sinners, by calling a known sinner, a tax collector, despised by the people, and frowned upon. Even while he was at the tax booth, Jesus saw him, called him, and through through that story that he's calling us now to as the song led us, as uh Sarah and the team led us earlier, you know, lay down our burdens, lay down our shame. And the right posture for us to adopt perhaps is what I shared quite some time back the Jesus prayer. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner. But I find what is most wonderful about this story of Jesus fellowshipping, calling divine, and also uh having hosting a meal at his home with tax collectors and sinners is how our relationship with Jesus, he calls us also to be his friends, right? Even though he's a mighty and high God. But while Jesus was on earth, he was a friend to tax collectors and sinners. He did not act differently because he said, You uh greedy man, no, steal from your own people. I should maybe avoid you and go to the Jews who uh day and night read the Torah, have it on their foreheads and everywhere, and their long ropes and all. Maybe they are the ones who are closer. But it proves different. Jesus wants to be our friend. He's holy, he's different from us, yet he accepts us despite our sins and the imperfections. And this is the most wonderful thing. Jesus comes to fellowship with our sinners. Even when we are in our sin, he comes to us in the midst of our sin and says, Turn to me for forgiveness, full forgiveness is extended to anyone who will embrace Jesus.

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