13 He went out again beside the sea, and all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them. 14 And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.
15 And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16 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?” 17 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.”
18 Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. And people came and said to him, “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” 19 And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. 20 The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day. 21 No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. 22 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins—and the wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins.”
23 One Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. 24 And the Pharisees were saying to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” 25 And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: 26 how he entered the house of God, in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?” 27 And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”
(ESV)
STOP! Think a little 🤔 What is God saying to you?
- What is the writer saying?
- How do I apply this to my life?
As Jesus continued His teaching ministry, He came across Levi (Matthew), who was a tax collector, and invited him to follow Him. Levi invited Jesus to his house along with his many friends. The Pharisees were appalled that Jesus would eat with tax collectors and sinners. The Pharisees saw anyone who didn’t live up to their religious standards as sinners compared to their self-righteousness. Jesus’ mission was to save sinners, those who humbly recognised their need for His grace and forgiveness. Jesus can’t save those who see no need to repent. What does your interaction with people look like? Are you huddled with “holy” people like yourself or do you befriend the sinner and the outcast? We need to be eating with sinners if we’re to get an opportunity to introduce them to Jesus.
Fasting was only required under the law on the Day of Atonement (Lev 16:29) as an act of repentance. The Pharisees had added voluntary fasts twice a week as an act of piety. They might be fasting on one of those days while Jesus is feasting at Matthew’s house. Fasting was generally considered an act of sorrow which Jesus said was inappropriate at such a joyous time as Jesus being with them. One day He would be (violently) taken away from them and crucified on the cross. At that time it would be appropriate to express sorrow. Jesus went on to explain—using the analogy of patching old clothing with new cloth and pouring new, unfermented, wine into old, stretched wineskins—that trying to combine the new teachings of the gospel with the old religion of Judaism was futile. Salvation through Jesus is completely free compared to the onerous requirements of the law which cannot save.
Mark tells us of another time where the Pharisees question Jesus’ refusal to follow their ultra religious requirements. The Law of Moses forbade working on the Sabbath. In an effort to ensure that the law was obeyed, the Pharisees had redefined work so far that even picking a grain of wheat to snack on was considered harvesting, or work. These self-made rules that were intended to make sure the law was not broken had become as significant as the law itself in their eyes. God had always intended the Sabbath to be a day of rest that allowed His people a reprieve from the good work He had prepared for them (Gen 2:15). The Sabbath was a gift of rest and an opportunity to worship freely. We were not created to work non-stop. We need rest. More importantly, we need a day to refocus on God, worship Him and put our lives back into perspective. God gave us this gift in the Sabbath, which we now use on Sunday (the day Jesus rose again). Do you use a day like Sunday to rest and worship or does it look just like every other day, full of busyness and work?