WEBVTT 00:00:00.640 --> 00:00:02.080 Well, it's good to see you. 00:00:02.240 --> 00:00:04.320 Thank you for being here this morning. 00:00:04.799 --> 00:00:07.759 I will let you know first thing I am wired up. 00:00:08.640 --> 00:00:18.480 Not because of caffeine, but because literally I have uh I have just recently I have uh uh uh come across uh two hearing aids that I wear now. 00:00:18.640 --> 00:00:27.600 And I had lost my right ear earring for like 15 years ago, and my uh son uh convinced me to get some hearing aids, Dad. 00:00:27.920 --> 00:00:28.399 Huh? 00:00:28.640 --> 00:00:30.079 Time to get some hearing aids. 00:00:30.160 --> 00:00:31.120 What'd you say? 00:00:31.359 --> 00:00:32.719 So I got some hearing aids. 00:00:32.799 --> 00:00:35.600 So on my right ear, I've got a hearing aid. 00:00:35.920 --> 00:00:43.200 I have this contraption here that supports the microphone, and now I'm gonna put glasses on. 00:00:43.439 --> 00:00:44.640 So I'm wired up. 00:00:44.719 --> 00:00:47.759 So if something happens up here, you just smoke starts happening. 00:00:47.840 --> 00:00:48.719 Uh that's okay. 00:00:48.880 --> 00:00:50.640 Just uh just so you know ahead of time. 00:00:50.799 --> 00:00:53.920 But if uh things begin falling off my ear, we got some problems. 00:00:54.240 --> 00:00:55.520 So, all right. 00:00:55.679 --> 00:00:59.280 Appreciate Colton asking me to step in uh today uh for that. 00:00:59.439 --> 00:01:07.359 And um spending some time in the Gospel of Mark is where we're gonna focus our attention today. 00:01:07.439 --> 00:01:12.319 And I want you to join me there, and I think the uh passage will be up on the screen in just a moment. 00:01:12.560 --> 00:01:26.879 But just recently, just recently, I added my name to a very unique list that contains thousands and thousands of others like myself. 00:01:28.000 --> 00:01:31.519 Some of you are on that list too. 00:01:33.359 --> 00:01:37.439 Most of you here this morning are not on that list. 00:01:39.439 --> 00:01:47.920 You are not privileged enough to be included in this great world called Medicare. 00:01:51.439 --> 00:01:54.079 But given enough time, you will be, okay? 00:01:54.319 --> 00:01:56.959 Your name will appear on that list as well. 00:01:57.200 --> 00:02:02.319 Uh yeah, I just turned 65 back in April, and now I'm getting all the mail and all that kind of stuff. 00:02:02.400 --> 00:02:05.040 And uh, you know, sign up, sign up, sign up. 00:02:05.200 --> 00:02:08.639 And uh, you know, I just want to I just want to live, you know. 00:02:09.120 --> 00:02:12.159 But yeah, I'm uh just welcome to Medicare not too long ago. 00:02:12.400 --> 00:02:18.800 So with that in mind, I just got so a few thoughts I want to share with you regarding uh health. 00:02:20.639 --> 00:02:22.479 So let me share a few of those with you. 00:02:22.560 --> 00:02:24.080 Um health nuts. 00:02:24.800 --> 00:02:32.240 Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday lying in hospitals, dying of nothing. 00:02:33.439 --> 00:02:35.919 All of you who really value your health, you know. 00:02:36.080 --> 00:02:38.000 By the way, that's from Red Fox. 00:02:39.680 --> 00:02:43.360 If you know Red Fox, your name is on the Medicare list, okay? 00:02:43.599 --> 00:02:46.319 If you're not on the list, you won't know who he is. 00:02:46.639 --> 00:02:50.719 But he started Sanford and Son, the little TV comedy show years and years ago. 00:02:50.960 --> 00:02:51.919 How about this one? 00:02:52.080 --> 00:02:55.840 Quit worrying about your health, it'll go away. 00:02:56.719 --> 00:02:59.120 Thanks to Robert Orban for that. 00:02:59.759 --> 00:03:01.199 How about this one? 00:03:02.159 --> 00:03:06.960 Isn't it a bit unnerving that doctors call what they do a practice? 00:03:07.520 --> 00:03:08.800 Think about that one. 00:03:09.039 --> 00:03:11.199 I'm gonna practice on you, you know. 00:03:11.439 --> 00:03:13.039 How about the real thing here? 00:03:13.120 --> 00:03:14.560 You know, practices is the real thing. 00:03:14.719 --> 00:03:16.159 That's from George Carlin. 00:03:16.560 --> 00:03:17.680 A couple more for you. 00:03:17.840 --> 00:03:22.800 My doctor recently told me that jogging could add years to my life. 00:03:22.960 --> 00:03:24.319 I think he was right. 00:03:24.560 --> 00:03:29.520 I can feel 10 years older already, Milton Burrow. 00:03:30.719 --> 00:03:40.879 And then uh the last one by a famous baseball player, Mickey Mantle, he said, if I knew I was going to live this long, I would have taken better care of myself. 00:03:41.599 --> 00:03:42.879 Isn't that true? 00:03:43.120 --> 00:03:44.560 How's your health today? 00:03:44.719 --> 00:03:45.360 You know? 00:03:45.680 --> 00:03:47.039 How's it going for you? 00:03:47.360 --> 00:03:54.400 You feel every day the creaks in your joints, you know, do you have the energy level that you have when you were 15 years old? 00:03:54.479 --> 00:03:56.560 And where are you in your health? 00:03:56.800 --> 00:04:04.400 Well, strangely it might seem to you, I'm going to address this situation, but maybe not at the perspective that you're thinking. 00:04:04.560 --> 00:04:22.240 But in Mark chapter 2, and uh as our as Colton has spent uh several weeks in the Gospel of Mark, um be looking at that, and I want you to go to verse 13 of chapter 2, and we'll see what he says about this issue of health. 00:04:22.319 --> 00:04:23.920 And we'll bring it to you in here in a minute. 00:04:24.079 --> 00:04:29.279 So if you'll kind of follow along with me, uh I'm assuming that this is the ESB version. 00:04:29.360 --> 00:04:32.160 I didn't clarify that, but anyway, we'll follow along. 00:04:32.319 --> 00:04:36.000 I'll just I'll just read from this actually, because mine's a little different. 00:04:36.319 --> 00:04:40.160 Once again, Jesus went out beside the lake. 00:04:40.399 --> 00:04:44.639 A large crowd came to him and he began to teach them. 00:04:44.879 --> 00:04:52.720 And as he walked along, he saw Levi, the son of Alpheus, sitting at the tax collector's booth. 00:04:53.040 --> 00:04:58.319 Follow me, Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him. 00:04:58.639 --> 00:05:10.800 And while Jesus was having dinner at Levi's house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 00:05:11.519 --> 00:05:25.920 And when the teachers of the law, who were Pharisees, saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples, Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners? 00:05:26.879 --> 00:05:35.360 On hearing this, Jesus said to them, It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 00:05:35.600 --> 00:05:40.480 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners. 00:05:41.199 --> 00:05:50.720 I'd like to take a few moments to kind of set this up for you, and I left my watch uh uncharged up at home, so I'm gonna have to use my phone as my time frame. 00:05:51.279 --> 00:06:01.040 But I'd like to uh bring out some uh some issues perhaps in the passage that will help uh guide our understanding of what Jesus is dealing with, what he's trying to get across here. 00:06:01.279 --> 00:06:04.399 Let me give you some background just real quickly, even though it's not on there. 00:06:04.560 --> 00:06:15.839 Just if you'll back up in your mind from what we was covered last week in the background of things, Jesus had just finished his miraculous work of healing the paralytic man. 00:06:16.000 --> 00:06:16.959 Do you remember that? 00:06:17.279 --> 00:06:31.519 The guys who dropped him down through the rooftop and the crowd of people that were in the small house there, which led to his encounter with the Pharisees who questioned his authority to forgive sins. 00:06:33.199 --> 00:06:45.920 He then leaves, after that encounter, he then leaves and proceeds toward the Sea of Galilee, where he spends time teaching the crowd that was coming to him. 00:06:46.160 --> 00:07:03.759 And it's likely that in that crowd by the sea, perhaps were some of those who had witnessed the miracle of the paralytic man being healed, and some others along the way that had heard rumor of what has been going on, and they were curious. 00:07:04.160 --> 00:07:08.480 And of course, how could you leave without the scribes and the Pharisees? 00:07:08.639 --> 00:07:10.160 They were there too. 00:07:12.160 --> 00:07:26.560 It was after teaching this crowd that Jesus departs and heads back toward Capernaum, where he had just been, where he passes by the tax booth occupied by Levi. 00:07:27.040 --> 00:07:29.199 You know him better as Matthew. 00:07:29.680 --> 00:07:30.720 Matthew. 00:07:35.199 --> 00:07:37.600 You know, we know him as one of the disciples, right? 00:07:37.759 --> 00:07:57.040 But it's probably the most part, the extent that we know of his background of who he was, Matthew was a publican, a tax collector, which was a despised profession in Palestine because such men were viewed as traitors, as traitors. 00:07:57.680 --> 00:08:06.399 Tax collectors were Jews who had acquired, if you want to call a tax franchise from the Roman government. 00:08:07.199 --> 00:08:13.519 And you know the Roman government really taxed heavily those in who they were given charge over. 00:08:15.199 --> 00:08:22.800 So any amount that was collected over what Rome had already required, these guys were allowed to keep. 00:08:23.120 --> 00:08:27.519 So they could add more to the tax code, if you will. 00:08:27.759 --> 00:08:33.679 As long as Rome received what they were requiring, these tax collectors could tax whatever they wanted to. 00:08:33.840 --> 00:08:35.759 It could be any number of things. 00:08:35.919 --> 00:08:42.480 And they could just sweep it right off the top, put it in their pocket, and they became wealthy off their own people. 00:08:44.639 --> 00:08:49.759 Understandably, they were despised and hated by their people. 00:08:49.919 --> 00:08:52.000 So you have to understand that setting, okay? 00:08:52.240 --> 00:08:53.600 They were despised. 00:08:53.759 --> 00:09:04.559 And as Matthew sat in that tax booth, day after day, these Jews would walk by and look at him out of the corner of their eye. 00:09:04.960 --> 00:09:06.559 You sorry dog. 00:09:08.399 --> 00:09:09.519 You traitor. 00:09:10.639 --> 00:09:12.080 Mumbled under their breath. 00:09:12.480 --> 00:09:19.440 Perhaps they even decided to walk to the other side of the street so as to be too close to Matthew. 00:09:20.559 --> 00:09:27.600 And as you walk on by the tax booth, perhaps he cast a sarcastic glance back his way just to get the point across. 00:09:31.759 --> 00:09:32.960 You take our money. 00:09:33.440 --> 00:09:38.240 You live in a big fancy house, and we're doing the best we can to make ends meet. 00:09:38.480 --> 00:09:42.240 And you steal from us, and you call yourself a Jew. 00:09:44.159 --> 00:09:46.480 He wasn't well liked, he wasn't well accepted. 00:09:46.799 --> 00:09:49.200 And he's sitting there in this tax booth. 00:09:49.279 --> 00:09:50.879 That's who Matthew is. 00:09:52.159 --> 00:09:58.080 But there are three things that I want to cover the text overall in this that we've seen in this passage here. 00:09:58.320 --> 00:10:11.120 I see in the passage that there's an invitation that's given, followed by an inquisition, followed by the third thing, which is an indictment. 00:10:11.360 --> 00:10:12.799 So I want to go over those things with you. 00:10:12.879 --> 00:10:18.639 So if you kind of follow along with me, I'd like to put up the verses in verse 14 and 15 to draw your attention back to that. 00:10:18.720 --> 00:10:21.039 Let's talk about this invitation for just a minute, okay? 00:10:21.279 --> 00:10:22.799 So here's the scene. 00:10:23.279 --> 00:10:33.200 As Jesus has just finished teaching by the Sea of Galilee, he's walking back toward Capernaum, he passes by Matthew sitting in the tax booth. 00:10:34.000 --> 00:10:42.799 And as he passed by, the verse says, he saw Levi, the son of Alpha, sitting in the tax booth and said to him, Follow me. 00:10:42.960 --> 00:10:45.600 I wonder how surprised Matthew must have been. 00:10:46.000 --> 00:10:53.919 How many times had he sat in that booth and watched people go around him, not just the Jews, but anybody who had to pay taxes? 00:10:54.240 --> 00:11:01.440 I mean, wouldn't you drive six or seven blocks to go around the IRS, you know, so you don't even have to look at the sign on the side of the building? 00:11:01.600 --> 00:11:02.480 Of course. 00:11:02.720 --> 00:11:04.799 No one likes to pay taxes. 00:11:06.320 --> 00:11:15.360 So Matthew has gotten used to this, being shunned, being mocked and ridiculed because he deserved it, maybe, you know. 00:11:17.120 --> 00:11:20.720 And Jesus passed by the tax booth. 00:11:22.320 --> 00:11:26.799 Maybe Matthew noticed that this guy didn't cross the street. 00:11:27.440 --> 00:11:39.200 And Jesus goes by and maybe he just kind of stops and turns and looks in the little tax booth, whatever it might have looked like, and just kind of looks at Matthew. 00:11:39.759 --> 00:11:46.559 Matthew's right down to the ledger, you know, counting his money like scrooge and all the coins and whatever else that looks like. 00:11:46.799 --> 00:11:50.000 And looks back up, and Jesus maybe is still standing there. 00:11:53.840 --> 00:11:56.000 Turns his chair a little bit, starts working this way. 00:11:56.240 --> 00:11:58.240 So he doesn't have to see Jesus. 00:12:00.320 --> 00:12:02.159 Jesus is still standing there. 00:12:03.919 --> 00:12:06.399 Imagine he's getting bothered by now, maybe. 00:12:06.960 --> 00:12:08.320 Who is this guy? 00:12:08.639 --> 00:12:10.080 He's gonna rob me? 00:12:10.320 --> 00:12:12.720 I'm gonna Roman soldiers everywhere on the status booth. 00:12:12.879 --> 00:12:13.440 He can't do that. 00:12:13.600 --> 00:12:14.399 What do you want? 00:12:14.559 --> 00:12:15.919 He's not saying anything. 00:12:16.240 --> 00:12:17.279 Just silence. 00:12:20.320 --> 00:12:23.600 And all of a sudden, two words. 00:12:24.559 --> 00:12:28.000 He doesn't introduce himself as Jesus as the Messiah. 00:12:28.320 --> 00:12:30.639 He doesn't have a conversation with Matthew. 00:12:30.879 --> 00:12:35.440 He doesn't try to reach through the barred window there and shake his hand. 00:12:36.320 --> 00:12:40.000 He just said, Follow me. 00:12:46.399 --> 00:12:49.679 Matthew, what's that? 00:12:50.639 --> 00:12:54.960 But if you notice in the text, Matthew doesn't even respond back. 00:12:55.200 --> 00:12:57.200 He doesn't even say anything. 00:12:57.519 --> 00:13:03.120 When Jesus walks by and says, Follow me, and he rose and followed him. 00:13:04.480 --> 00:13:05.919 How cool is that? 00:13:06.159 --> 00:13:07.600 No questions asked. 00:13:07.840 --> 00:13:08.879 No, well, hold on. 00:13:09.200 --> 00:13:12.159 Let's get some information from you before I start following you. 00:13:12.240 --> 00:13:13.440 I don't even know who you are. 00:13:13.679 --> 00:13:28.639 No, it seems that Matthew just closed up the books, put his pens down, maybe shuffled a couple of coins in a bag, opened the door, and followed him. 00:13:30.240 --> 00:13:31.120 That was it. 00:13:31.279 --> 00:13:33.279 Highly unusual, don't you think? 00:13:34.559 --> 00:13:36.159 And he follows him. 00:13:37.279 --> 00:13:51.600 The passage goes on, 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. 00:13:52.000 --> 00:13:56.960 We'll take just a minute just to kind of describe this idea of following Jesus in this particular context. 00:13:57.120 --> 00:13:59.919 What does it mean that Matthew followed Jesus? 00:14:00.159 --> 00:14:07.759 Well, there's a couple of terms here, but here it simply means that he accompanied Jesus on his way to his house. 00:14:09.759 --> 00:14:14.240 Now, there are other passages that seem to indicate to be a follower of Christ. 00:14:14.720 --> 00:14:15.039 Okay? 00:14:15.679 --> 00:14:19.679 Means you change your lifestyle to that of Jesus Christ. 00:14:19.840 --> 00:14:21.600 You walk in the path that he walks in. 00:14:21.759 --> 00:14:22.879 You want to be like Jesus. 00:14:23.039 --> 00:14:34.000 There certainly is that idea in the scriptures, but here in this particular situation, it simply says he closed his books and he got up and he followed him to his house, to Matthew's house. 00:14:35.600 --> 00:14:40.080 I can't ever wonder because Matthew doesn't say to Jesus, well, where are we going? 00:14:40.399 --> 00:14:41.440 He just follows him. 00:14:41.600 --> 00:14:43.279 And so where was Jesus going? 00:14:43.519 --> 00:14:45.360 Jesus is going to Matthew's house. 00:14:45.519 --> 00:14:48.559 Matthew doesn't know he's going to his house. 00:14:51.519 --> 00:14:52.480 He's just turned right. 00:14:52.559 --> 00:14:53.679 That's where my house is. 00:14:53.840 --> 00:14:54.639 That's strange. 00:14:54.960 --> 00:15:00.159 Keeps on walking, and he takes a left at the palm tree, and his house is just right there. 00:15:00.559 --> 00:15:01.679 This is weird. 00:15:02.240 --> 00:15:03.600 And he follows into his house. 00:15:03.759 --> 00:15:05.039 I wonder what Matthew was thinking. 00:15:05.120 --> 00:15:06.000 How did this happen? 00:15:06.159 --> 00:15:08.240 How does he even know where I live? 00:15:10.240 --> 00:15:16.000 So he reclined at the table in his house, and there's this huge gravity of people. 00:15:16.159 --> 00:15:21.759 Somewhere along the way, Matthew must have sent out invitations because there's a party plan now. 00:15:23.519 --> 00:15:25.919 So he simply means that he got up and followed him. 00:15:26.159 --> 00:15:27.759 Curiosity, perhaps. 00:15:28.080 --> 00:15:30.000 Somebody walks by and says, Follow me. 00:15:30.480 --> 00:15:30.799 Okay. 00:15:31.759 --> 00:15:33.039 What's this about? 00:15:33.279 --> 00:15:35.200 And follows into his house. 00:15:36.000 --> 00:15:40.159 But what happened at his house resulted in a changed life. 00:15:42.240 --> 00:15:44.879 So who was in attendance at Matthew's house? 00:15:45.200 --> 00:15:51.519 Well, the passage says many, get the term many tax collectors and sinners. 00:15:51.759 --> 00:15:52.559 Don't you love that? 00:15:52.720 --> 00:15:56.080 There's got to be some part in you that says that's just so cool. 00:15:56.399 --> 00:15:57.759 Not church. 00:15:58.799 --> 00:16:03.440 Not guys who are uh uh you know have their own personal Bible studies and things like that. 00:16:03.519 --> 00:16:07.279 These are tax collectors, the worst of the worst. 00:16:07.519 --> 00:16:10.080 And the sinners were there. 00:16:13.039 --> 00:16:18.639 You know, these guys were depraved, they were detestable. 00:16:21.919 --> 00:16:24.879 Maybe the only friends they had were each other. 00:16:24.960 --> 00:16:26.240 Have you thought about that? 00:16:27.840 --> 00:16:36.559 The only common thing that these guys had in mind, they're all tax collectors, they were all traitors, and they all made money off of people incorrectly and unfairly. 00:16:36.879 --> 00:16:38.960 So they kind of stuck together. 00:16:39.200 --> 00:16:42.960 So you got this whole house full of tax collectors. 00:16:43.919 --> 00:16:48.320 The word got around that Matthew is following somebody. 00:16:48.480 --> 00:16:50.480 He followed his house, and who is this guy? 00:16:50.639 --> 00:16:52.240 They had heard rumors about Jesus. 00:16:52.399 --> 00:16:58.639 They had just earlier had been witnesses to uh what had occurred at the healing of the paralytic man. 00:16:59.360 --> 00:17:01.840 And now he's going to Matthew's house. 00:17:03.440 --> 00:17:06.079 Maybe they were the only friends they had. 00:17:07.039 --> 00:17:10.079 What do you think of the conversation around the table? 00:17:11.039 --> 00:17:13.119 I kind of envision a party, right? 00:17:13.359 --> 00:17:14.000 I do. 00:17:14.480 --> 00:17:22.640 You're kind of raucous guys in there, you know, hooplawing and doing whatever else and playing pin the tail on the donkey and whatever tax collectors do. 00:17:22.799 --> 00:17:23.839 I don't know. 00:17:24.799 --> 00:17:26.640 But I know it was a fun time. 00:17:27.200 --> 00:17:32.880 I think they were having a good time together because they didn't have the opportunity very much to associate with people. 00:17:33.599 --> 00:17:35.599 Maybe they're taking advantage of the time. 00:17:35.920 --> 00:17:46.720 So, in the midst of the setting in Matthew's house, being run over with tax collectors and sinners, and Jesus and a few of his disciples, because not all of his disciples were on the list yet. 00:17:46.880 --> 00:17:51.440 Maybe six of them were together at this point, because Matthew hadn't even really been called yet. 00:17:51.680 --> 00:17:59.039 So the few of his disciples that were there were in the middle of all these guys that no one liked. 00:18:00.079 --> 00:18:02.160 That brings me to verse 16. 00:18:02.559 --> 00:18:03.519 The inquisition. 00:18:03.599 --> 00:18:04.720 That was the invitation. 00:18:04.880 --> 00:18:06.960 Let's look at the inquisition here. 00:18:07.759 --> 00:18:11.680 Verse 16, and the scribes of the Pharisees. 00:18:11.839 --> 00:18:16.960 It's an interesting phrase because there were different types of scribes that worked for different groups of people. 00:18:17.359 --> 00:18:22.319 The scribes in this group worked specifically with the Pharisees and for the Pharisees. 00:18:23.279 --> 00:18:38.160 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? 00:18:38.400 --> 00:18:42.319 They were bothered by this, deeply bothered by this. 00:18:43.440 --> 00:18:45.200 So there's the inquisition. 00:18:45.519 --> 00:18:51.359 Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners? 00:18:51.920 --> 00:18:53.920 Does he not know who these people are? 00:18:54.160 --> 00:19:00.160 I mean, I know Jesus is kind of new on the scene, but he has no idea who he's hanging around with. 00:19:00.640 --> 00:19:03.519 Somebody needs to tell him who these guys are. 00:19:05.440 --> 00:19:07.519 The disciples were there as well. 00:19:09.680 --> 00:19:14.240 Three things, you know, three issues to consider in the Inquisition is the context itself. 00:19:14.480 --> 00:19:16.960 Jesus was there eating with these guys. 00:19:17.279 --> 00:19:19.359 Huge meal had been prepared. 00:19:19.599 --> 00:19:22.079 And they were reclining at the table. 00:19:22.319 --> 00:19:29.359 I guess if you were a left-handed person, you could have some real problems when reclining at a table if everyone else is right-handed. 00:19:29.680 --> 00:19:31.440 Your feet would be going the wrong way. 00:19:41.839 --> 00:19:46.720 But if you're left-handed, your back's now toward the table, you know, your feet are going the wrong way. 00:19:46.880 --> 00:19:47.920 It could be a hard time. 00:19:48.240 --> 00:19:54.880 No chairs there, but they were reclining and they were eating at the table and enjoying each other, having a great time. 00:19:55.359 --> 00:19:57.279 A lot of noise going on. 00:19:57.680 --> 00:20:02.079 The company that was there were the sinners and the task collectors, and then there's the challenge. 00:20:02.240 --> 00:20:03.839 Why is he doing this? 00:20:04.400 --> 00:20:05.839 They challenged him. 00:20:06.160 --> 00:20:11.920 Just like they challenged him back at the house with a paralytic man, they're there again. 00:20:13.519 --> 00:20:14.799 Why is he doing this? 00:20:15.039 --> 00:20:17.680 Let me talk about the context for just a minute, then. 00:20:17.839 --> 00:20:23.039 If you lived in the New Testament world of the Pharisees, then eating was a major issue to think about. 00:20:23.200 --> 00:20:24.880 They took it very seriously. 00:20:25.200 --> 00:20:32.960 For you and I, we tend to go through, I know what if I go to eat something and I've been working on whatever, lawnmower, whatever. 00:20:33.039 --> 00:20:34.799 Um my hands a little dirty. 00:20:34.960 --> 00:20:36.480 Sometimes I forget to wash my hands. 00:20:36.559 --> 00:20:37.920 I just sat at the table and start to eat. 00:20:38.000 --> 00:20:40.400 You know, a five-second rule or something, it's okay. 00:20:40.480 --> 00:20:43.039 You know, dirt's not attached yet. 00:20:44.079 --> 00:20:46.079 Ah, not in the New Testament. 00:20:46.160 --> 00:20:46.799 Oh, no, no. 00:20:46.880 --> 00:20:48.400 You got to wash your hands. 00:20:48.640 --> 00:20:52.799 You'll break the law if you don't wash your hands before you eat. 00:20:53.039 --> 00:20:54.480 Unwashed hands. 00:20:54.720 --> 00:20:56.960 Washing of pots and cups. 00:20:57.279 --> 00:21:05.200 You know, oftentimes, I don't know about you, but I'll take a cup and I'll fill it up with water, drink it, set it down, and about five minutes later I'll put coke in there. 00:21:05.359 --> 00:21:07.279 You know, I'll fill up something else later on. 00:21:07.440 --> 00:21:10.160 I keep that cup on the counter for three or four days. 00:21:10.559 --> 00:21:12.319 Don't tell what grows out of it sometimes. 00:21:12.480 --> 00:21:18.240 I don't know what's happened at times, but but they took the washing of pots and their utensils and things very seriously. 00:21:18.480 --> 00:21:19.440 Unclean. 00:21:20.079 --> 00:21:22.960 Can't have anything unclean going inside. 00:21:23.920 --> 00:21:26.319 Jesus deals with that at another time. 00:21:27.599 --> 00:21:37.680 We don't know what kind of food Matthew had prepared for his friends, for Jesus and his disciples, but I know what kind of food I enjoy at the gathering of friends. 00:21:38.640 --> 00:21:40.400 You know, give me some smoked up St. 00:21:40.559 --> 00:21:47.279 Louis ribs, smoked brisket, baked beans, colesol, all that good stuff. 00:21:47.440 --> 00:21:51.599 Sometimes just good old fried chicken, you know, just hits us, hits the spot. 00:21:52.240 --> 00:21:54.880 I don't know what kind of food he had, but he had a lot of it. 00:21:56.000 --> 00:21:59.759 But the company that he was with is where the really irritation comes in. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:01.920 For these Pharisees. 00:22:02.400 --> 00:22:10.960 It's interesting that if you look at the passage closely, Jesus wasn't being questioned over what he was eating. 00:22:11.200 --> 00:22:15.279 He was being questioned over who he was eating with. 00:22:16.240 --> 00:22:18.000 That's where the problem was. 00:22:18.319 --> 00:22:24.559 He checkmarked, okay, he's eating the rock tops of things here that won't violate the law, but that's not what we're looking for anyway. 00:22:24.640 --> 00:22:26.160 It's who he's eating with. 00:22:28.079 --> 00:22:29.839 Was really what set them off. 00:22:31.599 --> 00:22:41.839 And then within the challenge, when they see he's eating with tax collectors and Pharisees, excuse me, tax collectors and sinners, just the opposite of Pharisees. 00:22:43.039 --> 00:22:49.599 This is where Luke records the same event in Luke chapter 5, verse 30. 00:22:49.759 --> 00:22:59.119 So I'm going to read that passage about the challenge itself from the Pharisees when they say, Why is he doing this? 00:22:59.359 --> 00:23:01.359 Luke 5, 30 says it this way. 00:23:01.599 --> 00:23:12.079 And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners? 00:23:12.799 --> 00:23:13.839 Grumbled. 00:23:18.319 --> 00:23:18.960 Grumbled. 00:23:19.039 --> 00:23:22.400 It's actually an anatomatopoeia, okay? 00:23:22.640 --> 00:23:26.160 Which is simply a word that's supposed to mimic the sound. 00:23:26.240 --> 00:23:32.480 Like when you say meow, you're mimicking a sound that a catman would make, right? 00:23:32.640 --> 00:23:33.599 It's kind of the idea. 00:23:33.759 --> 00:23:40.319 They were grumbling, and the sound of their, well, their what they were saying to the disciples sounded like grumbling. 00:23:41.039 --> 00:23:46.640 You couldn't really make it out, except maybe the disciples heard it, but maybe no one else, because so much noise is in the room. 00:23:46.880 --> 00:23:50.559 Sounded like they were grumbling at his disciples. 00:23:50.799 --> 00:23:55.039 Why do you eat tax collectors and sinners? 00:23:56.799 --> 00:24:02.880 The question posed by the scribes and the Pharisees indicates that this is a rhetorical question, by the way. 00:24:03.279 --> 00:24:04.480 A rhetorical question. 00:24:04.720 --> 00:24:07.119 They didn't intend for it to be answered. 00:24:07.839 --> 00:24:11.839 They just kind of brought him in and said, Why is he doing this? 00:24:12.000 --> 00:24:13.519 They didn't want an answer. 00:24:13.680 --> 00:24:16.319 They only wanted to grumble and complain. 00:24:16.559 --> 00:24:18.240 They didn't want an answer. 00:24:18.720 --> 00:24:21.359 In their minds, they already had the answer. 00:24:22.400 --> 00:24:30.240 If they truly wanted an answer, they would have asked, they would have asked a question in a true interrogative way. 00:24:30.880 --> 00:24:35.599 I would like an answer when a question is really intended to find an answer. 00:24:35.920 --> 00:24:37.599 But did it ask the kind of question? 00:24:37.839 --> 00:24:39.200 It was rhetorical. 00:24:40.160 --> 00:24:45.119 They could have asked Jesus directly if they really wanted to know why. 00:24:46.079 --> 00:24:57.039 No, this rhetorical question, while it while it was directed at the disciples, only confirmed, it only confirmed their arrogance, their repugnance, and their revulsion and their revolt toward Jesus. 00:24:59.680 --> 00:25:08.559 Perhaps they justified their disgust and contempt for Jesus, the Pharisees, by quoting in their minds this passage from Psalm 111. 00:25:08.880 --> 00:25:18.640 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers. 00:25:18.799 --> 00:25:19.920 How dare he? 00:25:20.160 --> 00:25:22.880 Doesn't he know what Psalm 11 says? 00:25:23.440 --> 00:25:26.559 He's doing exactly what it says not to do. 00:25:28.480 --> 00:25:37.200 These unpolished, uneducated, uncouth disciples were probably thinking in their minds, dude, I'm just here for the barbecue, you know? 00:25:37.279 --> 00:25:38.720 Why are you asking me? 00:25:38.960 --> 00:25:40.160 I don't know. 00:25:40.880 --> 00:25:42.319 I just love the baked beans here. 00:25:42.400 --> 00:25:43.680 You ought to try some. 00:25:45.359 --> 00:25:47.599 They were kind of caught up, you know. 00:25:47.920 --> 00:25:54.480 And they were directing to the disciples for the real issue with Jesus, and the disciples are kind of trying to get through this, right? 00:25:54.880 --> 00:25:56.880 Well, that's the Inquisition. 00:25:57.920 --> 00:26:01.200 Let's move on to the indictment. 00:26:02.799 --> 00:26:04.000 The indictment. 00:26:04.559 --> 00:26:07.920 This is where Jesus takes care of the situation right here. 00:26:08.559 --> 00:26:20.319 Because these guys, these Pharisees and these scribes, were looking to come down on Jesus, trying to find something about this guy, and Jesus kind of turns the table on him as he always does. 00:26:20.559 --> 00:26:21.599 As he always does. 00:26:21.759 --> 00:26:23.680 So let's look in verse 17. 00:26:24.400 --> 00:26:31.440 And let's take a moment to look at the setting of these two events and go back just a few verses to verses 6 and 8. 00:26:31.599 --> 00:26:34.160 Now, some of the Pharisees were sitting there questioning. 00:26:34.880 --> 00:26:38.480 This is, by the way, the scene going back to the house where the paralytic man was. 00:26:38.799 --> 00:26:39.119 Okay? 00:26:39.759 --> 00:26:41.759 So this is the conversation at that time. 00:26:42.000 --> 00:26:46.240 He says, now some of the scribes were sitting there questioning in their hearts. 00:26:46.400 --> 00:26:50.799 They did not verbalize back at the house of the paralytic man. 00:26:50.960 --> 00:26:56.480 They were watching Jesus heal and forgive his sins, but in their hearts, in their minds, they were thinking. 00:26:56.640 --> 00:26:58.960 They had not even voiced their concern. 00:26:59.119 --> 00:27:00.720 They were questioning in their hearts. 00:27:00.799 --> 00:27:04.240 And verse 7 of that passage says, Why does this man speak like that? 00:27:04.319 --> 00:27:05.599 That's what they were thinking. 00:27:05.839 --> 00:27:08.240 They didn't say it, they were thinking that. 00:27:08.720 --> 00:27:10.480 He is blaspheming. 00:27:12.480 --> 00:27:14.400 Who could forgive sins but God alone? 00:27:14.559 --> 00:27:16.319 That's the thought that was going through their minds. 00:27:16.480 --> 00:27:17.279 And it's interesting. 00:27:17.359 --> 00:27:26.799 And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they questioned within themselves, said to them, Why do you question these things in your heart? 00:27:27.039 --> 00:27:29.519 Now they had never said a word to Jesus. 00:27:29.839 --> 00:27:35.759 But can you imagine Jesus, knowing their heart, turns and looks directly at them and says, Okay, guys, what's your problem? 00:27:36.240 --> 00:27:36.799 Huh? 00:27:37.200 --> 00:27:37.440 What? 00:27:37.599 --> 00:27:39.200 I didn't say anything. 00:27:39.599 --> 00:27:42.400 No, you didn't say anything, but I know what your mind said. 00:27:43.039 --> 00:27:44.720 Why do you question this? 00:27:45.359 --> 00:27:47.759 Now go back to verse 17 of this passage here. 00:27:47.839 --> 00:27:56.000 And the scribes and the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with the sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, this time they did say something. 00:27:56.160 --> 00:28:00.559 Even though it kind of sounded like mumbling, they did say something this time. 00:28:01.039 --> 00:28:02.079 Why does he eat? 00:28:02.160 --> 00:28:04.319 Notice he still didn't directly talk to Jesus. 00:28:04.559 --> 00:28:07.440 Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners? 00:28:08.960 --> 00:28:20.480 In verse 17, and when Jesus heard it, now I could only imagine that in the context of the mill itself, what's going on, the noise level must have been pretty loud. 00:28:20.640 --> 00:28:21.440 Wouldn't you think? 00:28:21.680 --> 00:28:26.559 That many people, because it does say many tax collectors and sinners were there. 00:28:26.720 --> 00:28:28.640 Probably every room in the house is filled up. 00:28:28.799 --> 00:28:36.960 You've been in situations and the volume level is pretty high and you have to get closer, especially if you're wearing hearing aids, you know, to hear what's being said. 00:28:37.119 --> 00:28:38.400 What would you say? 00:28:38.640 --> 00:28:43.839 And all of a sudden, when they they're asking the disciples, they're not yelling at them, they're just asking him, why is he doing this? 00:28:43.920 --> 00:28:47.119 Kind of rhetorically, they don't really want to know what the disciples have to say. 00:28:48.960 --> 00:28:53.279 So we ask them, you know, and somehow Jesus heard that. 00:28:53.920 --> 00:29:00.319 With all this ruckus going on, all this talking and laughing and going on with each other, having fun. 00:29:01.119 --> 00:29:03.039 That's what Jesus hears. 00:29:03.759 --> 00:29:06.160 Like bionic ears or something, you know. 00:29:06.960 --> 00:29:10.319 And I wonder if the crowd got quiet. 00:29:11.440 --> 00:29:13.440 And he says, hold on a minute, hold on. 00:29:13.519 --> 00:29:14.720 I just heard something. 00:29:15.039 --> 00:29:16.960 And maybe everything was quiet. 00:29:19.200 --> 00:29:21.039 Conversations perhaps stop. 00:29:21.359 --> 00:29:25.759 I don't know, I wasn't there, but I can only think it may have gone that way. 00:29:26.799 --> 00:29:42.880 And he says, when he heard it, over the sounds of the dinner gathering, he said to them, Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who were sick. 00:29:44.000 --> 00:29:45.359 Here's the indictment. 00:29:45.519 --> 00:29:49.680 I came not to call the righteous but sinners. 00:29:50.559 --> 00:29:52.160 He laid the hammer down. 00:29:52.720 --> 00:29:53.039 Okay? 00:29:53.599 --> 00:29:56.559 The Pharisees were the nail, he was the hammer. 00:29:57.039 --> 00:30:01.599 In that statement, he just indicted all of them that were there, all the Pharisees and the scribes. 00:30:02.559 --> 00:30:04.079 That's what he said to them. 00:30:04.480 --> 00:30:07.359 And I wonder what people thought when they heard that statement. 00:30:08.000 --> 00:30:11.920 Because I'm pretty sure the Pharisees weren't expecting the response. 00:30:12.559 --> 00:30:13.839 Caught them off guard. 00:30:14.000 --> 00:30:15.920 They had been talking to the disciples. 00:30:16.079 --> 00:30:17.759 Why is he doing this? 00:30:18.400 --> 00:30:21.759 And then Jesus turns his eyes toward those guys. 00:30:22.240 --> 00:30:24.160