If you met Jesus today,

you would rebuke him.

rev emory d dively
20090614
 Then Jesus went
out to the
lakeshore again
and taught the
crowds that were
coming to him.
Mark 2:13
 As he walked
along, he saw
Matthew son of
Alphaeus sitting
at his tax
collector’s booth
“Follow me and
be my disciple,”
Jesus said to
him. So Matthew
got up and
followed him.
v.14
Later, Matthew invited Jesus and his
disciples to his home as dinner
guests, along with many tax
collectors and other disreputable
sinners. (There were many people
of this kind among Jesus’ Followers.)
v.15
 But when the
teachers of
religious law who
were Pharisees saw
him eating with tax
collectors and
other sinners, they
asked his disciples...
 “Why does he
eat with such
scum (sinners)?”
v.16
 When Jesus
heard this, he
told them,
“Healthy people
don’t need a
doctor - sick
people do.
 I have come to call
not those who think
they are righteous,
but those who know
they are sinners.”
v.17
 Jesus went out to the
shore again and taught
the crowds.

How great that Jesus valued not just spiritual knowledge but also education. Jesus wasn’t
preaching, he was teaching.
 Matthew was a
tax collector

Tax collectors were considered by Jewish people to be traitors or thieves. They worked for
Rome, and often charged fraudulent charges.
 Jesus and many sinners
ate together at
Matthew’s home.

Matthew was a tax collector, and so was his friends. His friends and acquaintances were
sinners. Jesus was there.
 The Pharisees question
Jesus’ actions

They were the teachers of Religious Law. They did not ask Jesus, but his disciples.
 Healthy people don’t go
to a doctor...

Healthy people = Christians

Doctor = Jesus/Church
The church is not built for saved people, it is built to save people.
 Sick people go to
the doctor

We need to become like doctors, searching out sinners and needy people. Not judging others
when they are with people in the world.
 Jesus did not come for
people who think they
are righteous

Jesus is not looking for people who already “feel” righteous. He is not looking for them for
leadership, and is not looking for them to fill his church.
 Jesus came for those
who knew they were
sinners.

Jesus is looking for people who believe they need him and are sinners. Those are the leaders
and the people he wants in his Church.
If you saw me at a bar...
would you judge me?
 If Jesus came during our
time, our churches
would reject him.

Jesus’ example is not the same example we teach in our churches.