In response to those who are unable to attend my
weekly Bible study on the Gospel According to MARK (Sunday’s at 10 am at
Hollywood United Methodist Church), I share my thoughts and notes from previous
sessions. While I’m not a scholar, I am an enthusiast. Enjoy!
Question – What defines
“church”? Is it a building? Is it the people gathered together? Does the common
denominator include a preacher?
From Matthew 18:20 (NIV),
it is written, “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with
them.” So,… is that “church”?
This isn’t a trick
question. I’m not trying to stump anyone. I’m just asking. Well,… it also
relates to verse 13 where Jesus now has chosen (or has been forced) to teach by
the lakeside – not using the synagogue. Someone questioned, “Was this because
he was no longer welcomed?” That’s certainly a possibility, since his teaching
was causing a stir among some.
When defining “church” was
posed to the study group, they responded with, “One of my best church
experiences as a youth was at UMYF camp out in the woods,” “A few years ago, I loved going to the Hollywood
Bowl sunrise service on Easter (which is an outdoor amphitheater), “Didn't we experience church when we worshipped at the beach,?"…. How about for you? For
the group, “church” can be anywhere, with anyone, yet there has to be a
spiritual component.
For Jesus, to teach in the
open air, he certainly reached more people by doing so. As to whether it was
common practice during this time, “As rabbis walked the roads from one place to
another, or as they strolled in the open air, their disciples grouped
themselves around them and walked with them and listened as they talked.” [i]
After Jesus finished
teaching, his path crossed Levi’s (known as Matthew), a tax collector, and he
said to him, “Follow me.” “And Levi got up and followed him.” [ii]
Really? It went down like
that? Jesus just saw a tax collector, told him to follow him, and without
hesitation the dude obeyed? Really?
This is where there’s more
to the scene, to the story, than is written. There’s more to the Gospel than
what some will claim to be the gospel truth.
Think about it…
·
Jesus had a plan in
place. Fact but not point-blanked stated.
·
Jesus knew what
he was doing when he approached Matthew. Fact but again not in the verse(s).
·
By bringing a tax
collector into his group of disciples, a greater number of people would be
impacted and more lives would change. Fact.
·
A tax collector
could be a positive financial support for the movement led by Jesus. Fact but
you have to consider this beyond the surface.
·
Matthew bought
Jesus’ two word pitch – hook, line and sinker. My opinion is this is not fact. At least how it went down in the scripture.
As Gene Murray stated, tax
collectors had to have hardened hearts. In order to be in the business they
were conducting, to line their own pockets and build their personal treasuries,
a publican had to be hard-nosed. If you owed the tax, you paid the tax. If the
taxman didn’t collect the fee, there would be a harsh penalty applied against
him, because the higher up’s such as Herod Antipas (ruler of Galilee) at the
time would want every red cent due them.
Why would you give up a
position that made you one of the wealthiest people around? The 1%?
To be in the 1% as a tax
collector, there was definitely a personal cost of doing business – being cast
outside of religious and social circles. It wasn’t pretty being the person no
one else wanted to be with. That had to be difficult. Plus they were considered
to be in the same category as sinners. By whom? Specific to this text, it was
the Pharisees who considered them as such.
Who And What
– The Pharisees
The Pharisees were a
legalistic sect comprised of about 6,000 men known for their strict devotion to
the ceremonial law. Their goal “was to renew and extend the observance of
Jewish practice in society.” [iii]
These “separated ones” as law-keepers must not fellowship with those who didn’t
observe all the rules and regulations. “Above all, he must not accept hospitality
from or give hospitality to such a person.” [iv]
When Jesus chose to break
bread at Matthew’s home with many tax collectors (who had to have been invited
by Matthew – not stated in the verses) and other sinners, a line had
been crossed. For the Pharisees, sinners referred “to prostitutes, thieves and
others of low reputation whose sins were blatant and obvious – who had no
respect for the Mosaic law or rabbinic traditions.” [v]
Looking at it in a
different way, these sinners could have broken a moral law like adultery or
murder yet be in this same classification with someone who broke the scribal
law such as a man who didn’t wash his hands the required number of times and in
the required way before eating. [vi]
They were lump-summed as “sinners.”
What Jesus did, by
fellowshipping with these outcasts, he was allowing for a safe place in
which there could be healing and reconciliation.
As for verse 17, why did
Jesus use the word “physician” in what he had to say? Was it by happy accident?
Or was he also focusing on the fear and hypocrisy of those who might be
infected by sin (by associating with the “unclean”)?
There is much to consider
beyond these words in the Bible. Yet I conclude this post with Matthew, who
made a huge sacrifice to follow Jesus. He gave up everything. How’s that? Was it any greater than the four fisher of men -- James, John, Andrew and Peter?
By leaving his post, by
choosing to join Jesus’ band of disciples, Matthew would be out of a job
forever – as a tax collector. There was no turning back -- unlike the fisherman who could return to the primary industry in Capernaum (fishing). That’s something to
think about. And to be grateful for.
By following Jesus, Matthew (who was
despised by many as a publican, who had a hardened heart that was broken)
became an important part of the Christian movement, as a writer of one of the
Gospels (and ultimately loved and respected). Talk about stepping out in
faith! Risk… Reward.
NEXT…
To fast or not to fast; to
be fixed or to be pliable
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