Sunday, February 7, 2021 - Luke 5:27-39 - Freedom Community Church - Pastor Rob Lloyd

Sunday, February 7, 2021 - Luke 5:27-39 - Freedom Community Church - Pastor Rob Lloyd - Battle Ground, Washington, US

Sunday Service Time: 10 AM
Sunday Service Location: 1919 SW 25th Ave, Battle Ground, WA 98604
Phone: (360) 975-9356
Email: info@freedomcommunity.church
Prayer Request: wepray@freedomcommunity.church
Mailing Address: 1400 NE 136th Ave, Ste 201, Vancouver, WA 98684

Sermon Notes:
Luke 5:27-39

Last week we saw the reason Jesus did so many miracles, was not only due to the great compassion He had for people (because that is certainly true). But also, that the common people and the religious leaders would know He had the power to forgive sins. In other words, that He was God come in the flesh (2 Cor. 5:19).
• And now many people were watching Jesus because of the amazing things He was saying and doing.
• We start off today with one of those people, who was likely intrigued also by Jesus standing up to the religious leaders who had clearly lost their way with God.

27 After these things He went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” 28 So he left all, rose up, and followed Him.

There’s so much information tied to this one verse which is vital to get what’s really going on here.
• First off, this person identified as Levi here is better known by us as Matthew; a name which he received from Jesus when Matthew chose to follow Jesus. But his former name along with his positions, reveal some important things.
• Being he was Jewish, where linage was a big deal and pretty much known by everyone, it’s almost undoubtable he was raised by a family of priests, meaning he would have been trained to be a priest.
o And in his account of Jesus life (the gospel of Matthew) he uses over 90 references to the Old Testament, which is by far the largest source of references of the four gospels.
• And being that we already have seen Jesus dealing with the hard hearts of the religious leaders, and soon will hear of the extensive corruption of their positions, we can imagine the corruption of the religious leaders Levi witnessed growing up. For, much like we spoke about last week, many priests at that time were using their positions for financial gain and/or to enjoy a place of elevated status and importance.

Now let’s look at Levi personally. In the eyes of the Jewish people, being a tax collector was on course with being the worst kind of criminal. They were absolutely despised because the position they held came with the power of the Roman military, which they counted on for intimidation purposes.
• And the way the tax collector made their money was to get the percentage Rome required, and then extort whatever else they could from the people for themselves. There’s nothing new under the sun.
• But it’s here I must say at least Levi didn’t use the religious system to extort the people. I have far more respect for him than those who use the church as a way to make themselves rich (1 Tim. 6:5).
• But to be clear, he would’ve been viewed as a traitor and extortionist by his own people.

So, let’s play the film from back from the beginning of everything we just learned. 1) Levi grew up in a family of prominence based on their being in the priestly line and 2) using that for swindling the people who came to worship God.
• 3) He was raised and trained to be a priest but when he saw a way out, 4) he instead became a tax collector for Rome instead.
• And 5) in this place where Levi collected these taxes (BTW- in the town Peter, Andrew, James and John worked in [Matt. 4:18-22], meaning he would have taken advantage of them) that Jesus sees this man they would see as a traitor and says follow me.

Now rewind that film to the beginning and let’s have it play from the beginning about 2,000 years later. Today we have many compromising faith leaders using religion as a means for their personal gain and agendas. Leaving many manipulated, confused and misinformed about the real gospel and who God really is.
• So now we see the actions of those who are their disciples (supporting and voting for unlimited and fully funded abortion, unrestrained substance use, alternate sexual identifies, endorsing unjust scales…) and truth be told, we can have a tendency to see them like the Jewish people saw Levi- like traitors!
• So, the question is, how should we see them? Well, Jesus is going to give the religious leaders many chances to be healed from their sin (5:17), but what we will see is most will refuse. And it comes to a point where He switches gears to openly rebuking them in front of the people, they kept deceiving.
• But for the common people (those who had been led astray, deceived, or disillusioned by these corrupt leaders), Jesus calls them out of all that to simply follow Him!
Folk’s, in our current position in our country we have people on opposites sides who both feel like the other is a traitor to 1) this nation, 2) to their faith, 3) or both. And maybe you’re here today feeling that way about someone or are aware someone feels that way about you. The question is what do we do with that now?
• When it comes to the corrupt leaders, pray God will stop them, open their eyes and cause them to repent. But when it comes to the masses; those disciples of such indoctrination, do what Jesus did. Invite them to follow Him.
2 Cor. 4:2-4 tells us we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. 3 But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 4 whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.

• Folks, the enemy loves to deceive and then turn us against each other because of his lies. So, for the believer there is one thing to do with a traitor, invite them to follow the real Jesus. And I promise when Levi met the real Jesus, it was Jesus countenance of peace and truth that made Matthew leave a position he could never return to, in order to follow Him. What’s our countenance feel like to others?
• And what do you do if they don’t want to follow? Keep walking until Jesus brings you by them again.

And what’s the next thing that happens?
29 Then Levi gave Him (Jesus) a great feast in his own house. And there were a great number of tax collectors and others who sat down with them.

Do you know there are people you might not be able to reach because you don’t even know where they are? For example, I’ve been to the Tillamook cheese factory once in my life and I’m sure (even though I’m very young 😊) they’ve likely had some turnover since I’ve been there. But there are others who live in Tillamook who see some from the factory on a fairly regular basis, know their names, and maybe even share in some of the same recreational activities. So, unless I meet someone while in Tillamook and that person connects me to their contacts, I’m likely to never meet these people.
• At this point you’re saying, “No kidding Rob, thanks for the deep thinking”. But the truth is so many have decided that introducing people to Jesus is the job of the pastor. And if we just think that through, then how many people does that leave who will never hear the good news of Jesus?
• But there’s another piece to this and it’s that Matthew threw the party for Jesus and then invited His friends to come and meet Him. Now if you invited your contacts to come to a Jesus party the next question would be, do they see such a significant difference in you that they would come?
• You see Matthew couldn’t contain his excitement after Jesus saw Him as a man (Matt. 9:9) who needed Him, and not as a traitor to the nation (vs. 27). And because of that, when he invited his friends (no doubt sharing some of what happened) they had to come and see this man from God, who loved a sinner.

Now before we move away from these verses, we should probably address the abuses associated with this verse and others like it where Jesus hung out with sinners. First of all, we need to remember Jesus has a perfect track record, meaning He never sinned (ever). So, when He hung out with sinners, we see He was always the one influencing them and never the other way around.
• And in case you’ve forgotten, we don’t have the same track record 😊. We can’t all associate in the same places because we don’t all have the same weaknesses. So, when you know what yours are, don’t go near them or let someone else talk you into doing so.
• Psalm 1:1 gives some strong counsel in this regard, saying “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful…”. You see a progression here that says, “a fall is coming”.
• So although on one hand we might be the avenue in our circles of influence to invite people to meet Jesus, let’s not be foolish enough to continue to go where we are not the influencer for the love of Jesus.

30 And their scribes and the Pharisees complained against His disciples, saying, “Why do You eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” 31 Jesus answered and said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”

When the religious leaders note Jesus brought His disciples with Him, we don’t know exactly who or how many there were, because He had far more than twelve (Mark 2:15).
• But coming back to the understanding that the Jewish people would have seen Matthew as a traitor, and realizing the vast majority of Jesus disciples were Jews, the fact they were eating together with an entire gathering of tax collectors and outwardly practicing sinners was in itself a miracle (He has that effect).
• In that time, eating together was a sign of being one with those you were dining with because you broke from the same bread and dipped in the same bowls. So, this truly was scandalous to the religious leaders, because this was a sign of friendship with the sinner (they will make that accusation in Luke 7:34).

Now of course for us (other sinners who know their condition), what the religious leaders see as a negative thing, we identify as wonderful. For all of those who have ever felt like you’re not good enough for God to bother with, always remember it’s you Jesus came for.

And we should ask, what made Matthew follow Jesus so quickly? I mean did Jesu tell Matthew something He didn’t know about his being a sinner and Matthew all the sudden woke up to the reality? Or is it more likely Matthew knew he’d fallen short of the glory of God long before now, so when Jesus came with an offer of a new beginning, Matthew jumped on it? From personal experience, I think we know it’s the latter.
• And Matthew’s friends also knew this about themselves. But the religious leaders had it so messed up that they codified the law into all these meaningless practices that they then thought if they kept, would make them acceptable to God (taking them a long step past righteousness to self-righteousness).
• When people see religion like that, it’s no wonder they have no desire for it. But when they learn of the grace of God (not greasy grace, but real grace that comes from repentance and faith in Jesus), our hearts can’t help but notice the difference.
• So, don’t be confused with this saying of Jesus; they were not healthy! Because the disease is unrighteousness and the bible tells us there is none righteous, no not one (Rom. 3:10). They simply refused to see themselves as being in need of repentance and therefore had no access to salvation!!!

I’m surprised how many still think like the pharisees did/do. You present Jesus to them and they tell you they’re a good person.
• Maybe a good prayer for them is that all who don’t have Jesus would be made aware of just how sinful their sin is to a holy and righteous God (Acts 9:3-6, Luke 5:8). When they have that understanding and encounter the Holy Spirit nudging them, then salvation will be accessible to them.

33 Then they said to Him, “Why do the disciples of John fast often and make prayers, and likewise those of the Pharisees, but Yours eat and drink?” 34 And He said to them, “Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them? 35 But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them; then they will fast in those days.”

There is only one place in the Law where fasting (“afflicting their souls”) is to be regularly observed and it’s on the Day of Atonement (Lev. 23:27). All other fasts were self-initiated and private. As a matter of fact, Matt. 6:18 tells us we are not supposed to let others be able to observe we’re fasting.
• But the religious leaders, again adding their own pieces to the law, made it a regularly required thing. So, Jesus wasn’t going against the law. He was ignoring man’s add-ons to the law.
• Yet when they asked this question, I’m betting they had no idea of the answer they would get.

While the disciples had the opportunity to follow Jesus as He walked on the earth, even though they went through various trials along the way, there was the constant sense of anticipation of seeing what He would do next. And a real sense that everything was always going to be ok.
• Of course occasionally there was a temporary concern they might implode, 1) like when they were on the sea and the storm came (Mark 4:35-40), or 2) when Jesus had to rebuke them (Matt. 16:23, Mark 10:35-40), or 3) when Jesus told them to feed the five thousand (Mark 6:37).
• But I believe even in those, there was a real sense Jesu had it handled. And I believe for the one today who really trust Jesus is who He says He is, we have that same sense, even though at times we feel like it might implode.
• So, walking with Jesus for the disciples was a time of adventure and celebration, because they knew Jesus loved them and would take care of business. What a way to travel through life then and now.

Yet Jesus spoke of another time coming, and it would be when He would ascend (Acts 1:9-10) back to His place of glory (Heb. 1:1-4, John 12:23). And of that time, He says “then they will fast in those days”. There’s no doubt they experienced something we haven’t…yet. For Job 19:26 says “Even after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God”. (See also 1 John 3:2, Psalm 17:15)!
• We know until Jesus ascended and the Father sent the Holy Spirit, they didn’t have the Holy Spirit indwelling them. But we also know they were the first ones to experience that. So, it’s certainly not unique to us. But what was unique to them was physically walking the earth with Him.
• So, Jesus made it clear when He was taken away from them, they would fast and pray. And since fasting and prayer can be instituted anytime we desire to deny the flesh and draw nearer to God, then we see Jesus was alluding to this fasting and prayer having an element of sorrow that they couldn’t be were He was now bodily.
• Thank goodness the bible also tells us of the coming event called the marriage supper of the Lamb (Rev. 19:7-10), where His church will stand on the same ground with Him and never be separated again.

36 Then He spoke a parable to them: “No one puts a piece from a new garment on an old one; otherwise the new makes a tear, and also the piece that was taken out of the new does not match the old. 37 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the wineskins and be spilled, and the wineskins will be ruined. 38 But new wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved. 39 And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, ‘The old is better.’ ”

He was saying to these guys who were trying to fulfill the law that they never could, and had subsequently convoluted by making their numerous add-ons, “what I am doing now is so wonderful that it can’t be contained in the Old Covenant (Heb. 8:7-13). I’m bring a New Covenant as the fulfillment of the old (Rom. 10:4). And guys, although you’re missing it now, this one is what you really want. It’s what you really need (Acts 4:12)”.
• They wanted the law they could never keep. He wanted to give them grace they could never earn.
• They wanted rules that made them feel better about themselves when comparing themselves to others. He wanted to give them liberty from the wages of unrighteousness and a new beginning.
• But the only ones who can receive what He wants to give, are those who know they need it and have no way to obtain it by any other means than as a free gift from God.
o And in that truth, we see that even those we are at odds with, or are at odds with us, all have only one hope, and that’s to follow Jesus.