The Book Of Mark #11b

Illus: Sean Hannity, on his national syndicated radio talk show, was furious when he heard about a woman that had two strokes, got behind on her taxes and the IRS took her house, sold it for the taxes and penalties and kept the equity also.

This is why Tax Collectors have always been hated and despised. They have enormous power and they know it, and in many cases they have abused this power by not showing any mercy when mercy should be shown.

During the days of Levi, tax collectors were considered to be traitors, outcasts, and sinners in the minds of Jewish society. They were bitterly hated and ostracized.

They were looked upon as having sold their souls to the Roman authorities. The vast majority were thieves, cheats, and extortioners -- always adding to the legal tax in order to fill their own pockets.

When the Lord Jesus saw Levi, He did not see him as a tax collector, but as an individual. Levi was trying to find happiness in the only way he knew how, and that was to GET AS MUCH MONEY AS HE COULD, HOWEVER HE COULD!

But I believe the Lord could look within him and see the terrible price he had paid for wealth.

? His heart was cut by the piercing eyes, stinging words, isolation, and bitter hatred of the people.

? He ached for forgiveness and reconciliation, both with God and with his people.

Jesus saw the hurt and the ache of it, and Jesus appealed to him to abandon his sin of greed and betrayal, and to follow God.

We can never be effective until we see lost men the way God sees lost men.

Illus: Did you know a man can be drinking and he will spend his whole paycheck buying drinks for everyone in the nightclub?

He does it because he is hurting and he needs a friend. The only way he knows to acquire friends is to take his paycheck and buy everyone in the bar a drink.

The Lord knew the heart of Levi, and the Lord asked him to abandon his profession and to follow Him.

Levi is the same man who wrote the book of Matthew. The Lord Jesus changed his name from Levi to Matthew. The name Matthew means “The gift of Jehovah.”

His friends knew him by the name Levi. For example, both Mark and Luke use the name Levi. (Mark 2:14 and Luke 5:27)

But the Lord came across this man and asked him to do something that a lot of men would not do. He asked him to give up his occupation and follow Him.

Look at verse 14, we read, “…And he arose and followed him.”

When the Lord calls a man like MATTHEW to be one of his disciples, it causes some problems. Let’s look at-

III. THE LORD’S ASSOCIATION

Look at verse 15, we read, “And it came to pass, that, as Jesus sat at meat in his house, many publicans and sinners sat also together with Jesus and his disciples: for there were many, and they followed him.”

Matthew gave up everything to follow Jesus:

? His job

? His enormous income

The call of Jesus disrupted his whole life.

Listen, salvation is free; there is not one thing you can do to earn it. But the cost of following the Lord after salvation requires sacrifice.

It is difficult today to talk about sacrifice to Americans. Why? Because most Americans are so spoiled they do not know anything about sacrifice.