Imagine the most despised person in your community, the one everyone has written off, the one no respectable person would be caught with.
Now imagine Jesus walking straight up to that person and saying, Follow me. Today on Insight for Living, Chuck Swindoll opens Mark chapter 2 to a scene that scandalized the religious crowd. It's a shocking encounter that reveals the heart of God for broken people. But there's an enemy lurking in this story, one that still steals joy and freedom from believers today. Chuck titled today's message, Look Who Jesus Hung Out With.
It was A.W. Tozer, I believe, who wrote, We think of ourselves as inhabiting some parenthetic interval between the God who was and the God who will be. But in this ever-present now, we are lonely with that ancient and cosmic loneliness. The one who is lonely in this ancient now or this ancient plague of loneliness is the one who has missed the transcendence of God. That's part of the reason we love the scriptures as we do.
They link us to the great lives of those that have passed as well as to those whose lives were not so great, but the record stands. And whatever is written in earlier times is written for our learning that we through patience and comfort from the scriptures might have hope. And we find that in the second chapter of the gospel by Mark, to which I'd have you turn now. and locate, if you will, verse 13. We come here to one of those little vignettes where you're able to sort of see a street scene where Jesus plays an unusual role as he faces the legalists of his day.
Mark 2, beginning at verse 13. 2.13 of Mark. and he went out again by the seashore and all the people were coming to him and he was teaching them. As they passed by, he saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus, sitting in the tax booth and he said to him, follow me. And he got up and followed him.
And it happened that he was reclining at the table in his house, and many tax collectors and sinners were dining with Jesus and his disciples. For there were many of them, and they were following him. When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that he was eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they said to his disciples, Why is he eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners? And hearing this, Jesus said to them, It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.
You're listening to Insight for Living. To dig deeper into the gospel according to Mark, be sure to purchase a copy of our Searching the Scriptures Bible Study Workbooks by going to insight.org slash offer. Chuck titled today's message, Look Who Jesus Hung Out With. Make no mistake about it, legalism is an enemy. Legalism isn't a well-meaning but misguided friend, but rather an aggressive opponent to the life of joy and faith and liberty in Christ.
Legalism is a thief stealing from us our liberty and robbing us of spontaneous joy. Legalism is a bully intimidating all of those who don't know how to defend themselves from it. It is a grim-faced, guilt-giving, self-appointed judge who indicts and pronounces shame and condemnation on all of those who refuse to obey its ridiculous lists of unbiblical rules and regulations. Other than that, I have no opinion regarding legalism. Legalism cannot tolerate those who are enjoying life.
H.L. Mencken, surely with a tongue in cheek, wrote this about a Puritan. He says a Puritan is someone who lives with constant fear that someone somewhere might be happy. And I would build on that statement and borrow from it, saying a legalist is someone who lives in a constant search for anyone, anywhere, who longs to be free. And there are some of you in this gathering today, and you may or may not realize it, but you are a part of the problem of helping people find freedom in Christ.
It's nothing new. you've been around a long time. Back in 1963, Dr. S. Lewis Johnson, at that time the chair of the New Testament Department at Dallas Seminary, wrote an article that appeared in Bibliotheca Sacra, the seminary's theological journal, and in that piece, which he entitled The Paralysis of Legalism, Lewis Johnson wrote, One of the most serious problems facing the Orthodox Christian church today is the problem of legalism.
One of the most serious problems facing the church in Paul's day was the problem of legalism. In every day it is the same.
Now listen closely. Legalism wrenches the joy of the Lord from the Christian believer and with the joy of the Lord goes his power for vital worship and vibrant service Nothing is left but cramped somber dull and listless profession The truth is betrayed and the glorious name of the Lord becomes a synonym for a gloomy killjoy The Christian under law is a miserable parody of the real thing. Dr. Johnson is right. He is right.
Now something this pervasive and something this long-lasting that goes all the way back beyond the first century AD, still with us in the 21st century, something this ever-present needs to be defined. because some of you hear the word, but you'd be hard-pressed to put a definition on it.
So I'd like to do that for you, and I'll give you sort of a practical overview with these words. What is a legalist? What is legalism? It is an attitude of authoritarianism. It is a desire to control other people by enforcing an exhaustive list of do's and don'ts that leads to the external behavior considered acceptable by the circle of legalists.
in practical terms more so than that it's playing king of the mountain in other people's lives legalists cling to the law at the expense of grace legalism emphasizes the letter to the exclusion of the spirit legalism uses manipulation to create blind obedience Legalism promotes external appearances that seem to be spiritual in nature But at the core they represent pride and self-service Then I ask you why on earth would such a thing flourish? How does legalism gain a foothold in so many lives? Why is it ever present? There are several reasons, and I'll be brief here. One would be the fear and intimidation of those who are in authority.
You fall in line because you are afraid of the one who is giving you the rules and regulations on how to live your life, what to do and what not to do, what to wear and what not to wear, what to drink and what not to drink, what to eat and what not to eat, where to go for a restaurant an evening together with others and where not to go. How you should respond in certain situations, how you should appear before the eyes of the ever-watching public. Fear of those people who give the rules gives legalism wings to fly. Another would be the desire to be accepted, which is a greater determination than the desire to honor Christ. It stems from insecurity.
Legalists feed on insecure, untaught believers, which brings up another reason it flourishes, ignorance of the scriptures. The better a person gets to know the word of God, by that I mean not only the word itself, but the spirit of the word and understanding of the truths of the scriptures, less and less they are inclined to bow to the legalists. But the less you know, the more deeply entrenched a legalist can become in your life. I would add to the hesitation to confront the manipulators and to fight for one's freedom, which causes me to love Christ all the more. He refused to let the longstanding traditionalists and legalists have their way in his life.
Nothing is wrong with tradition. Understand that. Paul tells Timothy to embrace the traditions of the faith. There's something terribly wrong with traditionalism. Yaroslav Pelikan of Yale University put it very well when he said, Tradition is the living faith of those now dead.
Traditionalism is the dead faith of those now living. Isn't that good? Tradition is the living faith of those now dead. Traditionalism is the dead faith of those still living. and legalists live in the realm of dead faith.
They don't say so, but it's true. That's why Jesus said to them, you are hypocrites, you are whitewashed sepulchers. What does that mean? You look like you're alive, but you've got both feet in the grave, spiritually speaking. And if you have ever been intimidated by a legalist, you do not forget that encounter.
and let me tell you if you want to confront a legalist you're in for a fight they not only fight fiercely they don't fight fairly because they're going to have their way now with Jesus of course it led to a very interesting situation at first they didn't like him and so they questioned him and that turned to disagreeing with him and criticizing him. And that ultimately led to full on resentment, finally murderous thought and ultimately a cross. They weren't satisfied until they nailed this one to the cross for standing against their traditionalism. How did Jesus encounter these bullies?
Well, he took them on straight ahead. He didn't back away. He presented a grace-oriented message. He refused to be manipulated by those who frowned and criticized. And he stood his ground and trained a body of men around him to do the same.
They ran scared of him, but not Jesus.
Now, when we get to Mark chapter 2, 13 to 17, we come to a great place where Jesus shakes up the neighborhood. All the people around the neighborhood of this area of Capernaum have been listening to legalists and paying attention to those who would stare at them and tell them how to live their lives. They not only took the law of God which they really did not fulfill and they added to those Ten Commandments 650 and more of their own rules and regulations and they would make you laugh when you see and when you read how extreme they are So he engaged in getting his ministry underway in chapter 2 verse 13. He went out again, verse 13, by the seashore and all the people were coming to him and he was teaching them. Invariably, you find Jesus teaching people.
He's cultivating the ability of his followers to think. When you follow legalists, you don't have to think. You have to simply learn the rules and obey them. But when you follow Jesus, you must make up your mind on occasion, many occasions. You must determine on your own how you handle this.
He gives you precepts. He gives you principles, and then you take them and you apply them as a mature believer. And because you answer to the living God, you must think through what your position is on these things. And so he's teaching them to do that. And verse 14 shocks us, at least it would in the first century because of what we read.
As he passed by, he saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus, sitting in the tax booth. And he said to him, follow me. And he got up and followed him. Now, you read that 21st century Gentile that you are and you yawn. Big deal.
Another man follows him. Peter followed him. Andrew followed him. James followed him. John followed him.
Levi followed him. Wait, wait, wait. Hold it. You've already missed something in the verse. It says that he was in a tax booth.
Okay. Jesus is choosing a body of men to be his followers, his learners, his disciples That's what disciple means, learners And he's selecting those that he wanted to travel closely with him And he has surprised the Pharisees at every turn He chooses Galileans instead of Judeans for the most part untaught, non-professional individuals, virtually unknown, hardworking men. The only one that wasn't from Galilee and certainly would have been more respected than the others was a man named Judas. But that's another story if we were to get into him.
So he comes to a hated tax collector. in case that doesn't ring a bell let's make it a little more relevant he called someone who worked for the irs to be a follower of his okay it's okay to laugh it's okay now i met an irs guy just before the service started so it's okay for him to laugh not all of them are well i'll let you finish the sentence. But Matthew was one of those. Not the kind of guy you'd want to hang around with. In fact, I need to inform you of tax collectors in the first century.
James Edwards, in a fine book on the gospel according to Mark, writes this. Tax collectors were despised and hated. Anyone who is familiar with moles and informants in Nazi and communist regimes will have an appreciation for the loathing that first-century Jews felt for the tax collectors. The Mishnah and the Talmud registers scathing judgments of tax collectors, lumping them together with thieves and murderers. A Jew who collected taxes was disqualified as a judge or a witness in a court, expelled from the synagogue, and a cause of disgrace to his family.
I'm not through. The touch of a tax collector rendered a house unclean. Jews were forbidden to receive money and even alms from the tax collectors, since revenue from taxes was deemed robbery. Jewish contempt of tax collectors is epitomized in the ruling that Jews could lie to tax collectors with impunity. Tax collectors were tangible reminders of Roman domination, detested alike for its injustice and Gentile uncleanness.
Taxation and the system of taxation was considered by the Jew an act of treason. And I'm not through. Kent Hughes, in his fine work on Mark, writes this. The system consisted of two categories of taxes. First, there were stated taxes.
There was a poll tax, which all men, ages 14 to 65, and women, 12 to 65, had to pay simply for the reason of being alive. There was a ground tax which required one-tenth of all grain you grew, one-fifth of all wine you owned, and one-fifth of all oil you produced. In some places, the Romans also exacted a tax on fish that you caught. Very possibly, this was done in Capernaum, where the fishing industry was so vital. Finally, there was an income tax, which was 1% of everyone's annual income.
We're not through. In the stated taxes, there was not much room for extortion, but in the second area of taxes, duties, there was ample opportunity for abuse. The people paid separate taxes for using roads and docking in harbors. There was a sales tax on certain items as well as import and export duties. A tax was even paid on a cart.
In fact, each wheel was taxed. The system fostered exploitation by the arbitrary power of the tax gatherers. They could stop anyone on the road, make him or her unpack their bundles, and charge just about anything they wanted if the person could not pay. The tax collectors sometimes would offer to loan them money at an exorbitant rate, thus pulling the people further into their greedy hands. They were trained extortionists.
Quite naturally, they attracted a criminal element of thugs and criminals and enforcers, the scum of society.
So rare was honesty in the profession that a Roman writer said he once saw a monument to an honest tax collector These are despised despicable scum people And Jesus walks into the tax booth and says to Matthew, follow me. And to make matters even more amazing, he closed up his shop. He closed up his books. He wrote off all of the stuff he'd been doing and he followed Jesus. We read it right here.
He got up and Levi followed him. By the way, another name for Levi is Matthew. In case you wonder if he had his life changed, The first of the four gospels bears his name. In following Jesus, his life is transformed.
Now, it isn't over. We see that society has written off a man like this. We certainly can be sure the Pharisees and scribes, who were the most conservative among the Jews, despised those people. and certainly by now are puzzled that Jesus would have one of these men as a part of his band of brothers following him. There wasn't a legalist on the planet who would have ever given Matthew the time of day.
And on this day, Jesus stoops over, steps into the tax booth, and invites Matthew to follow him.
Well, believe me, the word traveled, not only to the enemies, but to his friends. Turn to Luke chapter 5. Would you do that? Come along with me. Luke chapter 5.
I want you to see a scene that Luke paints a little more vividly than Mark does. I've come to Luke 5, 27. Here we go. After that, he went out and noticed a tax collector named Levi sitting in the tax booth, and he said to him, follow me. And he left everything behind and got up and began to follow him.
Watch closely. And Levi gave a big reception for him in his house.
Now, don't go any further. Levi thinks, wow, man, he's invited me to follow him, and certainly he's worth following. Goodness knows what I've been doing is going nowhere, and I can't live with myself any longer. I'm going to be a follower of his. I'm going to invite my friends to my home, and I'm going to have all of them meet him just as I have.
Well, keep reading, okay? Here we are. Gave a big reception for him in his house, and there was a great crowd of tax collectors.
So now they've multiplied. They've metastasized. We got more of them on the scene.
So here they are sitting down with one another and they're reclining at the table with each other. And Mark tells us there were sinners among them. There were other people that were off the street, folks you wouldn't find in the synagogue. There were street walkers. There were extortionists.
There were pickpockets.
Now back to Mark 2, this gets so good. I love scenes like this. Verse 15, it happened that he was reclining at the table in his house. Many tax collectors and sinners were dining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many of them. Don't stop reading.
And they were following him. They were following him. They, tax collectors and sinners, were following Jesus. They were following him. Tax collectors, sinners, the very people polite society had thrown away.
Isn't that the wonder of it? Jesus didn't wait for them to clean themselves up. He welcomed them just as they were because he saw what they could become. Maybe you felt written off, too far gone, too messed up to belong.
Well, Chuck Swindoll wants you to hear this bold and simple truth. There's a place at His table for you right now, just as you are. This is Insight for Living. Chuck titled his message, Look Who Jesus Hung Out With. As you're out and about these days, I'm sure you've noticed the holiday decorations appearing in public spaces.
Not only for Thanksgiving, but Christmas too.
Well, to help you keep your family spiritually grounded during the Advent season, we'd like to send you a devotional book that's published exclusively by Insight for Living. Everlasting Light is a 25-day Advent devotional that invites you to step out of your busy schedule and into a prayerful rhythm of waiting, reflection, and preparation. This includes scripture to anchor your heart, a quote from Chuck Swindoll to shape your thinking, and pastoral reflections from our own Carlos Sosueta to carry into your day. This hardcover devotional is ready today, so you'll receive it in plenty of time for Advent. Ask for the book called Everlasting Light when you include a contribution to support the ministry of Insight for Living.
Just go to insight.org slash donate. We want you to receive and bask in God's gift of everlasting light. And it's also a gift to give away. In that spirit, we invite you to partner with Insight for Living to shine God's everlasting light in your community, across this nation, and even across the world. You can give a contribution right now by going to insight.org slash donate or call us at 800-772-8888.
When you give, remember to request the 25-day Advent devotional called Everlasting Light. I'm Bill Meyer. Chuck Swindoll offers four liberating guidelines for standing up to the legalists in our lives. Thursday on Insight for Living. The preceding message, Look Who Jesus Hung Out With, was copyrighted in 2010 and 2026, and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2026 by Charles R.
Swindoll, Inc. All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.
