Mark 2:15
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. 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 held a feast in his own house to honor Jesus after leaving his tax work to follow him, inviting his relatives and friends of doubtful reputation, and Jesus sat as honored guest with his disciples among many tax collectors and sinners who had followed him. He accepted knowing it would offend the Pharisaic party and set aside Jewish exclusiveness, because outward distinctions weighed nothing with him beside a soul thirsting for the water of life, and the watching scribes and Pharisees used it to attack his disciples for his eating with publicans and sinners. His presence there was his mission to call sinners to repentance, working as a physician not among the well but among the diseased to heal the wounds of sin with forgiving mercy and pitying love. By sympathy and social kindliness he recognized their humanity and spoke words of wisdom and encouragement that searched their hearts, awakening new impulses and opening to these outcasts the possibility of a new life. His tender, forgiving love in deliberately eating with them calls his followers to mingle with the unconverted not to adopt low habits but to teach right principles by word and example and lift them up.
Feast at Matthew's House
The meal belongs to the story of Matthew the publican, called by Jesus to follow, who left his work at once without hesitation, giving up his wealth to follow him. In the joy of his new discipleship he made a feast at his own house in honor of Jesus, eager to bring his former associates to meet him and become his followers. He called together his relatives and friends, including publicans and many others of doubtful reputation who were proscribed by their more scrupulous neighbors. He was certain they would be charmed by the pure and simple doctrine taught without ostentation or display.
Jesus with his disciples accepted the invitation and graced the banquet with his presence, sitting as an honored guest at the table of the publicans. Many tax collectors and sinners sat together with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many and they followed him. He did not hesitate to accept, knowing it would offend the Pharisaic party and compromise him in the eyes of the people. No question of policy influenced him, for external distinctions weighed nothing with him and what appealed to his heart was a soul thirsting for the water of life.
His mingling ignored Jewish prejudices and traditions and set aside their exclusiveness by honoring a hated publican. The watching scribes and Pharisees looked on with bitter contempt and were angered beyond bounds, chagrined that his influence over the people exposed their exclusiveness. They used the occasion to seek condemnation against his cause. They openly attacked his disciples, asking why he ate with publicans and sinners.
He sat at table in the house of Levi to partake of food because faint and weary from teaching and healing. Even there the people pressed about the door, bringing the sick, the deformed, and the lunatic for him to heal. While he sat at the table Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue, came and fell at his feet begging him to come and lay hands on his little daughter lying at the point of death so she would be healed and live. Jesus at once went with him.
Savior's Mission to Sinners
The sitting at meat with many publicans and sinners is part of the ministry to people seeking help for spiritual and physical needs. He met people in ordinary places where many were willing to admit they were sinners, so that the light of truth could shine through a godly character and seeds of truth could be sown among them. His presence among them is His mission to call sinners to repentance, and anyone who recognizes himself as a sinner is among those He came to save.
He came to heal the wounds of sin as a physician works not among the well but among the diseased, so He who came to save the sin-sick soul must go among those who most need forgiving mercy and pitying love. It was the mission of Heaven to relieve just such want. Though stained with guilt and apparently disregarding religious rites, the publicans and sinners felt their need of repentance and pardon. In heart and life they were better fitted to become sincere Christians than the Pharisees and priests who scorned them, many possessing noble integrity that would not reject doctrine their reason declared true.
By sympathy and social kindliness He recognized the dignity of humanity, and men longed to become worthy of His confidence. Upon their thirsty hearts His words fell with blessed, life-giving power, awakening new impulses and opening to these outcasts of society the possibility of a new life. His eating with them was an occasion to teach them, speaking words of encouragement they would not otherwise hear to satisfy the inmost longings of the soul and to help sore-troubled ones who needed guidance and encouragement. His words on such occasions were always spoken with wisdom and always exalted the truth, presenting principles that searched the recesses of the hearts of listeners, reaching the diseased imagination and drawing the mind out after eternal realities.
Not a few impressed at such gatherings did not acknowledge Him until after His ascension, and when the Holy Spirit was poured out and three thousand were converted in a day, many among them had first heard the truth at the table of the publicans and some became messengers of the gospel. Those seeds of truth grew through the apostles' teaching after His resurrection and ascension, and five thousand people were converted in one day. To Matthew himself the example at the feast was a constant lesson, and the despised publican became one of the most devoted evangelists, linking sinners to himself through kindly sympathy instead of repulsing them by magnifying his own piety and following closely in his Master's steps. Many who sat at that feast and listened to the divine instruction became instruments of enlightenment to the people.
Model for Reaching Outcasts
He mingled with publicans, sinners, and common people at table, not to take up their low habits or to become earthly, but to teach right principles by word and example and to lift them up. His deliberate eating with publicans and sinners was tender, forgiving love toward the erring, the same course to be practiced by others even when priests and rulers condemn the action. Though condemned for it, he sat with them so he could speak words of encouragement they would not otherwise hear, to satisfy the inmost longings of the soul and to help sore-troubled ones who needed guidance and encouragement. His words on such occasions were always spoken with wisdom and always exalted the truth, presenting principles that searched the recesses of listeners' hearts, reaching the diseased imagination and drawing the mind out after eternal realities. His eating with them was an occasion to teach them, his words among them were lessons, and his conduct and example call for words among unconverted people that recommend Christ.