An excerpt from “The Holy One Called Isa,” by Pastor Ward Clinton

I seem to remember a certain Church making as one of their mottoes “Start at the Heart.”  All too often we followers of Messiah Jesus seem to forget the importance of relationship in the process of attempting to fulfill the Great Commission by making disciples and we start with the head rather than the heart.

Food, Fellowship, and Fun

Now, in the first century, food and fellowship were intricately woven together; to eat together was to have fellowship.  We do not need to suppose that all these people were sinners in the moral sense of the term.  The word sinner here means a man who broke the moral law but it also means one who did not observe the scribal law.  So that it was considered that the man who committed adultery and the man who ate pork were both sinners.  The man who was guilty of theft and the man who did not wash his hands in the required manner before he ate were both sinners.  Therefore the guests of Matthew probably included many who had broken the Mosaic Law but there is no reason to doubt that there were some whose only sin was that they did not observe the religious leaders rules and regulations.

The Pharisees and scribes provided the fun that day.  In the Jewish religion there was only one day in the whole year that was a compulsory fast, the Day of Atonement.  After the Babylonian captivity four other fast days were added (see Zechariah 7:5; 8:19) but the stricter Jews fasted during the day light hours on Monday and Thursday of each week.  There is a good possibility that this party took place on a Pharisee fast day because of the interaction that took place.  Perhaps the pleasant odors of preparation had wafted down the streets and tickled the noses of certain Pharisees in the public square and set their tummies to rumbling.  Perhaps for some reason they had failed to rouse themselves that particular morning before the sun began to peek above the horizon and therefore did not get to eat their regular pre-fast meal.  Now these tantalizing odors of a feast in preparation assaults their noses and demands their attention because they are about to have a divine encounter that will make them part of His story.

So, in this imaginary scenario leading up to the divine encounter, they find themselves led along by their noses and their bellies in hopes that not only would they find plenty of food but that the dwelling’s inhabitants would be super-thrilled to be so blessed by their presence and invite them to sit at or near the head table.

Suddenly, there they are and the hand washing stations are properly placed and the food looks to be plenty and luscious and… Oh, dear… ready too early because the sun is not yet set.  But the crowd is large enough to be a wedding feast and if that is the case then they will be freed from the obligation to wait until sunset to break their fast.  So they begin to scan the crowd to see if they can find the likely couple.  Then, to their dismay, they begin to recognize some faces of Publicans and other assorted sinners with whom they would never associate even as their stomachs rumble in protest at their unyielding obstinacy.  Then they spot Jesus and His disciples in the midst of these people and He looks in their direction and smiles, almost as though He has been expecting them.  Now they are really annoyed and they are not going to simply slip quietly away.  Oh no, they’re going to use this as an opportunity to cast doubt on the character of The Christ in the minds of His friends and followers.  With a frontal assault?  Of course not; they’ve chosen to use the more sinister indirect assault which has long been the preferred methodology of all of those who oppose Messiah’s teaching.

Injil Markus 2:16  And when the scribes and Pharisees saw him eat with publicans and sinners, they said unto his disciples, How is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners?

Not all the teachers of the law were Pharisees and not all of the Pharisees were hypocritical even though it seems that way to us as we read the Scripture that the majority of those whom Jesus came into contact with were that way.

Injil Markus 2:17  When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

Jesus calmly responds directly to the Scribes and Pharisees.  A self-righteous (self-justified) person does not recognize his need for a savior.  There are many sin-sick souls who have no clue regarding their actual situation.  We find the self-righteous everywhere but the one place we rarely find them is in Church.  An admitted sinner does tend to recognize his need for a cure.  Part of truly living righteously does include showing mercy to others who seek righteousness.  Although we followers of Christ do need to be very careful in how we keep company with ungodly men lest we become re-corrupted.  We do need to show and have love for their souls while attempting to convince them they also need to join us in the journey of following Christ.  Our good Physician had the power of healing in Himself and was in no danger of contracting the disease of sin.  However, we need to keep in close contact with Him to avoid sin.

For unfortunately there is more hope for a fool than for one who is wise in his own conceit (see Proverbs 26:12)  Even when such a one is on the side of truth he remains as fickle as the children of falsehood.

Injil Markus 2:18  And the disciples of John and of the Pharisees used to fast: and they come and say unto him, Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but thy disciples fast not?

John’s disciples may have been fasting because he was in prison.  It certainly had nothing to do with obeying their tradition as they were falsely attempting to imply.

Injil Markus 2:19  And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them? as long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast.