Jesus - Outcast for Another's Sake (Part 1)

Sermon Series: Spare Me the Details - Just Give Me Jesus

One of the things that I have been thinking on this week is the idea of an "outcast."  The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines "outcast" this way, "one that is cast out or refused acceptance (as by society)".  One of the things I have spent a lot of time thinking about is the question "Who deems a person an outcast?"  And as I thought about the question there were really only two answers: (1) others can deem a person an outcast, or (2) occasionally a person will deem himself/herself an outcast.  In the first instance the individual deemed an outcast probably has little say, but in the second instance the individual has all the say.  So the next question I began to ask myself is "Why would a person deem himself/herself an outcast?  What is the motivation behind it?"  And in all of the examples I could think of the reasons were entirely self-centered.  The person had deemed himself/herself an outcast to foster attention or perhaps to find community among other individuals who had been deemed outcasts.  I can't say 'never,' but I can say that it is exceedingly rare to find someone who chooses to be an outcast for the sake of others.  In other words, it is almost impossible to think of or find examples of individuals who chose to make themselves outcasts so that others might benefit.  But that appears to be the point that Mark makes about Jesus in Mark 2:1-3:6, that Jesus was an outcast for the sake of others.  Mark gives us two reasons why Jesus was an outcast for the sake of another.  We will cover the first this week as we examine Mark 2:1-17 and the other reason next week when we look at Mark 2:18-3:6.  

This week our focus will be on the first reason that Jesus was an outcast for the sake of another, and that is because He was focused on forgiveness rather than fitting in.  Mark develops this point with two sub-points that he articulates through narratives in Mark 2:1-12 and Mark 2:13-17.

The first sub-point Mark articulates through the narrative in Mark 2:1-12.  In this narrative Mark helps the reader to understand that Jesus was focused on forgiveness rather than fitting in  by explaining that the offense originated with a proclamation of forgiveness.  Let's look together at this narrative and examine the point the Mark was trying to articulate in using this story.  Chapter 2 begins with Jesus' return to Capernaum.  Upon His return Jesus went to a home (not the synagogue) where a great crowd gathered and Jesus "was preaching the word to them."  (As a side note - notice in the next few passages that Jesus' ministry was primarily a ministry of proclaiming the word, not of performing miracles.  At times He performed miracles but the miracles serve as evidence of His authority and that His teachings are true.)  While Jesus was in the home teaching some men of great faith come to the house carrying a paralytic.  The men believed that Jesus could heal this man and upon hearing that He was in town they decided to take him to Jesus.  When the men arrived at the house they found that it was so crowded that they could not get their friend through the crowd.  Still convinced of Jesus' ability and determined by their faith the men devised an alternate plan.  They carried their friend to the roof of the house, dug a large hole through the roof, and then lowered their friend through the hole so that he was right in front of Jesus.  This certainly would have become a great distraction for Jesus while He was teaching and chances are dirt and debris were raining down on top of His head.  But Jesus doesn't respond with anger, frustration, or offense.  Instead, verse 5 indicates that Jesus was moved by their faith.  Jesus looks down upon this paralytic and sees His great physical need for sure (how could He miss it - the man was just lowered on his bed through a hole in the roof because he could not walk) but instead of focusing on his physical need, Jesus sees a much bigger problem - the man's spiritual need.  Here was a man who was a sinner and in need of forgiveness.  And with a shocking proclamation Jesus doesn't pronounce the man healed, but forgiven.  

Verse 6 is where the text gets really interesting.  In verse 6 Mark tells us that there were some scribes sitting  in the home while all of this was going on.  This begs the question, "What were they doing there?"  Were they there to oppose Jesus?  Mark certainly doesn't give us any clue that this was the case.  Look back through chapter one of Mark's gospel.  There isn't anything to indicate that the scribes were at odds with Jesus prior to this point.  It is probably very likely then that these particular scribes had come to hear Jesus teach recognizing along with the people that "he taught them as one who had authority" (Mark 1:22).  So stop and consider the setting.  Jesus has come on the scene.  He appears to be a Jewish man who teaches with great authority and even has the ability to heal the sick and cast out demons.  His fame, according to Mark (1:28, 39, 45) was clearly growing.  And now Jesus finds himself teaching with some of the religious elite sitting right there in the room.  What should we in our flesh expect here?  What would be the thought process of someone coming into great fame and status at this point?  I think most of us would expect Jesus to be thinking, "If I can bring another great lesson here, then I'm in.  Some of the religious leaders are here tonight and if I can impress them with a great lesson they'll want me to join them.  That should seal the deal for me.  If I can just fit in with them then I'll have all the status, influence, and prestige that comes along with being one of the religious elite.  Now, if only someone will come along who needs healing.  I could cap off a great lesson with a miracle and then I'm a shoe in.  There won't be any doubt about it - they'll be begging me to be a part of their group.  All I have to do is make sure that I don't blow it!"  The setting that Jesus finds Himself in is full of potential.  It seems that if He stays the course and continues on the track He's on then He'll have a great shot at making a great name for Himself as one of the outstanding scribes.  If Jesus had been focused on fitting in all He had to do was more of the same.  But Jesus' proclamation absolutely destroys any chance He had at fitting in, for when He pronounced forgiveness of sins, He was clearly making Himself out to be God.  And this is exactly what the scribes perceived.  In verse 7 they began questioning in their hearts and accusing Jesus of blasphemy.  They also ask a question and answer it at the same time, "Who can forgive sins but God alone?"  They knew the answer to the question but they failed to recognize Jesus as God.  Instead they perceived Jesus to simply be a man who was claiming to be God.  Jesus then perceives that these scribes are questioning Him and asks them a series of questions leading up to Jesus healing the paralytic and giving him the charge to pick up his bed and go home.

So often in this story we focus on the faith of the men who brought the paralytic to Jesus or to the healing itself.  But the emphasis in this story seems to be centered around Jesus' proclamation of forgiveness for sins.  Why would He do that in a setting where it appears that He had nothing to gain for proclaiming forgiveness for sins?  Why would He destroy His chances at fitting in with the religious leaders of the day?  The answer is simply that He was focused on carrying out the mission His Father had sent Him on and providing hope to humanity - that the sin which separated them from God might be forgiven through Christ and that a relationship with the Father might be restored.  Jesus proclaimed forgiveness to this man even though it caused Him to be an outcast among the spiritual elite.  Jesus loved His Father so much and loved humanity so much that He chose to be an outcast.  Fulfilling the mission of the Father and providing hope for reconciliation was far more important to Jesus than simply fitting in.  We see more of the same in John 8:1-11 when the scribes and Pharisees bring a woman caught in the act of adultery to Jesus.  They bring her to Him in order to test Him and in order to catch Him once again in the act  of proclaiming forgiveness.  In the end their plans are frustrated and Jesus is still able to say, "Woman, where are they?  Has no one condemned you? . . . Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more."   Jesus became an outcast because He proclaimed that through Him we could have the forgiveness of sins.  In making that proclamation He wiped  all chances of fitting in with the self-righteous religious leaders of the day, but He advanced the mission He was sent to accomplish and provided great hope for the sinners both then and today.

In the next narrative, Mark 2:13-17, Mark articulates the second sub-point, that the offense grew as a result of unmerited fellowship.  Verse 13 tells us that Jesus went out again, a crowd gathered, and "He was teaching them" (Jesus' primary ministry).  Verse 14 says that as he passed by He called a tax collector named Levi to follow Him.  Once again, another shocking and unexpected act of Christ.  To say that tax collectors were disliked by the Jews would be a gross understatement.  The Jews hated tax collectors and considered them, "both morally contemptuous and ritually unclean."  In calling a tax collector to follow Him Jesus was showing that He was not only willing to come into contact with unclean diseases like leprosy, but that He was willing to fellowship with unclean people too.  This call would have offended and angered the scribes and the Pharisees.  The scribes and Pharisees worked diligently to observe the law in order to merit favor with God and to demonstrate their righteousness.  Levi had done nothing to merit this kind of favor.  There wasn't anything remotely righteous about Him.  Then, as though the call to Levi was not bad enough, Mark says in his account that Jesus reclined at a table and shared a meal with many tax collectors and sinners.  Jesus continued to offend and put Himself at odds with the religious leaders in demonstrating a willingness to fellowship with those who were considered to be among the most unrighteous in society.  Jesus continued to make Himself an outcast from the spiritual elite as He demonstrated not only in His proclamations, but also in His fellowship with sinners, that He was focused on forgiveness rather than fitting in.  In associating with and spending time with individuals like these Jesus' demonstrated that His mission was not to teach the righteous, it was to reach sinners.  And the only way for Jesus to do that was to engage them and to fellowship with them.  When the scribes, angered by what they saw, asked Jesus' disciples why He was eating with tax collectors and sinners, Jesus, Himself, responded to their question.  "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  I came not to call the righteous, but sinners."  Jesus could not call sinners to salvation if He did not engage them.  In spending time with and fellowshipping with sinners Jesus communicated that His mission was one of forgiveness and reconciliation, not of fitting in and making a great name for Himself.  Luke gives an account in chapter 19 of his gospel of Jesus' interaction with another tax collector named Zacchaeus.  In Luke's narrative Jesus again shows not only a willingness but a desire to fellowship with tax collectors and sinners.  And once again Jesus' fellowship with someone who's life and deeds had not merited that kind of favor caused the people to grumble and complain, "And when they saw it, they all grumbled, 'He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner'" (Luke 19:7).  Rather than striving to fit in with the religious leaders of the day Jesus showed that He would grant fellowship to even the worst of sinners without any prerequisites.  And this, in addition to His proclamation of forgiveness, caused the offense of the scribes and Pharisees to grow all the more.

Can you grasp the significance of what Jesus has done in these passages of Scripture?  Everything was falling in place for Jesus to make a name for Himself.  Everything was coming together for Jesus to have status, influence, and prestige among the religious leaders of the day.  Recognition, fame, and power was there for the taking.  And instead Jesus chose to be an outcast!  He chose the rejection of the religious elite by proclaiming to be the One who could forgive sin and by fellowshipping with those who had done nothing to merit any favor or demonstrate any righteousness.  Why?  Because Jesus knew the mission His Father had sent Him on and the glory of His Father was far more important to Him than His own personal fame. Jesus also knew the need of humanity and chose to offer hope by demonstrating compassion and love rather than leaving us hopeless.  This is reason for us to celebrate!  Had Jesus chose to simply make a name for Himself among the religious leaders of His day, had He chosen to proclaim a message of strict observance to the Law as a means of obtaining righteousness, and had He refused to fellowship with sinners and required that people meet certain standards of righteousness before He would extend His hand in fellowship we would be without any hope today.  We could not know the realities of forgiveness.  We could not know unconditional love and fellowship.  And though the world would have one more religious leader, humanity would still be without a Savior.  But, at great cost, Jesus offered more.  He became an outcast for the Father's sake and for ours.  

Questions for Small Group Discussion

1. Read Mark 2:1-12.  What are some examples of places or scenarios where people like to fit in?  Are there ever times when there is pressure or temptation to try to fit in at church?  What are they?  Is that healthy?

2. Read Mark 2:13-17.  Jesus, on occasion, actively sought out tax collectors and sinners as a part of His mission so that He might engage them and share with them His love and His message.  What does the company we keep say about the mission that we are on?  

3. In the eyes of our church, who are the modern day tax collectors and sinners with whom we ought not to associate?  In the eyes of our church, where are the places that we ought not to go?  Are the lines we have drawn biblical?  If not, what led us to draw the lines in those places?  And what do we need to do to make any necessary changes?

4. What step of faith does this passage of scripture require us to take as individuals and as a small group?  How do we work this out on mission?