“But when the teachers of religious law who were Pharisees saw Him eating with tax collectors and other sinners, they asked His disciples, “Why does He eat with such scum?” (Mark 2:16 NLT)
To set this text up, we remember how Jesus was walking by Levi’s tax booth when He called out to the publican “Follow Me and be My disciple.” Much to Levi’s credit, he got up and followed, seemingly without hesitation. (V. 14) Most of us fail miserably at that level of obedience: immediate and complete.
The scene changes and Levi is hosting a dinner party for tax collectors and disreputable sinners. (v. 15) It’s notable how Levi instriniscally understood that a life with Jesus is invitational, not hermitive. Jesus and His disciples were additionally in attendance, and the Pharisees stumble upon the scene and express contempt for the company Jesus was keeping.
These teachers of the Law had lost sight of foundational faith doctrine: man was created in the image of God. (Genesis 1:27) I appreciate the NLT’s replacement of the KJV “publicans and sinners.” The use of the word “scum” is an attempt to cross the cultural gap in our understanding. To be a tax collector in Jesus’ time was to be a traitor to ones own people. Levi and his colleagues were the worst kind of sinner in the eyes of their community; lower then drunkards, gamblers and prostitutes, for sure. And the Pharisees felt this. Their tone was everything in this interaction: they were passing judgement on their fellow man and forgetting that tax collectors were still fellow image bearers.
Jesus’ response in this moment is epic and corrective to both His original audience and the modern reader.
“When Jesus heard this, He told them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor – sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.” (Mark 2:17 NLT)
Jesus convicts us: sinners are sick image bearers, not scum. Sinners are men and women affected and battered by their choices but they are still valuable souls and should be treated as such.
Sin doesn’t make us scum. Sin makes us sick.
Sin is precisely why Jesus came to seek and save the sick – the folks who have drug off the path by sin and are laying in the ditch believing there is no way to get back up and right with God.
When someone has a chronic sin condition (haven’t we all been there?) their infirmity is terminal apart from Jesus. If we can maintain perspective of that person’s original created intent – to be an image bearer – we feel the urgency to get the to the infirmary of God’s presence. Jesus alone is equipped to address their critical condition.
Calling sinners scum is an agreement with the agenda of the enemy and an interference with our sense of urgency in getting the sinner in front of Jesus. Truly, even a sociopath’s sin is no less terminal than our own. The wages of sin is death, (Romans 6:23) whether it is a little sin or a lot of sin, it’s all going to kill us just the same.
We partner with the heart of God when we see the sinner as sick and we do our part to rush them to the hospital that contains the cure: the shed blood of Jesus Christ.
Lord, please forgive us for all the times we have acted as Pharisees and called sick people scum. Forgive us for devaluing what You have created in Your image. Help us see sin as the affliction it is. Create compassion in our heart for the sinner, even when it is blatant and repeated. Remind us that the sinner is unwell and You are the cure. Helps way in empathy and mercy as they make their way toward You. Amen.