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Jesus is Alive · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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Speaker 1: Imagine the most despised person in your community. The one
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Speaker 1: everyone has written off. The one no respectable person would
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Speaker 1: be caught with. Now imagine Jesus walking straight up to
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Speaker 1: that person and saying, follow me. Today on Insight for Living,
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Speaker 1: Chuck Swindoll opens Mark chapter 2 to a scene that
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Speaker 1: scandalized the religious crowd. It's a shocking encounter that reveals
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Speaker 1: the heart of God for broken people. But there's an
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Speaker 1: enemy lurking in this story, one that still steals joy
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Speaker 1: and freedom from believers today. Chuck titled today's message, Look
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Speaker 1: Who Jesus Hung Out With.
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Speaker 2: It was A.W.
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Speaker 3: Tozer, I believe, who wrote, We think of ourselves as
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Speaker 3: inhabiting some parenthetic interval between the God who was and
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Speaker 3: the God who will be. But in this ever-present now,
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Speaker 3: We are lonely with that ancient and cosmic loneliness. The
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Speaker 3: one who is lonely in this ancient now or this
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Speaker 3: ancient plague of loneliness is the one who has missed
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Speaker 3: the transcendence of God. That's part of the reason we
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Speaker 3: love the scriptures as we do. They link us to
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Speaker 3: the great lives of those that have passed as well
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Speaker 3: as to those whose lives have We're not so great,
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Speaker 3: but the record stands. And whatever is written in earlier
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Speaker 3: times is written for our learning that we, through patience
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Speaker 3: and comfort from the scriptures, might have hope. And we
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Speaker 3: find that in the second chapter of the gospel by Mark,
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Speaker 3: to which I'd.
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Speaker 2: Have you turn now.
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Speaker 3: And locate, if you will, verse 13.
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Speaker 2: We come here to one of those little vignettes.
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Speaker 3: Where you're able to sort of see a street scene
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Speaker 3: where Jesus plays an unusual role as.
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Speaker 2: He faces the legalists of his day.
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Speaker 3: Mark 2, beginning at verse 13.
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Speaker 2: 2.13 of Mark.
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Speaker 3: And he went out again by the seashore, and all
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Speaker 3: the people were coming to him. And he was teaching them.
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Speaker 3: As they passed by, he saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus,
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Speaker 3: sitting in the tax booth.
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Speaker 2: And he said to him, follow me. And he got
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Speaker 2: up and followed him.
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Speaker 3: And it happened that he was reclining at the table
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Speaker 3: in his house. And many tax collectors and sinners were
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Speaker 3: dining with Jesus and his disciples. for there were many
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Speaker 3: of them, and they were following him. When the scribes
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Speaker 3: of the Pharisees saw that he was eating with the
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Speaker 3: sinners and tax collectors, they said to his disciples, Why
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Speaker 3: is he eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners?
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Speaker 3: And hearing this, Jesus said to them, It is not
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Speaker 3: those who are healthy who need a physician, but those
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Speaker 3: who were sick. I did not come to call the righteous,
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Speaker 3: but sinners.
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Speaker 4: You're listening to Insight for Living.
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Speaker 1: To dig deeper into the gospel according to Mark, be
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Speaker 1: sure to purchase a copy of our Searching the Scriptures
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Speaker 1: Bible Study Workbooks by going to insight.org slash offer. Chuck
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Speaker 1: titled today's message, Look Who Jesus Hung Out With.
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Speaker 3: Make no mistake about it, legalism is an enemy. Legalism
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Speaker 3: isn't a well-meaning but misguided friend, but rather an aggressive
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Speaker 3: opponent to the life of joy and faith and liberty
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Speaker 3: in Christ. Legalism is a thief stealing from us our
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Speaker 3: liberty and robbing us of spontaneous joy. Legalism is a bully,
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Speaker 3: intimidating all of those who don't know how to defend
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Speaker 3: themselves from it. It is a grim-faced, guilt-giving, self-appointed judge
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Speaker 3: who indicts and pronounces shame and condemnation on all of
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Speaker 3: those who refuse to obey its ridiculous lists of unbiblical
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Speaker 3: rules and regulations. Other than that, I have no opinion
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Speaker 3: regarding legalism. Legalism cannot tolerate those who are enjoying life.
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Speaker 2: H.L.
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Speaker 3: Mencken, surely with a tongue in cheek, wrote this about
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Speaker 3: a Puritan. He says a Puritan is someone who lives
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Speaker 3: with constant fear that someone somewhere might be happy. And
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Speaker 3: I would build on that statement and borrow from it,
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Speaker 3: saying a legalist is someone who lives in a constant
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Speaker 3: search for anyone, anywhere, who longs to be free. And
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Speaker 3: there are some of you in this gathering today, and
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Speaker 3: you may or may not realize it, but you are
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Speaker 3: a part of the problem of helping people find freedom
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Speaker 3: in Christ. It's nothing new. You've been around a long time.
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Speaker 3: Back in 1963, Dr. S. Lewis Johnson, at that time
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Speaker 3: the chair of the New Testament Department at Dallas Seminary,
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Speaker 3: wrote an article that appeared in Bibliotheca Sacra, the seminary's
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Speaker 3: theological journal. And in that piece, which he entitled The
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Speaker 3: Paralysis of Legalism, Lewis Johnson wrote, One of the most
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Speaker 3: serious problems facing the Orthodox Christian Church today is the
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Speaker 3: problem of legalism. One of the most serious problems facing
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Speaker 3: the church in Paul's day was the problem of legalism.
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Speaker 2: In every day, it is the same.
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Speaker 3: Now listen closely. Legalism wrenches the joy of the Lord
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Speaker 3: from the Christian believer, and with the joy of the
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Speaker 3: Lord goes his power for vital worship and vibrant service.
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Speaker 3: Nothing is left but cramped churches. somber, dull, and listless profession.
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Speaker 3: The truth is betrayed, and the glorious name of the
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Speaker 3: Lord becomes a synonym for a gloomy killjoy. The Christian
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Speaker 3: under law is a miserable parody of the real thing.
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Speaker 4: Dr.
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Speaker 2: Johnson is right. He is right.
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Speaker 3: Now something this pervasive and something this long lasting that
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Speaker 3: goes all the way back beyond the first century A.D.,
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Speaker 3: still with us in the 21st century, something this ever
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Speaker 3: present needs to be defined. Because some of you hear
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Speaker 3: the word, but you'd be hard pressed to put a
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Speaker 3: definition on it.
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Speaker 2: So I'd like to do that for you.
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Speaker 3: And I'll give you sort of a practical overview with
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Speaker 3: these words.
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Speaker 2: What is a legalist? What is legalism? It is an
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Speaker 2: attitude of authoritarianism.
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Speaker 3: It is a desire to control other people by enforcing
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Speaker 3: an exhaustive list of do's and don'ts that leads to
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Speaker 3: the external behavior considered acceptable by the circle of legalists.
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Speaker 3: In practical terms, more so than that, it's playing king
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Speaker 3: of the mountain in other people's lives. Legalists cling to
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Speaker 3: the law at the expense of grace. Legalism emphasizes the
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Speaker 3: letter to the exclusion of the spirit. Legalism uses manipulation
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Speaker 3: to create blind obedience. Legalism promotes external appearances that seem
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Speaker 3: to be spiritual in nature, but at the core, they
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Speaker 3: represent pride.
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Speaker 2: And self-service.
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Speaker 3: Then I ask you, why on earth would such a
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Speaker 3: thing flourish? How does legalism gain a foothold in so
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Speaker 3: many lives?
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Speaker 2: Why is it ever present? There are several reasons, and
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Speaker 2: I'll be brief here.
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Speaker 3: One would be the fear and intimidation of those who
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Speaker 3: are in authority. You fall in line because you are
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Speaker 3: afraid of the one who is giving you the rules
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Speaker 3: and regulations on how to live your life, what to
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Speaker 3: do and what not to do, what to wear and
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Speaker 3: what not to wear, what to drink and what not
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Speaker 3: to drink, what to eat and what not to eat,
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Speaker 3: where to go for a restaurant and evening together with
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Speaker 3: others and where not to go, how you should respond
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Speaker 3: in certain situations, how you should appear before the eyes
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Speaker 3: of the ever-watching public. Fear of those people who give
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Speaker 3: the rules gives legalism wings to fly. Another would be
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Speaker 3: the desire to be accepted, which is a greater determination
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Speaker 3: than the desire to honor Christ.
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Speaker 2: It stems from insecurity.
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Speaker 3: Legalists feed on insecure, untaught believers, which brings up another
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Speaker 3: reason it flourishes, ignorance of the scriptures. The better a
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Speaker 3: person gets to know the word of God, by that
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Speaker 3: I mean not only the word itself, but the spirit
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Speaker 3: of the word and understanding of the truths of the scriptures,
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Speaker 3: the less and less they are inclined to bow to
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Speaker 3: the legalists. But the less you know the more deeply
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Speaker 3: entrenched a legalist can become in your life. I would
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Speaker 3: add to the hesitation to confront the manipulators and to
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Speaker 3: fight for one's freedom, which causes me to love Christ.
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Speaker 4: All the more.
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Speaker 3: He refused to let the longstanding traditionalists and legalists have
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Speaker 3: their way in his life. Nothing is wrong with tradition.
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Speaker 3: Understand that. Paul tells Timothy to embrace the traditions of
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Speaker 3: the faith. There's something terribly wrong with traditionalism. Yaroslav Pelikan
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Speaker 3: of Yale University put it very well when he said,
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Speaker 3: Tradition is the living faith of those now dead. Traditionalism
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Speaker 3: is the dead faith of those now living. Isn't that good?
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Speaker 3: Tradition is the living faith of those now dead. Traditionalism
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Speaker 3: is the dead faith of those still living. And legalists
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Speaker 3: live in the realm of dead faith. They don't say so,
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Speaker 3: but it's true. That's why Jesus said to them, you
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Speaker 3: are hypocrites, you are whitewashed sepulchers.
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Speaker 2: What does that mean? You look like you're alive, but
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Speaker 2: you've got both feet in the grave, spiritually speaking.
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Speaker 3: And if you have ever been intimidated by a legalist,
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Speaker 3: you do not forget that encounter. And let me tell you,
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Speaker 3: if you want to confront a legalist, you're in for
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Speaker 3: a fight. They not only fight fiercely, they don't fight fairly.
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Speaker 3: Because they're going to have their way. Now, with Jesus,
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Speaker 3: of course.
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Speaker 2: It led to a very interesting situation.
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Speaker 3: At first they didn't like him and so they questioned
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Speaker 3: him and that turned to disagreeing with him and criticizing
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Speaker 3: him and that ultimately led to full-on resentment, finally.
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Speaker 2: Murderous thought and ultimately a cross.
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Speaker 3: They weren't satisfied until they nailed this one to the
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Speaker 3: cross for standing against their traditionalism. How did Jesus encounter
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Speaker 3: these bullies? Well, he took them on straight ahead. He
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Speaker 3: didn't back away. He presented a grace-oriented message. He refused
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Speaker 3: to be manipulated by those who frowned and criticized. And
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Speaker 3: he stood his ground and trained a body of men
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Speaker 3: around him to do the same.
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Speaker 2: They ran scared of them, but not Jesus. Now, when
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Speaker 2: we get to.
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Speaker 3: Mark chapter 2, 13 to 17, we come to a
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Speaker 3: great place where Jesus shakes up the neighborhood. All the
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Speaker 3: people around the neighborhood of this area of Capernaum have
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Speaker 3: been listening to legalists and paying attention to those who
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Speaker 3: would stare at them and tell them how to live
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Speaker 3: their lives. They not only took the law of God,
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Speaker 3: which they really did not fulfill, and they added to
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Speaker 3: those Ten Commandments 650 and more of their own rules
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Speaker 3: and regulations. And they would make you laugh when you
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Speaker 3: see and when you read how extreme they are. So
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Speaker 3: he's engaged in getting his ministry underway in chapter 2,
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Speaker 3: verse 13. He went out again, verse 13, by the
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Speaker 3: seashore and all the people were coming to him and
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Speaker 3: he was teaching them.
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Speaker 2: Invariably, you find Jesus teaching people.
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Speaker 3: He's cultivating the ability of his followers to think. When
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Speaker 3: you follow legalists, you don't have to think. You have
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Speaker 3: to simply learn the rules and obey them. But when
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Speaker 3: you follow Jesus, you must make up your mind on occasion.
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Speaker 3: many occasions. You must determine on your own how you
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Speaker 3: handle this. He gives you precepts, he gives you principles,
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Speaker 3: and then you take them and you apply them as
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Speaker 3: a mature believer. And because you answer to the living God,
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Speaker 3: you must think through what your position is on these things.
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Speaker 2: And so he's teaching them to do that.
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Speaker 3: And verse 14 shocks us, at least it would in
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Speaker 3: the first century because of what we read. As he
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Speaker 3: passed by, he saw Levi and The son of Alphaeus
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Speaker 3: sitting in the tax booth. And he said to him,
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Speaker 3: follow me. And he got up and followed him. Now,
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Speaker 3: you read that 21st century Gentile that you are and
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Speaker 3: you yawn.
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Speaker 2: Big deal.
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Speaker 3: Another man follows him. Peter followed him. Andrew followed him.
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Speaker 3: James followed him. John followed him. Levi followed him. Wait, wait, wait.
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Speaker 2: Hold it.
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Speaker 3: You've already missed something in the verse. It says that
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Speaker 3: he was in a tax booth.
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Speaker 4: Okay?
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Speaker 3: Jesus is choosing a body of men to be his followers,
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Speaker 3: his learners, his disciples. That's what disciple means, learners. And
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Speaker 3: he's selecting those that he wanted to travel closely with him.
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Speaker 2: And he has.
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Speaker 3: He's surprised the... the Pharisees at every turn. He chooses
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Speaker 3: Galileans instead of Judeans. For the most part, untaught, non-professional individuals, virtually.
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Speaker 2: Unknown, hardworking men.
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Speaker 3: The only one that wasn't from Galilee and certainly would
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Speaker 3: have been more respected than the others was a man
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Speaker 3: named Judas. But that's another story if we were to
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Speaker 3: get into him. So he comes to a hated tax collector.
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Speaker 3: In case that doesn't ring a bell, let's make it
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Speaker 3: a little more relevant. He called someone who worked for
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Speaker 3: the IRS to be a.
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Speaker 2: Follower of his. Okay?
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Speaker 4: It's okay to laugh. It's okay.
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Speaker 3: Now I met an IRS guy just before the service started,
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Speaker 3: so it's okay for him to laugh.
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Speaker 2: Not all of them are Well, I'll let you finish
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Speaker 2: the sentence.
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Speaker 3: But Matthew was one of those. Not the kind of
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Speaker 3: guy you'd want to hang around with. In fact, I
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Speaker 3: need to inform you of tax collectors in the first century.
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Speaker 3: James Edwards, in a fine book on the gospel according
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Speaker 3: to Mark, writes this. Tax collectors were despised and hated.
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Speaker 3: Anyone who is familiar with moles and informants in Nazi
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Speaker 3: and communist regimes knew will have an appreciation for the
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Speaker 3: loathing that first century Jews felt for the tax collectors.
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Speaker 3: The Mishnah and the Talmud register scathing judgments of tax collectors,
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Speaker 3: lumping them together with thieves and murderers.
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Speaker 2: A Jew who.
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Speaker 3: Collected taxes was disqualified as a judge or a witness
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Speaker 3: in a court, expelled from the synagogue, and a cause
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Speaker 3: of disgrace to his family I'm not through. The touch
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Speaker 3: of a tax collector rendered a house unclean.
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Speaker 2: Jews were forbidden to.
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Speaker 3: Receive money and even alms from the tax collectors since
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Speaker 3: revenue from taxes was deemed robbery. Jewish contempt of tax
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Speaker 3: collectors is epitomized in the ruling that Jews could lie
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Speaker 3: to tax collectors with impunity. Tax collectors were tangible reminders
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Speaker 3: of Roman domination, detested alike for its injustice and Gentile uncleanness.
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Speaker 3: Taxation and the system of taxation was considered by the
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Speaker 3: Jew an act of treason.
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Speaker 2: I'm not through.
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Speaker 3: Kent Hughes, in his fine work on Mark, writes this.
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Speaker 3: The system consisted of two.
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Speaker 2: Categories of taxes. First, There were stated taxes. There was
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Speaker 2: a poll tax which all.
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Speaker 3: Men ages 14 to 65 and women 12 to 65
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Speaker 3: had to pay simply for the reason of being alive.
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Speaker 3: There was a ground tax, which required one-tenth of all
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Speaker 3: grain you grew, one-fifth of all wine you owned, and
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Speaker 3: one-fifth of all oil you produced. In some places, the
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Speaker 3: Romans also exacted a tax on.
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Speaker 2: Fish that you caught.
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Speaker 3: Very possibly, this was done in Capernaum, where the fishing
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Speaker 3: industry was so vital. Finally, there was an income tax,
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Speaker 3: which was 1% of everyone's annual income.
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Speaker 2: We're not through. In the stated taxes, there.
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Speaker 3: Was not much room for extortion, but in the second
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Speaker 3: area of taxes, duties, there was ample opportunity for abuse.
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Speaker 3: The people paid separate taxes for using roads and docking.
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Speaker 2: In harbors.
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Speaker 3: There was a sales tax on certain items as well
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Speaker 3: as import and export duties.
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Speaker 2: A tax was even paid on a cart.
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Speaker 3: In fact, each wheel was taxed. The system fostered exploitation
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Speaker 3: by the arbitrary power of the tax gatherers. They could
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Speaker 3: stop anyone on the road, make him or her unpack
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Speaker 3: their bundles, and charge just about anything they wanted if
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Speaker 3: the person could not pay. The tax collectors sometimes would
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Speaker 3: offer to loan them money at an exorbitant rate, thus
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Speaker 3: pulling the people further into their greedy hands. They were
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Speaker 3: trained extortionists. Quite naturally, they attracted a criminal element of
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Speaker 3: thugs and criminals and enforcers, the scum of society. So
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Speaker 3: rare was honesty in the profession that a Roman writer
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Speaker 3: said he once saw a monument to an honest tax collector.
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Speaker 3: These are despised, despicable, scum of the earth people. And
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Speaker 3: Jesus walks into the tax booth and says to Matthew,
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Speaker 3: follow me. And to make matters even more amazing.
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Speaker 2: He closed up his shop. He closed up his books.
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Speaker 3: He wrote off all of the stuff he'd been doing.
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Speaker 3: And he followed Jesus.
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Speaker 2: We read it right here. He got up and Levi
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Speaker 2: followed him.
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Speaker 3: By the way, another name for Levi is Matthew. In
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Speaker 3: case you wonder if he had his life changed, the
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Speaker 3: first of the four gospels bears his name. In following Jesus,
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Speaker 3: his life is transformed.
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Speaker 2: Now, it isn't over.
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Speaker 3: We see that Society has written off a man like this.
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Speaker 3: We certainly can be sure the Pharisees and scribes, who
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Speaker 3: were the most conservative among the Jews, despised those people
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Speaker 3: and certainly by now are puzzled that Jesus would have
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Speaker 3: one of these men as a part of his band
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Speaker 3: of brothers following him. There wasn't a legalist on the
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Speaker 3: planet who would have ever given Matthew the time of day.
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Speaker 3: And on this day, Jesus stoops over, steps into the
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Speaker 3: tax booth and invites Matthew to follow him. Well, believe me,
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Speaker 3: the word traveled not only to the enemies, but to
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Speaker 3: his friends.
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Speaker 2: Turn to Luke chapter five. Would you do that? Come
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Speaker 2: along with me. Luke chapter 5.
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Speaker 3: I want you to see a scene that Luke paints
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Speaker 3: a little more vividly than.
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Speaker 2: Mark does. I've come to Luke 5, 27. Here we go.
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Speaker 2: Watch closely.
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Speaker 3: And Levi gave a big reception for him in his house. Now,
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Speaker 3: don't go any further. Levi thinks, wow, he's invited me
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Speaker 3: to follow him, and certainly he's worth following. Goodness knows
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Speaker 3: what I've been doing is going nowhere, and I can't
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Speaker 3: live with myself any longer. I'm going to be a
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Speaker 3: follower of his. I'm going to invite my friends to
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Speaker 3: my home, and I'm going to have all of them
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Speaker 3: Meet him just as I have.
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Speaker 2: We'll keep reading. Okay, here we are.
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Speaker 3: Gave a big reception for him in his house and
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Speaker 3: there was a great crowd of tax collectors. So now
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Speaker 3: they've multiplied. They've metastasized.
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Speaker 2: We got more of them on the scene.
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Speaker 3: So here they are sitting down with one another and
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Speaker 3: they're reclining at the table.
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Speaker 2: With each other. And Mark tells us there were sinners
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Speaker 2: among them.
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Speaker 3: There were other people that were off the street. Folks
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Speaker 3: you wouldn't find in the synagogue. There were street walkers.
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Speaker 3: There were extortionists. There were pickpockets. Now back to Mark 2.
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Speaker 3: This gets so good. I love scenes like this.
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Speaker 2: Verse 15.
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Speaker 3: It happened that he was reclining at the table in
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Speaker 3: his house. Many tax collectors and sinners were dining with
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Speaker 3: Jesus and his disciples.
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Speaker 2: For there were many of them. Don't stop reading. And
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Speaker 2: they were following him. They were following him.
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Speaker 3: They, tax collectors and sinners, were following Jesus.
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Speaker 4: They were following him.
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Speaker 1: Tax collectors, sinners, the very people polite society had thrown away.
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Speaker 4: Isn't that the wonder of it? Jesus didn't wait for
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Speaker 4: them to clean themselves up. He welcomed them just as
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Speaker 4: they were because he saw what they could become. Maybe
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Speaker 4: you felt written off, too far gone, too messed up
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Speaker 4: to belong. Well, Chuck Swindoll wants you to hear this
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Speaker 4: bold and simple truth. There's a place at his table
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Speaker 4: for you right now, just as you are. This is
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Speaker 4: Insight for Living. Chuck titled his message, Look Who Jesus
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Speaker 4: Hung Out With. As you're out and about these days,
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Speaker 4: I'm sure you've noticed the holiday decorations appearing in public spaces.
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Speaker 4: not only for Thanksgiving, but Christmas too. Well, to help
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Speaker 4: you keep your family spiritually grounded during the Advent season,
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Speaker 4: we'd like to send you a devotional book that's published
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Speaker 4: exclusively by Insight for Living. Everlasting Light is a 25-day
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Speaker 4: Advent devotional that invites you to step out of your
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Speaker 4: busy schedule and into a prayerful rhythm of waiting, reflection,
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Speaker 4: and preparation. This includes scripture to anchor your heart, a
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Speaker 4: quote from Chuck Swindoll to shape your thinking, and pastoral
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Speaker 4: reflections from our own Carlos Sesueta to carry into your day.
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Speaker 4: This hardcover devotional is ready today, so you'll receive it
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Speaker 4: in plenty of time for Advent. Ask for the book
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Speaker 4: called Everlasting Light when you include a contribution to support
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Speaker 4: the ministry of Insight for Living. Just go to insight.org
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Speaker 4: slash donate.
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Speaker 1: We want you to receive and bask in God's gift
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Speaker 1: of everlasting light. And it's also a gift to give away.
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Speaker 1: In that spirit, we invite you to partner with Insight
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Speaker 1: for Living to shine God's everlasting light in your community,
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Speaker 1: across this nation, and even across the world. You can
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Speaker 1: give a contribution right now by going to insight.org slash
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Speaker 1: donate or call us at 800-772-8888. When you give, remember
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Speaker 1: to request the 25-day Advent devotional called Everlasting Light.
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Speaker 2: I'm Bill Meyer.
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Speaker 1: Chuck Swindoll offers four liberating guidelines for standing up to
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Speaker 1: the legalists in our lives.
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Speaker 4: Thursday on Insight for Living.
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Speaker 1: The preceding message, Look Who Jesus Hung Out With, was
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Speaker 1: copyrighted in 2010 and 2026, and the sound recording was
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Speaker 1: copyrighted in 2026.
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Speaker 4: By Charles R.
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Speaker 1: Swindoll, Incorporated. All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted
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Speaker 1: material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.