Tax collectors, prostitutes, thieves, and murders..oh, my

Mark 2:13-17 (ESV) He went out again beside the sea, and all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them.  And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Aphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, "Follow Me."  And he rose and followed him.  And as he reclined at the table at his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples,, for there were many who followed him.  And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, "Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?"  And when jesus heard it, he said tot hem, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  I came not to call the righteous, but sinners"

Why was it such a scandal for Jesus to call a tax collector to follow Him and then have dinner at his house?  Well, the Jews of the day accused tax collectors of selling out to the Romans.  The tax collectors were seen as thieves, dishonest, and a traitorous group of people.  Jesus also sat at the same table as sinners.  He reclined and ate with thieves, murders, and prostitutes.  Why would Jesus eat with such scandalous people?

Jesus' answer is profound.  He didn't come for the people who have it all together!  If anyone was worthy of religious attention it was the pious Pharisees but it was the "sinners" Jesus was spending all His time with.  Here's some truth; Jesus didn't start His church with the pious religious, no, He started his church with sellouts, thieves, murders, prostitutes, and all manner of rejects.

He filled His Church full of people who wore some of the most scandalous people of society.  If you have never worn one of these labels mentioned I'm sure you have had other scandalous labels placed on you and if you don't believe you've ever had a label you may just be wearing the label of Pharisee. We all have labels.

Here's the good news though, here's the gospel.  When Jesus died and He paid the price of death for us He ripped those labels from our lives and replaced them.  We no longer have to carry the labels of society like addict, thief, liar, prostitute, loser, deadbeat, or any number of labels.  Jesus replaces those labels with loved, forgiven, accepted, cherished, and Mine.  Every follower of Christ gets these new labels.  We get these new labels no matter who we are or what we've done, yes, even us Pharisees who don't like those scandalous people in our churches.

Let's remember through communion and all during this week through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, our Lord, our King, and our God, we no longer labeled by this world but labeled by His great mercy and grace!