Feasting With The King

Who you eat with says a lot about you. You all remember high school, right? Each table in the cafeteria had a different crowd of kids. All the kids that gathered at tables together had certain things that they connected on. Sports fanatics connected about their teams or pro athletes, the show choir crowd connected about their upcoming trip or last night’s episode of The Voice, gamers talked about whatever gamers talk about, and the homeschoolers weren’t there.

Who you eat with says a lot about you.

Jesus Ate With Tax Collectors And Sinners
In Mark 2, the religious people of the day (Pharisees) were getting all bent out of shape that Jesus was eating with tax collectors. Tax collectors worked for the Roman Empire. It was actually forbidden in Jewish law for a Jew to be a tax collector. Because not only were these guys working for the evil Roman Empire, they were also collecting more money than they were supposed to. They’d raise the price as much as they wanted so that they could keep some for themselves; basically they’re thieves. They were viewed as the worst members of the community. They actually thought that repentance was impossible for them. They’d never change, they’ve given themselves to Satan. So they were seen as the worst members of society. BUT, in Mark 2 :15, it says, “While [Jesus] was reclining at the table in Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who were following him.” The “sinners” here are probably prostitutes, because the only people that were allowed to hang out with tax collectors were other tax collectors and prostitutes. Those would have been the only kind of people that Levi was friends with, since he was a tax collector himself.

I love this so much! When you become a disciple of Jesus, you’re signing up to be around a diverse, messy, strange gathering of people. The disciples followed Jesus into this house; he’s the one who led them there. And that’s where he’s leading us. Jesus doesn’t lead his people to other people who look, think, and have the same lives as them. He’s leads his people into diversity. Which means that he’s leading his people away from comfort, toward growth. Each of us is more comfortable hanging with people who are just like you; look like you, talk like you, like the same things you like, have the same social status. But that’s not the church that Jesus is building. He’s building a church that’s so diverse, that it includes people who used to hate each other. Jesus’ fishermen disciples would have hated Levi and his tax collector friends, but here they are, feasting together, joined by Jesus. When you become a disciple of Jesus, who you feast with changes.

Jesus Ate With His Disciples
In Mark 2:18, the Pharisees ask Jesus another question about who he’s eating with: “Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. People came and asked him, “Why do John’s disciples and the Pharisees’ disciples fast, but your disciples do not fast?” They’re wondering why Jesus is eating with his disciples, instead of fasting with them. It was tradition during this time for the Pharisees to fast twice a week; once on Monday and once on Thursdays. They wouldn’t eat or work, but would spend the day in prayer. So why isn’t Jesus following this man-made tradition? He told them: “The wedding guests cannot fast while the groom is with them, can they? As long as they have the groom with them, they cannot fast.” Why do you go to a wedding? To party! To celebrate! To feast! And Jesus is saying that it’s wedding time. He, the groom, is here! It’s time to eat and feast because the Savior of the world has come! But here are these Pharisees, determined NOT to eat with Jesus on Mondays and Thursdays, because they need to follow their man made rules.

Jesus Didn’t Eat With The Pharisees
They don’t eat together in this passage. They could have. They could have joined the party in Matthew’s house. They could have joined in eating with Jesus and his disciples instead of fasting. But they didn’t. Why not? What got in the way? Their identity. The Pharisees believed that they are what they do. They made a ton of laws and rules and traditions and made sure to follow them all perfectly, because they believed that God would accept them based on what they do. They believed that other people’s perception of them defined them as well. And they’d be breaking both of those things if they feasted with Jesus.

But here’s the thing, that isn’t actually where their identity comes from. God gives us our identity when he calls us sons and daughters, his children. And God wants to feast with his children. The Pharisees would always be standing outside the party, because they didn’t want to receive their identity from God; they wanted to earn it. Grace was offensive to them, because grace wasn’t earned.

Jesus came to invite you into a feast with him. If you try to work your way to the table, you’ll never get there. But if you follow Jesus and let Him give you your identity, you’ll be feasting with the King of the Universe forever.