Jesus, Friend of Sinners

The Call of Levi and the Scandal of Grace

You can turn your Bibles to Luke, chapter 5. We'll be examining verses 27 to 39 this morning. When you approach that text in Luke, chapter 5, verse 27, please do stand for the reading of God's word. Hear ye this morning the word of the Lord.

Luke, chapter 5, verse 27. And after this, he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax booth. He said to him, follow me. Leaving everything, he rose and followed him. And Levi made him a great feast in his house.

And there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at a table with them. The Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples saying, why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?

And Jesus answered them, those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. When he asked them, the disciples of John fast often and offer prayers.

And so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink. And Jesus said to them, can you make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them.

And then they will fast in those days. He also told them a parable. No one tears a piece of a new garment and puts it with an old garment. If he does, he will tear the new and the piece from the new will not match the old.

And no one puts new wine into old wineskin. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled and the skins will be destroyed. But the new wine must be put into fresh wineskin. And no one after drinking old wine desires new for he says, the old is good.

This is the word of God, you may be seated. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we do come before you. Kneeling at the foot of Jesus who is called friend of sinners. Lord, indeed we do come before you acknowledging that we are sinners.

That we have offended a holy and righteous God. We ask Lord that at this moment you'd enable us, empower us, give us grace from on high to acknowledge our sinful state and the grace and the friendship that you offer in Jesus Christ.

Lord, help us to see with eyes of faith and clarity that which you've laid before us in your word to the glory of the one true and triumphant God, Father, Son, and Spirit. In Jesus' name we do pray, amen.

The Gospel’s Scandalous Good News for Tax Collectors and Rebels

Friends, in this text we are confronted with scandalous good news. Did you know that the gospel of Jesus Christ is scandalous? Think about what that entails and what that means. If you think of a scandal that revolves around a church, you usually think of something that is pretty negative.

But I'm gonna tell you of a scandal that is good news for you and for me. That there is a holy and a righteous God who reigns above the heavens, who created the heavens and the earth and all that is in them.

He made you in His image. And while we were created in perfect Eden, in perfect harmony with our Creator, our father Adam sinned and rebelled against a holy and righteous God, Yahweh, Jehovah. And in that rebellion, God did not totally destroy mankind as He could have.

And He would have been perfectly just and righteous to do so. But instead, He said He would bring forth a seed that would bring salvation to all those who are now rebel sons and daughters of Adam. And that through this seed, He would bring and restore harmony again to the created order.

That seed was Jesus Christ. He came on the world scene, born of a virgin, lived a holy, perfect, righteous life. He had never sinned, never, not even once. Holy, spotless, perfect. And yet, this Jesus, as He goes out, meets a man by the name of Levi.

He says, He sits with this guy named Levi who is a tax collector of all people. And you know what He said to this tax collector, this holy and righteous God named Jesus? You know what He says to this filthy, disgusting tax collector?

He says, follow me. What scandal that the holy, righteous God of heaven would call a tax collector to be His disciple. Now, maybe you don't get it. Maybe you like the tax man. I personally don't like the tax man.

I don't like paying taxes, something that we have to do in this fallen world, especially here in the state of California. I think we're taxed a little bit too much. I'm not a fan of our politicians. And yet, in the context of the days of Jesus, the tax collector was liked even less, even less than they're liked today.

Why? Because often what would happen is that you'd have a tax collector in Israel, in Jerusalem, who was himself an Israelite, himself a Jew, forcing, coercing individuals to pay taxes, not for the temple, not for the home state, but instead collecting taxes for Rome.

The foreign power that was now ruling over God's people, Israel. This foreign power that was an oppressive boot to the neck of Jews living in the land in the times of Jesus. Not only were they taking their money, but tax collectors in these days were often viewed as crooks because they would often not only take taxes, but it would also skim some on the top for themselves.

So scandalous were tax collectors in this time that they weren't viewed as just doing a noble work or a nine-to-five job, but they were actually seen as traitors, traitors to God's covenant people, Israel.

If you're following along in the notes, I want you to write this. Jesus invites Levi, who was a tax collector, to follow him. And this was scandalous because tax collectors were seen as traitors. They were viewed as traitors against the Republic, against God's people, against Israel.

And the scandal is that Jesus would invite this traitor to be his disciple. Can you marvel at that for a moment? Can you just think about that for a moment? Think of the most traitorous person that you can think of in history besides Judas.

And Jesus is calling this particular one, this particular traitor, this particular tax collector named Levi to come and follow him. And verse 28 says this, and leaving everything, he rose and followed him.

The traitor, the tax collector, the one who was working for Rome, what did he do when he heard the beckoning call of Jesus to be his disciple, to follow him? He left everything behind to follow Jesus.

One of the things that we will marvel at in heaven are all the scandalous people that you're gonna meet there. There's a lot of scandalous people that you're gonna meet in heaven. I want you to know that.

A lot of unexpected people you're gonna meet when you get to heaven. Sinners, maybe sinners that you thought were worse even than you, that you'll meet in heaven. This is the scandalous nature of the gospel, friends.

That Jesus, the holy, righteous, set-apart God is in the business of saving sinners, amen? Amen, hallelujah. That this Jesus would save sinners even a tax collector named Levi, who then in turn left everything and rose and followed him.

Think about the implications here. This man, this individual who went and betrayed his people to work for Rome is now turning his back on Rome to follow the new King, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, even Jesus Christ, our Savior.

Jesus Welcomes the Rejects and Calls Sinners to Repentance

It says in verse 29, and look at what Levi does. It says, and Levi made him a great feast in his house. And there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them. And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples saying, why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?

Notice verse 29 again. And what does Levi do after accepting the call of being a disciple, of listening to Jesus' beckoning call? He organizes a great feast in his house for Jesus. And in this great feast, there's a large company of other tax collectors, other traders, and others reclining at the table with them.

You see, Levi welcomed Jesus with open arms. He welcomes Levi with a feast in contrast with how the religious leaders received the Lord. Jesus is often welcomed by those who the world and the religious establishment have rejected.

I want you to know this, beloved. Jesus is the God of the rejects. He's the God of the rejects. Have you ever felt like a reject in life? I certainly have in more than one time in the area of my life.

High school, total reject. In my religious community as a Jehovah's Witness, total reject. And in my family, even today, because they're mostly all still Jehovah's Witnesses, total reject. And Jesus is in the business of loving, pursuing, and saving such rejects.

If you've ever felt like a reject, know that you are in good company. You are in good company because Jesus loves and saves even the rejects. Let us be also a mind that we have like Jesus Christ, that we have the same mind that was also in Christ Jesus, that we too should not be so quick to reject those who are a little bit different than we are.

Not to be so quick to reject the rejects of the world, of society. It's so often that in our culture, when we look at someone who's a little bit different than we are, who looks different, who dresses differently, for us to think, well, that person clearly can't be a Christian.

That person clearly doesn't know Jesus. As if there was a perfect picture of what a Christian ought to look like. Friends, again, heaven will surprise us. In heaven, we don't know exactly how we will work things out in terms of our perfect estate.

We know that we will be resurrected with the body that we have now. Whether or not our tattoos that we've accumulated in life will join us is yet to be determined. But I promise you this, there'll be people in heaven who had tattoos, who had no tattoos.

People who had piercings, people who did not have piercings. Women who wore dresses and who wore pants. You're gonna have a whole host of people in heaven who probably looked a little bit different than you.

Who maybe walked a little bit different. Who maybe talked a little bit different. Because Jesus is in the business of saving those who are different. Those who are different. Just like here in this text of Scripture, when he calls Levi, a traitor, a tax collector, come follow me, and he leaves everything.

He gathers even a host of other sinners, of other tax collectors, and he joins them with Jesus at this table, in this great feast, and they accept this Jesus better than the other religious people in that time and in this story.

Because in verse 30, the Pharisees and their scribes were already caught doing grumbling. The religious establishment, those who read the Torah, those who dedicated themselves to the reading and teaching of God's Word, were the ones who totally missed the invitation.

You see, Jesus was inviting Levi to be a disciple, to be a follower, to be an adherent to the new kingdom of God that he was inaugurating in his life and ministry. The religious people who were studied, who were scholarly, who were looking for signs and wondering when this Messiah would come, were the ones who totally missed it.

Totally missed it. They were so consumed with the letter of the law that they forgot to see that the spirit of the law that the one who inspired Scripture Himself was walking in their midst. They were so focused on the details of how to observe certain regulations that they missed the visitation of the Lord God in their very own midst.

Tragic and scandalous that those who were most prepared, most studied, most righteous by the standards of the world were the ones who missed the invitation to come and follow Jesus. And instead, it was left to the sinners, to the tax collectors, to a man like Levi, to be called and to receive the discipleship and the kingdom message of the Gospel of Christ.

Therefore, it says again in verse 30, the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at His disciples saying, why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners? How dare Jesus walk and talk with tax collectors?

How dare Jesus invite and beckon tax collectors to be His disciples? How dare Jesus pursue the rejects? Beloved, we must be willing to go where Jesus went and love those whom Jesus loved. Jesus is again the God of the rejects.

Jesus goes to the forgotten, He goes to the neglected, He goes to the rejected, and He loves them and calls them to be His own. Will you today, dear reject, listen to the beckoning call of the Savior to come be my disciple?

Come and follow Jesus today, dear beloved. Even if you feel forgotten, even if you feel neglected, even if you feel rejected, Jesus is the one who offers true and lasting hope for your soul. Jesus sits in the company of sinners here in this tax, sitting in this banquet at Levi's house where this other large company of tax collectors and sinners reclining with Him, so much so that again the Pharisees, they grumble at Jesus saying, why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?

The Physician for the Sick and the Friend of Sinners

In verse 31, Jesus answered them. Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Again, the scandalous nature of the Gospel is in full display.

Who does Jesus come to call? Who does He decide to call into His most intimate circle among the disciples, among the 12, among the 70 that He initially calls? Not the scholarly, not the Pharisees, not the Sadducees, not the rabbis, but instead He comes and calls those who are most despised by the world.

Humble men. Men of even scandalous work such as tax collectors. Men of honest work like fishermen. Men who have low status and men who have no status. That's who Jesus calls to be His own. That's who Jesus calls to be among His most intimate circle.

And just like Jesus in the previous text of Scripture that we looked at last week, was able to make the leper clean and healed in the verses prior to this, so also can He sit in the midst of sinners to be their physician without joining them in their error or sins.

So beloved, although Jesus loves sinners, we know this, we see this, He's called a friend of sinners, but Jesus Christ was one who was without sin. Jesus, though He loved sinners, He did not join sinners in their evil works.

But instead, in His mingling with sinners, in His joining at the table with sinners, He Himself isn't infected by their sin, He isn't changed by their sin, He isn't corrupted by bad company, but instead, His power, His wisdom, His might is able to overcome even their defects, even their sins, and make them righteous.

Just like He was able to touch the leper and transfer His righteousness, His holiness, His cleanliness over to the leper, so too He sits with sinners and makes them righteous. He transfers His righteousness to those poor, desperate sinners.

Just like today, those who receive Jesus Christ by faith receive the righteousness of God in Him, not a righteousness of their own, not a righteousness that comes by their own works, but the righteousness that comes by knowing Jesus Christ.

His perfect righteousness is then attributed to us. Just at this table, Jesus Himself, though mingling with sinners, does not partake in sin, nor does He also become infected by their sin. Rather, He is that great physician who is able to make those who are sick clean.

Therefore, if you're following in the notes, the second part, if you didn't catch that already, the Pharisees critiqued Jesus for eating with tax collectors because they are sinners. The third part of the note, Jesus sits in the company of sinners because it is the sick who are in most need of a physician and friend.

You see, Jesus isn't just our perfect physician. He's also our perfect friend. Jesus doesn't just go as one who is a clinician to just diagnose the problem and give a dose of medicine to help with that problem.

He's also our dearest and closest friend, so much so that He can be called a friend of sinners. And Jesus, again, answers them, the critiques of the Pharisees, those who are well have no need of a physician.

That is to say, those who have it all together, those who think that they have a righteous, perfect standing before God, they're not the ones who are in need of a physician. It's those who, according to what He says in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter five, verse three, those who are poor in spirit, they are the blessed ones.

Another way that that verse can be translated in a more kind of a paraphrased way, but that brings up the meaning of that text in Matthew five, verse three, is blessed are those who know they are spiritually poor.

Blessed are those who know that they are spiritually destitute, for there is the kingdom of heaven. Jesus is saying to those who know they are spiritually poor. You see, what sets Levi apart from the Pharisees was that Levi knew he was a wretch.

Levi knew that he was a sinner. And it's in that, it's in that acknowledgement of us as broken, fallen human beings that Jesus is able, and He calls us, and He beckons us to be disciples, because Jesus is calling sinners.

But what is He calling them to? Is He merely calling sinners to come and don't be changed, or is He calling them to be changed? Friends, I would submit this to you. That Jesus came to call sinners to repentance.

Faith, Repentance, and the New Birth

Please write down the next part of the notes if you're following along. Jesus came to call sinners to repentance, affirming that Jesus will welcome us as we are. Praise God. I want you to know that this morning.

Jesus will welcome you as you are. Today, right now, right here. However you come to Him today, He will receive you. Whether you come to Him as a fornicator, an adulterer, a homosexual, God is calling you now here.

He's beckoning you. Come, be My disciple. He wants you. He's calling you. He loves you. But here's the promise, beloved. He will not leave you as He found you. But He will change you from the inside out.

He calls sinners. Why? So that He may be glorified in the transformation of sinners to saints. He is glorified when He changes the heart of a wicked, scandalous sinner and makes them new creations in Jesus Christ.

He is calling sinners to repentance, to be changed from the inside out. However you find yourself this morning, come to Christ. Come to Christ. He'll receive you. He'll welcome you with open arms. And as He embraces you, and as you embrace Him through faith, He will change you.

He'll give you a new heart, a new life, a new nature. And you will be, according to the Scriptures, born again, a new creation in Christ Jesus. He calls those who are sick, those who are sinners. Verse 32, Jesus says, I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

Faith and repentance are vital to Gospel salvation. There is salvation in no other name than in the name of Jesus Christ. And Jesus says clearly in Scripture and through the Apostles, that salvation is by faith through grace in Jesus Christ.

There was no mechanism outside of that by which we could earn our salvation. There's no amount of works that we can do to earn our salvation. As Pastor Collin alluded to earlier, there are so many in the world who think in order for them to be righteous, in order for them to come to church, in order for them to come to Christ, they have to figure it all out beforehand.

They have to clean themselves up. They need to figure things out and maneuver life in such a way that then they'll be acceptable to God. Friends, you will never be acceptable to God in your own works.

There's no amount of cleaning that you can do on the outside to change the stain of sin that's on the inside. We all must come to Him as we are, broken sinners, scandalous sinners. But when we come to Him, beloved, He will change us by His love.

You see, love changes us. Love changes the human experience. When you fall in love, for instance, it changes the way you view things. And friends, there is no greater love than this, that God in Christ died for you.

Jesus says there's no greater love than this, that a friend should lay down his life for his friends. That one should lay down his life for his friends. And that's what Jesus does, is He exemplifies perfect sacrificial love for us on that cross.

When He took upon Himself the penalty that was due to us, the penalty of our sins, He took upon Himself on that cross. And on that cross, as He cries out His final words, it is finished. He accomplishes for us an eternal salvation through His shed blood.

And it's because of this, that when we come to Jesus through faith and repentance, that we're transformed. It's because of the blood of Jesus. The world often wants a Christianity that welcomes all. And can I tell you this morning, Christianity is a faith that welcomes all.

Whether you're black, you're white, you're Asian, you're Hispanic, you're of any social economic background, whether you're gay, you're straight, whether you are of any social status at all, whether you're from any religion at all, Christ calls you to be His disciple.

He calls you to faith and repentance. Christianity is a faith that welcomes all. It is truly, but the world also wants a Christianity that welcomes sinners to continue to be sinners with no repentance or regeneration.

And that is not the gospel of Christ. Yes, the gospel is one where there's a grand invitation, there's a grand banquet at the table of the Lord Jesus Christ, where He welcomes and beckons all to come.

Yet, it's at that table, when you meet the King, that your status, that your person, that your very own soul is changed and transformed. The gospel of the kingdom is one of transformation. And that's what sets apart the gospel of Christ from all other gospels, from all other messages, especially those that say that you come to church, you come to Jesus as you are and stay as you are.

No, you come to Jesus as you are and you will be transformed. Because when you meet the living Jesus, He will change you. There is no scenario. Where you meet Jesus and you stay as you are. Because when you meet the Savior, just like Levi did, who was a tax collector, and when Jesus said to him, follow me, what does he do?

He leaves everything behind and he follows Him. That is the mark of regeneration. That is the mark of a true believer. One who forsakes everything to follow Jesus. And he's worthy. He's worthy of it all.

The Bridegroom, the New Covenant, and the Lord’s Table

This Jesus who came to save sinners is indeed worthy. But Jesus goes on in this scenario and he teaches a parable that I wanna spend a little bit of time on. In verse 33, and they said to him, these are the Pharisees, and the disciples of John fast often and offer prayers.

And so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink. So the criticism that's leveled at Jesus is this. Jesus, we're looking at you. We're examining your life. We're examining your disciples.

And we're also gonna compare them against some of the other disciples that are out there in the world. One of them being John's disciples, John the Baptist, who had disciples. And he says, John's disciples, they fast often and they offer prayers.

And so do the disciples, the learners of the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the scribes. They're all pretty astute. They're all very religious. They're all practicing an outward religion. But your guys, your disciples and you, what do they do?

They're out there eating with sinners. Which one is more righteous? The disciples of Jesus or the disciples of John or the disciples of the Pharisees? They're looking for outward signs. They're looking for works that can be ascribed to them to determine which one, which movement is being led by God.

And Jesus answers them by saying this in verse 34. Can you make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them. And then they will fast in those days.

You see, Jesus taught that the foundation of true religion was not works. I want you to write this in the notes. The foundation of true religion was not works such as prayer and fasting. But rather, true religion is determined with a personal relationship.

I want you to write in relationship with the bridegroom. Again, notice the contrast. The Pharisees are looking for outward works and signs such as prayer and fasting. All things that we would agree with today are good.

These are good spiritual disciplines. In fact, things that should be practiced even by the Christian today, obviously, being in prayer, having the spiritual discipline of fasting. These are spiritual disciplines that are actually a lost art.

But they themselves will not save anyone. Fasting and prayer and religious, outward religious works will not save anyone from the damnation of their soul that is rightly due to them because of their sinful nature.

But instead, where is salvation to be found? Friends, it's in the bridegroom. It's in Jesus Christ. He says the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, meaning that the bridegroom is there now in their midst in Jesus Christ.

And while the bridegroom is with them, it is time to eat, it is time to celebrate, it is time to be in relationship with the bridegroom because the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away. And in those days, verse 35, the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them and then they will fast in those days, meaning that after Christ's finished work on the cross is accomplished, his death, burn, resurrection, ascension to the Father, then the disciples will focus on prayer and fasting for the work that lays ahead.

But while the bridegroom was still in their midst, it was appropriate for them to be in the midst of Jesus, celebrating the life of Jesus, celebrating the works of Jesus through even such acts as dining with tax collectors and sinners.

And Jesus gives us a parable here, which is of great interest. He said to them a parable in verse 36. No one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it on an old garment. If he does, he will tear the new and piece from the new will not match the old.

So think of it this way. Again, just to clear up layman terms, you don't take new clothing, you don't tear it up, and you don't patch it up with old clothing because then you have a mismatch. Then you really do look like a reject, okay?

But what you do instead is you allow the new to be new and you put away the things that are old. And he goes on to say as well in verse 37. And no one puts new wine into old wineskin. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled, the skins will be destroyed.

I had to do a little bit of research on this wineskin. I'm not a drinker, I don't drink wine, except for the Lord's table. And I never knew what a wineskin was. It's literally skin, usually from a pig or from an animal, from a goat, that would store the wine.

And part of the fermentation process means that if you were to mix the old or the new wine, the old wineskin, it would burst, it would completely destroy the wine and the skin. It would be of no use, it would be useless.

But it says in verse 38, but the new wine must be put into fresh wineskin. And no one after drinking old wine desires new, for he says the old is good. What is Jesus talking about here? A parable of clothing and wine?

I want you to write this in there. In this parable, Jesus speaks of not mixing the new and old clothes and wine, for they do not mix and end up destroying each other. You see, the way the Pharisees was incompatible with the arrival of the new and better covenants.

Jesus is using these analogies, these pictures of old clothes, new clothes, wine, new wineskin, old wineskin, as a picture of the old and new covenants. And Jesus was coming and establishing a new and better covenant.

And he's saying these two don't mix. You see, one focuses on the outward, one focuses on the external, one focuses upon works, while the other looks upon the heart. You see, what differentiates the old covenant and the new covenant, is that the old covenant focused on the external, while the new covenant focuses on the heart.

In Ezekiel 36, what is promised to us in that great prophecy of the new covenant, is that God would write his law where? On the hearts, on the heart of man. He wouldn't write it just on clay tablets, but rather on the tablets that is in our hearts.

God's law would be written on our hearts, and not only would his law be written on our hearts, but he would actually give us a new heart, and transfer that heart of cold stone to a heart of living flesh.

That's the power of the gospel when Jesus calls sinners to repentance. He calls them from having hearts of stone, to now having hearts of flesh. From old clothes to new clothes. From old wineskin to new wineskin.

Jesus is calling us to a new way of life. He's calling us to be participants into a new and glorious, better covenant. Covenant that is now guaranteed through his shed blood on the cross. This covenant is better.

Why? Because there is now a guarantee through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. And there's evidence of it when through faith, and by repenting of our sins, and placing our faith in Jesus, he gives us something.

He gives us a gift. The bridegroom left, but he did not leave us bereaved. Yes, the Lord Jesus has ascended on high. He's reigning right now as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He's at the right hand of God the Father, but he has not abandoned us.

He has instead given us a comforter, a counselor, the third person of the Holy Trinity, God the Holy Spirit, to dwell in us, to live in us, to empower us, to live and walk in this newness of life. This is the power and the guarantee of the new and better covenant that Jesus is calling us to today.

You see, the kingdom of God was inaugurated in the first advent of the Lord Jesus Christ. He has opened the door for us to be partakers of the new covenant. And do you know where the new covenant is made most manifest and most glorious in the local church today?

It's in the Lord's table. It's in the Lord's table, where He calls, He beckons sinners to His table. He says, come eat. Eat bread and wine. Even you who have no money, as it says in Isaiah 55, that great call, that great call of the banquet to come and eat freely at the table of the Lord.

And when we come to the Lord's table, we come and partake of Him spiritually, being spiritually nurtured upon His flesh and upon His blood, receiving the impartation of the spiritual life and blessings of Christ.

That in Jesus Christ, we have forgiveness of sins and we celebrate that every time we come to the Lord's table, which is why it is so fantastic. And I believe one of the best things that we do as a church is that we partake communion every week.

And the call that we do every week to communion is a solemn one. Number one, that your faith be in the Lord Jesus Christ. Because this table, yes, it's for sinners, but it's for sinners whom He has called.

It is for sinners who have received Him. Just like Levi, after receiving that call, he accepts the call and leaves everything and follows Jesus. So Jesus is calling you to forsake everything and come to His table, come to His banquet.

And then Levi made a great feast in his house where Jesus reclines with him and other sinners. You see, what's beautiful about this table when we partake of it, it is the common table of our Lord, where everyone who is a member of this church, where everyone who's in the Lord Jesus Christ or a member of a church in good standing, can come and we're all equals at this table.

It reminds me of the banquet that we see when King David calls Mephibosheth to his table. Mephibosheth was a man who was of the household of Saul. And he was, by all accounts, part of the traitors. Saul, who was not a good man, not a good king, his household was not one of good rapport.

And yet, what does King David do? He calls Mephibosheth to his table. And he says, come, come to my table. Come and sit at my banquet. And what was interesting about Mephibosheth, I preached about this last summer, was that Mephibosheth, who was of the household of Saul, and after King David became king and he was invited to his table, Mephibosheth was a crippled man.

And the scripture emphasizes this twice, that Mephibosheth was indeed crippled. And it reminds us twice in the verse. Why? Because it's a reminder that we, too, are all like Mephibosheth. We're all fallen and broken.

We've all been dropped on our heads by Adam and Eve. We're all disformed by sin. And yet, what is of interest is that at the table, at the banquet of King David, ancient banquets that didn't have seats and chairs like we do today, but instead it was a low-hanging table where everyone would lay down and their feet would be covered by this huge, beautiful covering, signifying even for us today, when we come before the Lord's table, we are covered under the blood of Jesus.

And all of our differences, all of our sins are covered under that great covering of sin, the blood of Jesus Christ. Therefore, beloved, recognize and know this, that this Jesus, yes, He is a friend of sinners.

He is calling you, and He's calling you now to faith and repentance in His name. And He's beckoning you now, even, to come and receive Him by faith, by grace, in this grace in which we now stand, that your sins can be totally forgiven, that your account, your spiritual debt can be wiped clean if you come to Him today.

And for those of you who have come to Him, for those of you who have dedicated themselves in baptism to the Lord Jesus Christ, and are members of a church in good standing, we're gonna invite you in just a few moments to come and partake of this very table.

And we're gonna ask, even then, that even if you don't partake of this sacred ordinance for one reason or the other, that you use this as an opportunity to remember the solemn call of Christ to come. Come be my disciple.

May you know Him, and may you know the power of His resurrection working in us, that which is pleasing in His sight, for the glory of the one true and triune God, even the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Let me pray. Father, we thank you that you are a God who loves sinners, a God who has not only said that you have loved sinners, but you have demonstrated your love for sinners in this, that while we were yet sinners, you sent your Son, Jesus Christ, in the fullness of time, born of the Virgin Mary, to live the life that we could not live, holy, perfect, blameless, died the death that we surely deserved, as criminals, even as Christ was impaled next to two criminals.

And though impaled on that cross, you did not forsake your Son to the grave, but instead, Lord God Almighty, you raised your Son from the grave, giving to Jesus the keys of death and of Hades, demonstrating that you have not only received the sacrifice of sins in the ministerial work of Christ on the cross, but Lord, that you also have established Him as the true and proper sovereign Lord of all things, so that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord, even to the glory of your name, Father God.