Matthew 15 may be divided into three different segments, which, on the surface seem unrelated. This apparent lack of relationship causes us to miss a great deal.
“Now it happened, as He was dining in Levi’s house, that many tax collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many, and they followed Him. And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, ‘How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?’ When Jesus heard it, He said to them, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.’” Mark 2:15-17.
When God confronted Adam and Eve after their sin in the Garden of Eden, see Genesis 3:1-24, He pronounced a series of curses and punishments; within this God made reference to the coming Christ who was to take away the sin of the world.
