Mark 2.15-17 Who needs Jesus?
15 While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16 When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: ‘Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?’
17 On hearing this, Jesus said to them, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but those who are ill. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.’
Levi invites Jesus to a meal. What an opportunity for Jesus! The house was teeming with tax-collectors – a captive audience for Jesus! And there were sinners, too. Who were they? Apart from the other tax-collectors anyone who was a friend or associate of Levi would be labelled a sinner, as well as anyone who took income or preferment from the Roman occupiers or followed their religious practices. Where better could Jesus be than among those who need to hear about the Kingdom of God? Where better could sinners be than with Jesus in Levi’s house?
As ever, we find that the religious police are not far away. Had they been invited, or were they just snooping? It would be a stretch to imagine these upright types accepting an invitation to eat with people like Levi. Whatever the reason, they can’t figure Jesus out. I don’t assume that they were against Jesus from the very start, but their opposition to him did grow as Jesus, most often in response to their jibes and accusations against him, responded sharply to their accusations and revealed their own sin and errors.
Jesus’ response is simple and direct. He does not accuse those who were challenging him. The Pharisees could even agree with what Jesus said – after all, they considered themselves to be the healthy ones, and they didn’t need any help! However, Jesus sets himself apart from the Pharisees as he announces that he has come to invite sinners to the Kingdom of God. The Pharisees had excluded such people from their version of heaven.
Have you ever, as a long-standing regular at your church, become annoyed with Jesus (or the vicar/minister/pastor) because some occasional attender or complete stranger seems to be claiming all their attention?
Father God, I might not claim (for fear of being caught out!) to be completely healthy, but in you I am completely forgiven and being brought to full maturity. I do not need a doctor to check my pulse. My concern, therefore, is not for my own wellbeing but for those who have not yet heard the Gospel-message. Bring them home. Amen.
This hymn is an invitation to Christ to live his life in you. Speak out or sing the words as a personal commitment to him and his power to make it happen.