Day 03 of Journey Through Mark: A CONTROVERSIAL CALL TO SINNERS

COMMENTARY As news of Jesus’ power spread throughout the Galilean countryside, He began to capture the attention of not just the crowds, but also religious authorities, and not in a good way. Religious leaders began to see Jesus as a threat because His actions repeatedly conflicted with their teachings. In today’s reading, we encounter five separate stories that highlight this increasing hostility toward Jesus. One of these stories features Jesus calling someone to follow Him. As we read yesterday, He had previously invited four fishermen to become His disciples (Mark 1:16-20). In today’s reading, the occupation of the man Jesus now invites to follow Him draws the anger of religious authorities. The man is a tax collector. We can’t overestimate how scandalous this would have seemed to Jesus’ contemporaries. In first century Jewish society, tax collectors were thought to be the worst sinners. They had a well-documented history of fraud. Many regarded them as traitors for serving the Romans. Some rabbinic literature even says that tax collectors defiled houses just by entering them. You can imagine how much it would have upset religious leaders when they saw Jesus not only summoning this tax collector but also having dinner at his house (Mark 2:15). Here was Jesus, a celebrated expositor of the Law, eating at a place that they considered impure. When they confront Jesus, He leaves them speechless by saying, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners” (Matthew 2:17). Jesus’ teaching is one we need to hear today. Like the ancient religious leaders, we can be quick to dismiss people we don’t understand and reject people who don’t conform to our rules. But like Jesus, we should prioritize love for people over concern for rules, especially human-made rules. After all, Jesus didn’t call people who thought that rules would make them righteous. Jesus called people who admitted they were sick and needed a doctor. MARK 2:1–3:6 CHAPTER 2 JESUS FORGIVES AND HEALS A PARALYZED MAN 1 A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. 2 They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. 3 Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. 4 Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” 6 Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, 7 “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 8 Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? 9 Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? 10 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the man, 11 “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” 12 He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!” JESUS CALLS LEVI AND EATS WITH SINNERS Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. 14 As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him. 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 the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” JESUS QUESTIONED ABOUT FASTING 18 Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. Some people came and asked Jesus, “How is it that John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not?” 19 Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them. 20 But the time will come when the bride- groom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast. 21 “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. 22 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.” JESUS IS LORD OF THE SABBATH 23 One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. 24 The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?” 25 He answered, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? 26 In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.” 27 Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” CHAPTER 3 JESUS HEALS ON THE SABBATH 1 Another time Jesus went into the syna- gogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. 2 Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath. 3 Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Stand up in front of everyone.” 4 Then Jesus asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they remained silent. 5 He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was com- pletely restored. 6 Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus. REFLECTION 1. In today’s reading, Jesus is accused twice of violating the Sabbath. In reality, He only violates human-made regulations that have nothing to do with God’s original intent for the Sabbath, as Jesus Himself points out. Can you think of any ways we’ve made following Jesus unnecessarily difficult by adding to God’s laws today? 2. In Mark 2:13-17, Jesus teaches us the importance of befriending irreligious people. But elsewhere in Scripture, we are encouraged to keep good company and avoid sinners (e.g., Psalm 1:1; 1 Corinthians 15:33). How do we balance these seemingly disparate teachings? What would it look like for you to eat with “sinners and tax collectors,” and how could you do this without compromising your convictions?