“…he was eating with the sinners…” Mark 2:13-17
We have a word today that does a good job of describing Jesus: he was politically and religiously incorrect. He never seemed to be doing the right thing at the right time or to be with the right people.
Jesus went out again to the seashore. Of course, the crowd followed and he began to teach them. While he was out there, he passed a tax office. There were probably no crowds surrounding Levi as he sat at his desk. Tax collectors worked for the Herods and the oppressive Romans. They were widely regarded as greedy traitors or worse. Levi’s position was not the sort to attract the attention of anyone desiring to win friends and influence people. Yet Jesus approached him, saying, “Follow Me.” And Levi did.
Later, Jesus and his disciples were dining with Levi, who is also known as Matthew. In attendance were many tax-gatherers and sinners. Probably not the best optics for Jesus’ growing ministry. But he wasn’t concerned about that. These were people whom Jesus had reached out to and touched in some way. They were following him because they knew he could change their lives and remove their sin, unlike the Pharisees with their rules and categories.
Speaking of Pharisees, some of their scribes crashed the party. They were having trouble dealing with how these people had escaped the pigeon holes they had put them in. Once a sinner, always a sinner, they might have thought. Instead of confronting Jesus directly, they pulled a couple of disciples aside and demanded to know “why is he eating with tax gatherers and sinners?”
Jesus saw what they were up to and answered them: “Healthy people don’t need a doctor, only the sick. I didn’t come for the righteous, but for sinners.” Which let the scribes off the hook. Sort of. Their sense of their own righteousness was duly appropriated by saying and doing the proper thing at just the proper time and in just the right measure. It completely hid their own inadequacy in God’s sight. As long as they considered themselves righteous, they would miss out on the true righteousness that Jesus brings, and with it the key to entering God’s kingdom.
Copyright 2019 David J. Cooley