Mark 2:13-17

Mark 2:13-17 Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. 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. 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. 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’?” 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.”

This passage reveals how comfortable Jesus felt around tax collectors and "sinners." Jesus sought them out. We see him telling Levi the tax collector to follow him, and we see him having dinner with tax collectors and "sinners" at Levi's house. This associating with society's ignoble people was anathema to the Pharisees. However, Jesus said that the Pharisees were hypocrites. “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. (Matthew 23:25) Jesus understood that people tend to look at and judge outward appearances, but He looked at the inside of a person and saw that person's need.

The Pharisees as upstanding members of the Jewish community understood well that these people with whom Jesus was associating were not the right kind of people. They could plainly see that these "sinners" were obviously not synagogue people, people of the Law, and the tax collectors were collaborating with the Romans by collecting taxes for them. However, Jesus must have seen them as people who needed him in their lives. I don't believe these outcasts and misfits were necessarily seeking to be better when Jesus first made contact with them; they probably just wanted to be with Jesus. They undoubtedly felt comfortable in his presence, and Jesus felt comfortable in their presence. Jesus was happy to be with them.

I wonder if He is happy to be with us. Are we Christians too concerned with our religious practices, habits and lifestyle for him to be comfortable with us. Are we too wrapped up in our form of religion and worship to allow him to visit us, spend time with us. Are we too much like the Pharisees: rigid, judgmental and critical. The Pharisees knew the tax collectors and "sinners" didn't worship the right way, didn't wear the right clothes, didn't have the right lifestyle, and weren't reverent enough. They knew these ignoble people were definitely not worthy of God's presence and blessings. How could a holy God bless these kind of people? But the good news is that JESUS CHOSE TO HANG OUT WITH THEM. HE WAS COMFORTABLE IN THEIR PRESENCE BUT NOT IN THE PRESENCE OF THE SO-CALLED RIGHTEOUS. AND FOR SURE WHERE JESUS IS, THERE IS GOD, FOR THEY ARE ONE. Most of the ostensibly righteous were not comfortable with Jesus. They really did not want anything to do with him except to criticize him and his ways. They felt satisfied and comfortable in their own self-righteousness. As far as they were concerned, they were functioning well with God. They knew the Law and they knew how to worship him. They didn't need this Jesus, but they did not understand that without Jesus there is no righteousness, no peace with God. The tax collectors and "sinners" were closer to God than the Pharisees, for they were WITH JESUS, at his side. The tax collectors and sinners did not need holy surroundings and music to get them into right relationship with God; they just needed Jesus' presence.

We also just need to be where Jesus is. He should be in our homes, at the dinner table, in our prayer closet. Our relationship with God doesn't hinge on lifestyle choices or religiosity; it depends on being with Jesus. He sought us out, just as He sought out the tax collectors and "sinners." Therefore, we should enjoy him, talk to him, love him; we should be comfortable around him. Yes, we are the wrong kind of people. The world is full of the wrong kind. But Jesus came for those kind of people. For us He died, came to bring us light and life, and for us He is now our great advocate in heaven. Praise His name forevermore. Glory to the newborn King! Merry Christmas.