Monday 21 October 2024
When Jesus heard this, he said to them "... I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.” (v. 17)
Background
A great deal has already happened by the time we get to the middle of chapter 2 of Mark’s Gospel. There is no Christmas story in Mark. The first 14 verses of chapter 1 cover John the Baptist, Jesus’s own baptism, Jesus' temptations in the wilderness and his announcement in Galilee that “the Kingdom of God has come near” with a call for repentance and belief. Mark doesn’t waste ink!
Chapter 1 continues with Jesus calling the first disciples and teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum, a town on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee, which is about 20 miles from his home town of Nazareth. People found that Jesus taught “as one having authority, and not as the scribes” (1:22). It was here that Jesus was first recognised as “the Holy One of God”, by an 'unclean' (evil) spirit, of all things. We get the first hint of an intriguing theme in Mark: the so-called 'Messianic Secret'. Jesus repeatedly asked people to keep quiet about what they had experienced in encountering him. But this and numerous later encounters prompt the key question in Mark’s Gospel: “Who is this Jesus?”
Jesus story sweeps on through the rest of chapter 1 and into chapter 2 of Mark's Gospel, with Jesus carrying out healings and proclaiming God's kingdom. There are the first intimations of the conflicts that were to arise with the scribes and others, particularly when Jesus pronounces the forgiveness of sins (2:5). Jesus doesn’t duck the issue, linking healing with forgiveness. So, by the time we get to today’s passage (2:13-17) the battle lines with the authorities are already drawn. People were saying “We have never seen anything like this!”
The extraordinary events in 2:13-17, are, in fact, more of the same. Another disciple is called, this time a taxman, one of the hate-figures for Jesus’s compatriots in first-century Palestine under Roman rule. Not only is Jesus sitting down to eat with such despised people but he is calling them to follow him.
Jesus was doing things differently. He was bringing about a new situation and some people found that very disturbing, especially those deeply committed to the status quo.
To Ponder:
- Who do you think are the 'tax collectors and sinners' of our age?
- The writer of Psalm 17 is confident in their own righteousness but still longs for God’s protection. Do you think there are any people who are truly righteous?
Prayer
God known in Jesus, help me to show your forgiving, healing love in my life. Amen.
Bible notes author: The Revd Alan Bolton
Alan Bolton is a supernumerary presbyter in the High Wycombe Circuit, having sat down in 2018. He preaches regularly round the Circuit and edits the ministerial obituaries for the Conference. His other occupations are family, music, model railways, walking and reading, with a close interest in politics.