...forgiver of sins...

“13 Jesus went out again beside the lake; the whole crowd gathered around Him, and He taught them. 14 As He was walking along, He saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and Jesus said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he got up and followed Jesus.

15 And as Jesus sat at dinner in Levi’s house, many tax-collectors and sinners were also sitting with Jesus and his disciples — for there were many who followed Jesus. 16 When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that Jesus was eating with sinners and tax-collectors, they said to His disciples, ‘Why does He eat with tax-collectors and sinners?’ 17 When Jesus heard this, He said to them, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners’” Mark 2:13-17.

Jesus has moved to the lake region where He meets a tax collector, named Levi, in his tax booth, and Jesus calls Levi to follow Jesus. And like the other disciples, Levi gets up and follows Jesus. No objections or questions voiced! This man, Levi, was viewed in society as one who sold out to the occupying Roman power. He was, by definition and experience, a dishonest man. Jews knew him as “unclean” because of his daily contact with gentiles. Notice that “tax-collectors and sinners” is a phrase that appears three times in this little story! I don’t know about you, but I think Jesus is the host of this dinner, not Levi, who is just creating an opportunity for his friends and associates to meet Jesus.

The scribes of the Pharisees object to this dinner because of religious legal correctness. Jesus responds, not Levi or the other tax collectors, making it clear that the objectors do not share His priorities. “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners” (Mark 2:17). Jesus’ response is that “tax-collectors and sinners” are sick, and Jesus is the physician! The focus is not on the sinners’ need to change but on Jesus’ offer of forgiveness. As Jesus just finished proclaiming to the paralytic man, “the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” (Mark 2:10). Jesus, the healing physician, is interested in forgiving sins, not changing religious laws.

Take note, dear friends, how Mark is deliberately bringing into the very beginning of his Gospel the central focus of Jesus, the forgiver and healer of sins! If there is any understanding of the Cross and empty tomb, any understanding of Jesus’ words and actions, it is the forgiveness of sins, not the changes in religious laws. So, may I invite you to join me in quiet prayer before God for His healing forgiveness.

Oh Lord, I turn to You in humble — if not shame-filled — prayer

for Your forgiveness of my sins!

Come sit with me and forgive me!

Let me join You — and those around me —

at Your Banquet table You have set for us all.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner!