Mark 2:13-17
As you read Mark 2:13-17, notice how Jesus choses to direct his attention and time.
Once again Jesus moves out of the town and the crowds follow, but this time he notices Matthew - a man who had failed to find favor with a Jewish rabbi and who is now working for the occupying Roman government collecting taxes from his Jewish kinsfolk. In the midst of his increasing popularity, Jesus issues an invitation to this despised member of society, “Follow me.”
It’s really no wonder that many of Jesus’ followers were “disreputable sinners” considering the hopeless situations of those who didn’t make it into the upper echelon of Jewish society. The Romans governed Israel, but the Jewish religious system governed every aspect of a Hebrew person’s life, and that system served up very little opportunity for upward mobility and much oppression for those on the lower rungs of society. People who were the wrong gender, or had physical defects, or were subject to many other biological or economic factors, had little hope of a better life. The human spirit can be kept in a cage only so long.
Jesus’ teaching and actions leveled the playing field and offered life beyond the confines of a person’s circumstances. Jesus upside-down kingdom was available to anyone who recognized their need and longed for more.
Read Mark 2:13-17 again.
Just a few passages earlier, Jesus revealed that part of the reason he came was to preach in other towns beyond Galilee. At the end of today’s passage, he gives another reason for his coming: he has come to call those who recognize their brokenness, flaws and failures – not those who feel justified or morally right.
Where do you fall on the spectrum between those two points of view?
Have you ever been shut out of a community or an opportunity for a reason over which you had no control?
Have you ever hindered someone else from joining a community or receiving an opportunity because of their gender, physical characteristics, or some other factor over which they had no control?
Jesus followers follow Jesus. They are shaped by his teaching and example. In light of the two reasons Jesus gave for his mission on earth, what is he inviting you to do right now?
Talk this over with Jesus as you end this time of reflection, and make a plan for what you will do next.
