Mark 2:13-17 -- An Eye for the Ill
Out of a large crowd, Jesus picked one and called him to follow him. Levi would seem to be an unlikely pick of a follower. As a tax collector, he was despised by everyone Jesus might be trying to reach and yet Jesus saw something in the man we would eventually come to know as Matthew. Like the other new followers whom Jesus had called to be with him, Levi also got up from his booth and left a most likely profitable source of income to follow him.
Jesus had dinner at Levi's house. He entered Levi's world before Levi entered his, and Jesus brought all of his disciples with him too. Jesus became known here as the 'friend of sinners' as he ate and seemed to enjoy the company of people so very different from himself.
When challenged by the religious keepers of the law challenged him in his actions, Jesus responded with an insightful picture. "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." Jesus clearly makes a connection between a healthy life and a sinful life.
some observations:
Jesus saw and called the sick out of the crowd - Levi was sick, his friends were sick and Jesus knew they would respond to his offer of life.
Jesus led his followers to the spiritually sick. He taught them how to 'see' them and to 'see their illness' when they saw it.
Jesus went to the sick, he didn't wait for them to come to Him. How many times have I heard, or said, "have you gone to see the Dr. yet?" We know Dr.'s don't come looking for sick people, sick people have to go looking for the Dr. Jesus had an entirely different approach, he looked for people willing to take the prescription. He was surrounded by sick people - everywhere he went he saw their illness, but he seemed to look for people who would get up and take what he had to offer.
Jesus also stood up for the sick. It was clear to him that is why he was there. They were not a bother or inconvenience to him. He did not heal them to make his life better nor the world a better place, but he came to them to make their lives whole again; and he had no patience for anyone who was going to look down on them, especially considering that everyone who might look down on a sick person was also sick themselves, and yet not willing to admit their own illness.
Churches often have a way of taking a moral aspect of themselves. Agents to make the world a better (and cleaner) place, morally. Like a fine hotel where people enjoy the amenities of good friends, pleasant music and inspiring messages in a pleasant and comfortable environment. Surrounded by people like themselves and helping new ones become like them.
Jesus I wonder, might view the church more like a hospital than a hotel. Where the focus is on the sick and hurting and the smell of antiseptic assures one of the attempt to control the spread of germs. A place where healing is happening and people are re-gaining strength so they can re-enter a world to live a healthy life and with the strength to help other sick and hurt people.
I am confident Levi and his friends found life, like none other, in the presence of Jesus. More than merely being comfortable with Jesus around, they found comfort in him as their lives were being restored.
Do sinners (sick people) find comfort when they are around me as they regain a healthy life, or are they merely comfortable in their sickness around me.
Jesus had dinner at Levi's house. He entered Levi's world before Levi entered his, and Jesus brought all of his disciples with him too. Jesus became known here as the 'friend of sinners' as he ate and seemed to enjoy the company of people so very different from himself.
When challenged by the religious keepers of the law challenged him in his actions, Jesus responded with an insightful picture. "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." Jesus clearly makes a connection between a healthy life and a sinful life.
some observations:
Jesus saw and called the sick out of the crowd - Levi was sick, his friends were sick and Jesus knew they would respond to his offer of life.
Jesus led his followers to the spiritually sick. He taught them how to 'see' them and to 'see their illness' when they saw it.
Jesus went to the sick, he didn't wait for them to come to Him. How many times have I heard, or said, "have you gone to see the Dr. yet?" We know Dr.'s don't come looking for sick people, sick people have to go looking for the Dr. Jesus had an entirely different approach, he looked for people willing to take the prescription. He was surrounded by sick people - everywhere he went he saw their illness, but he seemed to look for people who would get up and take what he had to offer.
Jesus also stood up for the sick. It was clear to him that is why he was there. They were not a bother or inconvenience to him. He did not heal them to make his life better nor the world a better place, but he came to them to make their lives whole again; and he had no patience for anyone who was going to look down on them, especially considering that everyone who might look down on a sick person was also sick themselves, and yet not willing to admit their own illness.
Churches often have a way of taking a moral aspect of themselves. Agents to make the world a better (and cleaner) place, morally. Like a fine hotel where people enjoy the amenities of good friends, pleasant music and inspiring messages in a pleasant and comfortable environment. Surrounded by people like themselves and helping new ones become like them.
Jesus I wonder, might view the church more like a hospital than a hotel. Where the focus is on the sick and hurting and the smell of antiseptic assures one of the attempt to control the spread of germs. A place where healing is happening and people are re-gaining strength so they can re-enter a world to live a healthy life and with the strength to help other sick and hurt people.
I am confident Levi and his friends found life, like none other, in the presence of Jesus. More than merely being comfortable with Jesus around, they found comfort in him as their lives were being restored.
Do sinners (sick people) find comfort when they are around me as they regain a healthy life, or are they merely comfortable in their sickness around me.
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