Jesus calling was calling people

Mark 2:13-3:6 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible  

And He went out again by the seashore; and all the people were coming to Him, and He was teaching them.

¹⁴ As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting in the tax booth, and He said to him, “Follow Me!” And he got up and followed Him.

¹⁵ And it happened that He was reclining at the table in his house, and many tax collectors and sinners were dining with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many of them, and they were following Him. ¹⁶ When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that He was eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they said to His disciples, “Why is He eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners?” ¹⁷ And hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

¹⁸ John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting; and they came and said to Him, “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?” ¹⁹ And Jesus said to them, “While the bridegroom is with them, the attendants of the bridegroom cannot fast, can they? So long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. ²⁰ But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day.

²¹ “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; otherwise the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear results. ²² No one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost and the skins as well; but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins.”

²³ And it happened that He was passing through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and His disciples began to make their way along while picking the heads of grain. ²⁴ The Pharisees were saying to Him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” ²⁵ And He said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and he and his companions became hungry; ²⁶ how he entered the house of God in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the consecrated bread, which is not lawful for anyone to eat except the priests, and he also gave it to those who were with him?” ²⁷ Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. ²⁸ So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”

3 He entered again into a synagogue; and a man was there whose hand was withered. ² They were watching Him to see if He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him. ³ He said to the man with the withered hand, “Get up and come forward!” ⁴ And He said to them, “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to kill?” But they kept silent. ⁵ After looking around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored. ⁶ The Pharisees went out and immediately began conspiring with the Herodians against Him, as to how they might destroy Him.

What would you think if you went to a doctor and he knew you were sick, but rather than doing something to make you better, he simply hung out with you? Maybe he bought you a pizza and watched a movie with you. What if he was friendly, compassionate, fun to be with, but when you left you were still as sick as when you came and nothing had been done to change your situation? That doctor might make a great friend, but he wouldn’t be much of a physician. He wouldn’t be fulfilling his calling.

There are many people today who think that Jesus associated with sinners and outcasts when He was here because He preferred their company over religious or righteous people. They say that if Jesus were here today, He would more likely be found in a barroom or on a street corner than in the church. Surely Jesus did spend time with sinners and outcasts, even to the point where He was challenged and criticized by the religious leaders. In today’s text it says:  It happened that He was reclining at the table in his house, and many tax collectors and sinners were dining with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many of them, and they were following Him. When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that He was eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they said to His disciples, “Why is He eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners?”   If we listen to Jesus response to their question and criticism, we will also understand His motivation. The text says:   And hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”  Luke, who was himself a doctor, in his gospel account of the same occurrence records Jesus response saying:  “It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick. “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”  (Luke 5:31-32)  Jesus didn’t come to associate with sinners and outcasts simply to hang out with them and have a good time embracing their sin. He came to call them, not to call them sinners with words of condemnation, but rather to call them to repentance, with words and acts of love and compassion. He would not have fulfilled His calling and His purpose if He left them unchanged.

Jesus was also criticized because He did not observe the rules of the Sabbath the same way as the religious leaders. In today’s text it says:  It happened that He was passing through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and His disciples began to make their way along while picking the heads of grain. The Pharisees were saying to Him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath…Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”   The Sabbath was ordained by God as a day of rest from work and labor, a day to set aside the normal activities of life and focus only on God. Jesus says that He is Lord of the Sabbath. That means more for us than that the Sabbath should be a day that we set aside to focus on Him. Jesus says: “Abide in Me, and I in you.” (John 15:4) We are not to have one day set aside for Jesus. We are to abide in Him every day.  Jesus says: “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.” (John 14:27)   Jesus is our peace, our comfort and our rest. He is more than Lord of the Sabbath, as our Lord He is our Sabbath.

In the text it says:  He entered again into a synagogue; and a man was there whose hand was withered. They were watching Him to see if He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him. He said to the man with the withered hand, “Get up and come forward!” And He said to them, “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to kill?” But they kept silent. After looking around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored. The Pharisees went out and immediately began conspiring with the Herodians against Him, as to how they might destroy Him.  In yesterday’s text, in Mark 2:5-11 there was an account where Jesus equated healing and redemption. It says:  Jesus seeing their faith said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” But some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, “Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming; who can forgive sins but God alone?” Immediately Jesus, aware in His spirit that they were reasoning that way within themselves, said to them, “Why are you reasoning about these things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven’; or to say, ‘Get up, and pick up your pallet and walk’? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the paralytic, “I say to you, get up, pick up your pallet and go home.”

Jesus offends some by His association with sinners and outcasts. He offends some because He changes and challenges their ideas of religion. Sadly, Jesus even offends some because He came to heal and redeem. For Him, one is no harder than the other. He has authority to forgive and authority to heal. Neither redemption nor healing is too difficult. That’s why He came; to call sinners to repentance and to restore the broken and make them whole.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit, may I never be offended by who You are or what You desire to do. May I instead be offended by the things which offend You. May sin offend me and sickness as well. Lord Jesus, my Sabbath, my rest and my peace, my redeemer and the one who makes me whole; I desire to abide in You. If I offend the world, may it be with Your love, Your compassion, Your truth and Your righteousness, may it be with Your desire and Your power to change people.   Amen.