Some things never change. Even today, a letter from the Internal Revenue Service causes anxiety. No one likes the annual ritual of filing their income tax docs, except maybe those getting a large refund. Those feelings were magnified in Jesus’ day since tax collectors were generally seen as traitors working for the Romans.
“Jesus went out again beside the sea. The whole crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them. Then, passing by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office, and he said to him, “Follow me,” and he got up and followed him. While he was reclining at the table in Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who were following him. When the scribes who were Pharisees saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” When Jesus heard this, he told them, “It is not those who are well who need a doctor, but those who are sick. I didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners.”” (Mark 2:13–17, CSB)
We can understand why Jesus called Simon, Andrew, James, and John to follow Him. They were salt-of-the-earth laborers and common folk. But Levi? He was anything but. Levi was well-off by the standards of the day. He was also rejected as a traitor, taxing his own people on behalf of the Roman Empire. Why did Jesus call Levi to follow him? He didn’t deserve or seem qualified for it.
More than that, even. Jesus ate at Levi’s house with other “tax collectors and sinners,” those folks outside the prevailing religious society. These were the “unchurched” of the day. Jesus crossed the cultural barrier and ate with them. The religious leaders were confused. If Jesus is a holy man from God, why is he hanging out with these people? Jesus answered them, It is not those who are well who need a doctor, but those who are sick. I didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners.
That is still the case today. Jesus still seeks the sinners, the unrighteous, the unworthy, the lost, and the broken. In brief, all of us. We were all sinners, unrighteous, unworthy, lost, and broken before we met Jesus. Something we forget at times as Christ followers.
We often think that cross-cultural missions only happen in distant places. Those efforts are welcome and encouraged. But cross-cultural engagement can also occur in our neighborhoods. May the Lord give us eyes to see and the courage of faith to engage those who are “other” in our world.
- A Prepared Place - May 7, 2025
- Mark – Them? - May 5, 2025
- Mark: Three Signs - April 30, 2025
