B24-devotions

Mark 2:13-22

Devotions for Tuesday 23rd February

13 Jesus went out again by the sea, and the whole crowd came out to Him and He taught them.

14 As He walked on by, He saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the revenue post. He said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he got up and followed Him. 15 It so happened that as He reclined at table in Levi’s house, there were many tax-collectors and sinners eating together with Jesus and His disciples (for there were many who followed Him). 16 When the scribes and the Pharisees saw that He ate with the sinners and tax-collectors, they asked His disciples, ‘Why does He eat with tax-collectors and sinners?’ 17 When Jesus heard about this He said to them; ‘Those who are well have no need of a doctor, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.’

18 Now the disciples of John and the Pharisees were fasting, and people came and asked Jesus, ‘Why do John’s disciples and the followers of the Pharisees fast, but yours do not?’ 19 Jesus replied to them, ‘Are you suggesting that the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? No! they cannot fast while they have the bridegroom with them. 20 But the time will come when the bridegroom is taken from them, and that is the day on which they will fast.’

21 ‘No-one will sew a piece of un-shrunk cloth onto an old garment, otherwise when it shrinks, the new will come away from the old and make an ever worse tear! 22 No-one pours new wine into old wineskins because the wine will burst the skins and the wine will be lost as well as the skins. Rather, new wine is poured into new wineskins.’

Almighty God, may we always be ready for the releasing of Your power through the Gospel. Give us a longing to see You work in our midst, and an expectation that great things will be achieved. Give us a heart to join with You in the Gospel work of salvation and deliverance, and the joy of Your presence as we work together in this great and Godly task. Thank You, Almighty God; AMEN

Serve the Lord; serve Him without ceasing.

Serve Him by living the life of a servant:

By loving all others as you would love yourself.

Serve the Lord by honouring Him in worship:

Come, sing and dance, and join in His praises!

Serve Him by fulfilling His Great Commission:

To preach the Good News to all people on earth.

Serve Him by being His priests in the world:

Work for others and remember them in prayer.

Serve the Lord by fighting hard against evil:

Wherever you may find it, in yourself or in others.

Serve Him; serve the Lord without ceasing:

There is no reward, save being at peace with God.

Prayer ideas

As you hear any item of news today, pray for the people whose lives have been affected by what you hear

On-going prayers

Pray for those who are growing old Pray for those in your own family who are growing towards the letter years of their lives
Pray about bullying in the work-place, which is topical in the UK
Give thanks for the gift of water and pray for those who supply it

Read on / GOING DEEPER / APPLICATION / DISCIPLESHIP

This reading comes towards the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, when he was concerned to add to the number of his disciples. The first story is that of the call of Levi (2:14-17), followed by a discussion about fasting (2:18-20), and lastly, a famous saying by Jesus about cloth and wineskins (2:21-22). We mostly hear these discussed separately, as if each was independent of the other. However, I suggest that whilst they all have a distinct message, they are all connected, and there is a good reason for them to follow on from the call of Levi. Put simply, these three tell us something about the nature of Jesus’ work to establish His Kingdom, and the story of the call of Levi introduces the idea that the Kingdom of God is about saving sinners. The discussion of fasting tells us that this work of saving sinners is hard work and whilst Jesus was alive, the work of the Kingdom was more important than fasting. Lastly, sinners are called into a new work of God that is incompatible with the old.

The passage begins with the call of Levi. He is identified as an Israelite (‘son of Alpheus’ – 2:14), and his trade was to gather as much taxes from the populace as possible for the Roman authorities. Israelites regarded this as incompatible with God, and Levi was cut off from the religious life of the community, or as we might say today, he was ‘beyond the pale’. It is therefore entirely scandalous that Jews should see Jesus spending time with such people (2:15). When challenged by the authorities, Jesus spoke one of his most famous ‘sound-bites’, ‘I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners’ (2:17).

In saying this, Jesus meant that the Kingdom of God was open to those who were beyond the bounds of the religious system. Moreover, the word ‘sinners’ was used in the same breath as the word ‘Gentiles’. Levi was as good as a Gentile to them and not worthy of the things of God. Now today, when people preach from this text, they generalise the message and refer to sinners as those who are not Christian, preaching that in love God calls even the worst of sinners. However, when we recall the details about who Levi was, then we remember that God is always seeking out those who are beyond the boundaries of human prejudice and presumption, whether religious or cultural.

The second incident describes how people compared the disciples of John and the Pharisees with the disciples of Jesus (2:18-20). Clearly, this discussion must have arisen when religious people were expected to fast, though it is not clear exactly when. The criticism of Jesus’ disciples is that they were doing something else (perhaps ‘eating and drinking with sinners – 2:14-17) when they thought all good people should be fasting. Jesus confronted such attitudes directly. His reply said that saving sinners was more important than traditional religious observance, and in order to make His point, He used the picture of a wedding feast and appropriate practice in the presence of the bridegroom. Clearly, Jesus likened Himself to the bridegroom.

It is not by coincidence that Jesus went on to make His well known comments about the ‘new’ and the ‘old’. His examples of using new cloth to mend old and new wine in old wineskins are obvious to us; the two are incompatible. However, we should be wary about how we interpret this saying. He was of course saying that new and old do not go together, but His meaning here is more specific. He was saying that the new work of God to establish His Kingdom was not compatible with the old Jewish covenant with God.

The general message we can take from all this is that when God calls a sinner to be saved from sin, something new is happening in the Kingdom of God and it has no connection with the Jewish interpretation of the old covenant. Today, we should be rather cautious about suggesting it means that any new work of God’s Spirit today is incompatible with the work of God’s Spirit in our own recent past; this is to be too cavalier with the text. God’s call to everyone is to take part in the new work of His Kingdom, from when He preached it until He comes in glory.

Going Deeper

The Bible study goes deeper to look at these issues:

The calling of Levi, the son of Alpheus
The meal at Levi’s house.
When did people fast and what did it mean?
The new and the old

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