Then He went out again by the sea; and all the multitude came to Him, and He taught them. 14 As He passed by, He saw Levi the [son] of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So he arose and followed Him. 15 Now it happened, as He was dining in [Levi’s] house, that many tax collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many, and they followed Him. 16 And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, “How [is it] that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?” 17 When Jesus heard [it], He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call [the] righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”

– Mark 2:13-17 (NKJV)

If you are unfamiliar with Jesus, Christianity, or church you might be interested to know the type of people that Jesus called to follow him. We already saw that he called some fishermen to follow after him, but today he calls a tax collector to join the ranks of his disciples.

You might be surprised by the type of people Jesus would hang out with. It wasn’t always the respected religious leaders. In fact the religious leaders quite often rejected Jesus! We find in the gospels that Jesus would hang out with people who were the outcasts or marginalized by society. In this passage he is sitting by tax collectors (who would have been wealthy, but rejected by mainstream society because they both represented an oppressive government and were often accused of leveling unfair or “extra” taxes in order to make a tidy profit).

What was His rational for receiving these sort of people to follow him? It was because they needed him. Like a sick patient needs a doctor, those who knew they were sinners needed Jesus to help them come to a place of repentance. The really sad thing it that the religious leaders really needed him too. Their hearts were sick and corrupt as anyone else’s, but their sins seemed more respectable in their society… but they weren’t in God’s eyes.

The comfort that we can draw from this passage is that if we can recognize ourselves as sinners, then there is hope for us to be found in Jesus. When we recognize we need him, we can call out to him and he will be there. What kind of people did Jesus sit with? He sat with people like me and you. You can call on him.

Father, We love you and want to grow in knowledge of you and your word. Thank you that you are a friend of sinners, because we are sinners. Sometimes we try and pretend that things aren’t that bad, but we know you see our hearts. So we boldly call out to you and ask you for your grace today. Please guide us in your will and direct our paths. In Jesus Name, Amen.