The call of a Tax Collector

 Mark 2: 13 - 22

 

Jesus Calls Levi

^“He went out again beside the sea, and all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them.   And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.

 And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him.   And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”   And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Levi had one thing in common with the other three that were asked by Jesus to follow Him, and it is a requirement of all who will follow Jesus then and now; obedience.   Now it sounds as if Jesus is at Levi’s home and being a tax collector was not a popular job, his friends would also be tax collectors.  Remember that a Pharisee is a self-righteous person and very religious, and it’s not all that hard to be a Pharisee, I find myself in that role, but the Lord will always confront me that true righteousness is found in Him alone.  As long as our righteousness is found in self, you cannot receive the blessing God has for you.

A Question About Fasting

^“ Now John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. And people came and said to him, “Why do John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?”   And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast.   The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day.   No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made.   And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins—and the wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins.”^[

As a follower of Christ, you will always have a contrast with the World system, and with the religious system.  You will be asked by the Holy Spirit to go and do and speak in a manner that is not in agreement with either of those two systems.  The question is will you follow Jesus?  It is impossible to do both; follow the desires of the world and Jesus.  Jesus told us in John 8:12, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life.”

 

When we come into Christ and He comes into our life, we become that new wineskin, and the Holy Spirit gives us the light we need to be Christ's disciples in a world that loves darkness, for their deeds are evil.

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice