Mark 2:13-16 (NIVUK)
13 Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. 14 As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. ‘Follow me,’ Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.
15 While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16 When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: ‘Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?’
Jesus isn’t the only one who ends up eating at Levi’s house, there are also ‘sinners’ as the Pharisees call them. I sense disdain in their voices as they say this, those they call ‘sinners’ are those they disapprove of or look down upon, or those who make them feel uncomfortable. I can’t help but feel that in judging these people in this way, that Mark is inviting us to weigh up not just their judgment, but also the Pharisees themselves, comparing them to Jesus. Which, as Jesus might himself ask, is the better neighbour to these folk? Go and do likewise…
Father, I am no better than anyone else. Forgive me for those times when I look down on others, and help me instead to learn to befriend and love.
Image used with permission by Bible Society Australia – The Wild Bible
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