My summer sermon series focuses on the ten conflicts in Mark’s Gospel between Jesus and religious leaders.
Here, the conflict erupts when Jesus calls Levi/Matthew to follow him and later eats at Levi’s/ Matthew’s home:
13He went out again beside the sea, and all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them. 14And 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. 15And 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. 16And 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?” 17And 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.”
What strikes you most about this passage? As I prepare this message, I’d love to hear what you hear from this story.
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