The Sinner’s Friend – Mark 2:13-17

Posted on 2020-06-02 by thelittleman

As we continue our way through the Gospel of Mark, we come now to another Gospel-saturated challenge: Am I a friend of sinners?

The Sinner, Mark 2:13-14

Mark 2:13-17 introduces us to Levi, also known as Matthew, the author of the Gospel of Matthew. As we’ll see in this passage, Levi represents that class of people whom the religious folk are supposed to avoid, the sinners. As is often the case, however, Jesus will give us a better insight into “religion” and how dangerous it can be.

When we meet Levi here, he’s a tax collector sitting in his tax-collecting booth along the seashore. Jesus is there too, of course, with a crowd of needy Jews surrounding Him, people who’ve become enamored of this great Healer and Teacher (v.13). But as Jesus passes by this man whom the Jews likely despised—he was after all a representative of the Roman occupiers—He picks Levi out of the crowd.

Jesus catches Levi’s eye. The crowd around them is boisterous, but something happens in the gaze between these two men. Perhaps the coins that Levi’s been counting sit there in the peripheral. Perhaps some Jews from the crowd are commenting about how their hard-earned money has been all but stolen by this traitor. Yet through the din comes Jesus’ simple call to Levi, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed Him. (v.14)

I love the simplicity of this call and the implication of something truly wonderful already having taken place in Levi’s heart. We don’t get to witness each disciples’ call, so when we do get a chance to see one, it’s both exciting and important. We’ve already looked at the importance of Simon’s call as “a fisher of men” in Mark 1:16-20. Levi’s call is also pertinent, as it opens the door of accusation from the Pharisees that Jesus is a sinner, just like his worthless friends.

The Friend, Mark 2:15-17

Verse 15 tells us that Levi took Jesus and his disciples home, along with “many tax collectors and sinners”, to recline at table (v.15). Jesus hasn’t yet ordained his Twelve (we’ll see that in Chapter 3), so there’s no telling how many disciples were with him or who they were, but I assume the group included at least the two sets of fishermen brothers and now Levi. How huge must Levi’s house have been to includes these two groups of “many”? It’s just another testament to how much he must have swindled from the taxes he handled.

On a side note, I think we’re all surprised that Jesus eventually entrusted Judas Iscariot with “the moneybag” (John 13:29), but I think it adds more mystery to the situation when considering the fact that Levi was ostensibly trained in finance. He obviously repented and became a respectable Apostle and author of a Gospel, but I wonder if he evidenced the same type of repentance as that of another famous convert, Zacheus (Luke 19), by paying back all that he had stolen. Food for thought!

The scribes of the Pharisees come by and they see that Jesus is eating with sinners and tax collectors, so they ask his disciples directly, “Why does He eat with tax collectors and sinners?” (v.16). Jesus then responds to them, again probably over the din of men’s voices and the clattering of dishes, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” (v.17)

The Sinners’ Friend

Recollections from Childhood

As I study this passage, I’m reminded of my own upbringing. In my conservative-Christian background, I often heard the advice to “Choose your friends wisely.” This is sound advice, to be sure, but it also proved to be shorthand for the near-command to “Only have friends from Church.”

I’m thankful for my godly parents and the fact that I grew up in church and youth group and that I attended a Christian high school after being home-schooled for 6 years, but I have to admit, it was a pretty sheltered childhood! I don’t think I knew any unsaved kids, from age 6 until I turned 18. Those are certainly formative years, but looking back, I wonder: would Jesus have suggested the same thing for a Christian kid? Would He have done the same thing?

I recall at age 6, sitting on the swing-set of my neighbor Greg, telling Him about Jesus and how great it will be to go to Heaven. Greg—probably also 6—told me that his mom and dad were going to Hell, so he wanted to go there too. I had no answer for the kid at the time, and when he moved away, I never saw him again. I honestly can’t recall another opportunity I had to share Jesus with a close friend until I got my first real job at a video store after high school.

With the constant barrage of “soul-winning” talk during youth group and school throughout those years—“be a good testimony” and “bring your neighbors to church”—I wonder now what my teachers really expected from me. On the one hand, I was supposed to avoid the unsaved. On the other hand, I was supposed to be an evangelist. How’s a kid supposed to balance such opposing standards?

Certainly, there were opportunities to share the Gospel growing up, but not in any relational way. We could share tracts. We could knock on doors. We even once had a phone-call ministry, where we basically became telemarketers for Jesus (I recall keeping a piece of scratch-paper beside my phone with tick-marks, counting how many times I got cussed at for interrupting someone’s dinner). I went on mission trips to Mexico at ages 15 and 16, but I recall being more interested in the American girls on my bus than I was in sharing the Gospel with any of the villagers.

Evangelism—But Without Relationship?

I share these stories not to berate my Baptist church from the pre-internet days, but to share that my background in Christian school and youth group trained me in the Bible but not in evangelism, no matter how often they taught about it. At no point during these “soul-winning” opportunities did the concept of relationship come into play. It was “invite your unsaved family to church” or “invite your unsaved neighbors to church” or “invite your unsaved co-workers to church.” There was little expectation that you could actually have any real friendships with these people, at least not enough to sit down over coffee and have a heart-to-heart conversation about the Savior.

To carouse with unsaved friends in that culture meant that you probably had some sort of sinful flaw, some secret desire not only to be in the world, but to be OF the world too. This cultural opinion was exactly how the Pharisees responded to Jesus. “Why would you want to have a relationship with them?”

Now many years later, after having learned from the Word and from Life the importance of relational evangelism, I seek to remedy the culture of my past, not flee it. I still have a good relationship with the churches of my youth, but—as a man devoted to intercultural work and as a man who’s been around the global block a few times—I seek to help change that culture through the teachings of Scripture.

“Soul-winning” should never be equivalent to “inviting people to church.” If your church hasn’t already equipped you to lead a friend or neighbor, family member or co-worker to Christ, then your church is failing you.

Conclusion

Jesus told his Apostles and us to be making disciples as we go out into the world. He never said, “make them come to you,” yet that’s precisely what many churches still teach in action, if not in word. Evangelism must start outside the church doors through relationships. It’s the biblical model and it cannot change to suit our flawed cultures.

Jesus didn’t join those tax collectors and sinner because he wanted to take part in their sin. He built a relationship with them over meals, because “Those who are well have not need for a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners” (v.17). We all must learn from the Teacher.

Action Points:

1) Who among your acquaintances needs the Gospel? 

  • Draft a piece of paper broken down into four categories:
    Family, Friends, Neighbors, Co-workers
  • Write down as many names as you can of non-believers that you know who fit into these categories.
  • Review these names and ask yourself:  What have I personally done to make the Gospel clear to ____?

2) Are You a Friend of Sinners?

  • Depending upon your answers to the question above, highlight the names of those non-believers to whom you have not been a good friend.
  •  Since you probably have little else to do right now during this pandemic and while America burns around us, make it a point this week to communicate with every person highlighted on your list—via e-mail, phone call, social media, etc.—with the goal of someday soon sitting down for coffee or lunch.
  • Commit this week to praying through this list of names, asking God to use you to take the Gospel to each of them, just as Jesus commanded.

©2020 E.T.

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