“13 Jesus went out again beside the sea; the whole crowd gathered around him, and he taught them. 14 As he was walking along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax-collection station, and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he got up and followed him.
15 And as he sat at dinner in Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were also sitting with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16 When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, they said to his disciples, ‘Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?’ 17 When Jesus heard this, he said to them, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician but those who are sick; I have not come to call the righteous but sinners’” Mark 2:13-17.
Levi responds to Jesus’ call as promptly as the fishermen did and gets up and follows Jesus. Here we see that Jesus does more than just preach repentance to sinners, He befriends them! This display of openness to sinners appalls the Pharisees. There dismay leads Jesus to comment about the sick needing a physician. As their physician Jesus heals them of their illness being sinners. But this is why Jesus came, to reach out to all of us sin-sick people to bring about healing and transformation in our lives. His goal isn’t just to get together to have a meal, or to gather to have some fun and memorable times. Instead of sorting each of us holy and unholy, clean and unclean, righteous and sinners, Jesus came to heal us by gathering us all under the wings of God’s grace and love.
Know that God loves you and floods you with His grace. Know that He wants to gather you into His heart. Today pray for the healing and mercy of Jesus Christ. Repent and follow Him!
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner.
From the Bible:
“Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” Hebrews 4:16.
“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved” Ephesians 2:4-5.
“Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful” Luke 6:36.
“Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, “‘Return, faithless Israel, declares the Lord. I will not look on you in anger, for I am merciful, declares the Lord; I will not be angry forever” Jeremiah 3:12.
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