Mark 2:13-22 (NRSV)
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 booth, 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 come to call not the righteous but sinners.”
18 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?” 19 Jesus said to them, “The wedding guests cannot fast while the bridegroom is with them, can they? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. 20 The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast on that day.
21 “No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old cloak; otherwise, the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. 22 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost, and so are the skins; but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins.”
Mark 2:13-22 relates a story about the call of Levi, a pronouncement story on Jesus eating with sinners, and sayings regarding fasting.
Mark 2:13-14 is a story about Jesus involving call of Levi. We can see how the disciple gathering by Jesus relates to the controversy he generated. Part of the ministry of Jesus in Galilee involves the testing and crossing of sacred boundaries in religion and culture. One cannot confine or domesticate the reign of God to any one piety or tradition.
13 Jesus went out again beside the sea; the whole crowd gathered around him, and he taught them.The teaching of Jesus will contribute to the controversy he will have with the religious authorities. 14 As he was walking along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, who Mark 3:16-19 does not include in the list of disciples and thus he may not have considered Levi in that group, and he said to him, “Follow me,” as Jesus said to the first disciples. Levi got up and followed him. Given the social standing of those who collected taxes among the Jewish people for the Romans, Levi may well have been ripe for a career change. The response is immediate. For him, this response represents a major career change! The point is to provide to the reader a typical or ideal Christian response.
Such a call places the mission of Jesus at odds with the prevailing religious and cultural mores of his time. Jewish contemporaries viewed tax collectors as crooked and unclean since they were the intermediaries of the Roman taxation system. Levi, as an occupant of a tax office, would have been a bottom feeder within this system. As such, he would not have profited like Zacchaeus from a taxation franchise but would have probably been a mere employee within such an operation. In this sense, Levi is in social double jeopardy. He is too low in the tax system to benefit from its graft. Yet, he receives the taint on his life and character by his association with it. To just such an outsider the invitation of Jesus to follow comes. Understandably, Levi takes him up on the offer.
Few people make important life choices with any degree of decisiveness. We backtrack here and compromise there. We lack the courage to stand by our decisions. The result is that many of us remain in a continual state of anxiety. Thus, we may have the attitude of those without a plan for our lives. We have the day-to-day attitude of receiving whatever comes our way. We may have a fatalistic and defeatist attitude. We have no clearly defined opinion of the direction of our lives. We can then cling so strongly and stubbornly to an idea that we become fanatical. Our vacillation is a symptom that we can trace back to our fear of responsibility. Our indecision is the fruit.[1]
Is the risen Lord calling us to re-evaluate how we are spending our time, our lives, and our careers? Is he challenging us to break down and bust up the barrier between office and vocation, between what we do for a living and what we do to serve God? Is he inviting us to use our time, talents, and treasures for more than business building and wealth creation? While we certainly can serve God wherever we are, we may be at a Levi moment in our lives. We have been going along with what is familiar, but the risen Lord may call us to embark upon a path toward something greater. The greater issue is not so much career, but the call and challenge to become increasingly like Christ.
Mark 2:15-17 is a pronouncement story concerning eating with sinners. We read of how the disciple gathering by Jesus contributes to the controversy he will have with religious authorities. It may even seem like a mundane thing, yet the company Jesus keeps generates controversy. Part of the ministry of Jesus in Galilee involves testing and crossing sacred boundaries in religion and culture. He shows and teaches us as readers that one can confine or domesticate the rule of God.
15 As Jesus sat at dinner in Levi’s house, suggesting Levi made the invitation to dinner soon after his response to the call of Jesus, many tax collectors and sinners were also sitting with Jesus and his disciples—for there were many who followed him. We should note the importance of the inclusion of tax gatherers and sinners in the table fellowship, which guarantees participation in eschatological salvation. The participation is from God. It means the rescuing of the lost. Those who accept the message are no longer outcasts. They share in the salvation of the rule of God. The presence of salvation also relates to the removal of the barrier that separates from God.[2] 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?” Historically, the Pharisees were interested in Jesus because their group had much in common with his mission. Both were reform movements within Judaism that challenged the temple system and the ways in which that system had served to confine the expression of their faith. As a domestically based tradition, Pharisaism was very much concerned with table practice, the serving of meals and the extension of hospitality. Mark Twain called it “being good in the worst sense of the word.” Many of us look down at others: homosexuals, drinkers, fundamentalist Christians, loud teenagers, and so on. Jesus did not do that. Jesus invites us to be understanding with others and the issues with which they struggle. We all have them. He invites us to be an example of accepting love, so that others may wish to be like us. We can note again that his table fellowship with tax collectors and sinners was part of what surrounded the ministry of Jesus with ambivalence that led to rejection and offense of his person.[3] 17 When Jesus heard this, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. This saying is a secular proverb that Jesus uses here to instruct the religious people of his day. There is a parallel in Gospel Fragment 1224 5:2, which says, “Those in good health don’t need a doctor.” Some scholars think it may reflect an earlier version of the saying than we find in Mark. I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.” Jesus does not categorically deny the validity of the Pharisees' faith. Indeed, he refers to them as "the righteous." They are not outside the project of the rule of God. In fact, Jesus characterizes them as already inside. Therefore, he is not concerned with them. His concern is to broaden the circle to include those whom the Pharisees have placed outside, to expand the table, and to call more folks to live in the present reality of the rule of God. Yes, Jesus came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10) and Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners (I Timothy 1:15). Jesus wants his contemporaries to see that the reality of the rule of God is near and among them, especially in those religious authorities have labeled as outsiders. We can see the rule of God in those with whom we associate around food, friends, and family. He wants his righteous contemporaries to see, know, and taste the goodness of the rule of God among us. Yet, Jesus gave offense due to those included in his table fellowship. The meals Jesus held or shared characterized his coming and the conduct of his disciples. When he accepted invitations from others, he made known his readiness to grant fellowship with him to those who issued the invitation. Others felt this to be especially scandalous in some cases because by his participation the table fellowship that he granted or accepted became a sign of the presence of the reign of God that he proclaimed and a sign of the acceptance of the other participants into the future community of salvation. The granting of acceptance of table fellowship by Jesus removed everything that separated people from God and his salvation. It meant the forgiveness of sins, so that table fellowship was a real symbol of fellowship with God and of participation in the future of the reign of God.[4]
The story arises out of the controversy Jesus had with the Judaism of his day and had continuing significance as the church in Israel continued in its struggle with Judaism. The matter of table fellowship remained a struggle within the early church, for even Cephas, who had come to Antioch, ate with Gentiles until representatives from James came into the city. He withdrew table fellowship out of his fear of those parts of the early church who thought that circumcision should still be an important Christian rite (Galatians 2:11-12).[5]
Mark 2:18-22 is a pronouncement and other sayings concerning fasting. We read of the teaching and practice of Jesus around the matter of food will generate controversy with religious authorities. To us, a matter such as food seems mundane. Yet, he is testing and crossing sacred boundaries in religion and culture. He is teaching and showing how one cannot confine or domesticate the rule of God to one piety or tradition.
18 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?” This distinguishing between the disciples of John and Jesus is interesting. It at least suggests some time later in the ministry of Jesus. However, Mark is following the pattern of many rabbinical stories that frequently connect sayings with events. In this case, the criticism of the disciples of Jesus is a way to offer implied criticism of Jesus. 19 Jesus said, in a proverbial saying, to them, “The wedding guests cannot fast while the bridegroom is with them, can they? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. Fasting and a wedding are incompatible. Guests do not fast, at least if the celebration is going on. Tasty food, appropriate dress, and adequate wine ordinarily go with a wedding celebration. Jesus enjoyed eating, drinking, and participating in weddings. Jesus and his disciples did not fast, in contrast to the disciples of John and the Pharisees. This verse speaks of the rule of God as present. The question theologically is how such a saying relates to other sayings that suggest the rule of God is yet to come.[6] The time of his presence with his disciples is a time of eschatological joy.[7] 20 The days will come when the bridegroom is no longer among them, and then they will fast on that day. The saying may not understand Jesus as the groom who has departed. Yet, as the faithful read it after Easter, it suggests Jesus is the Messianic bridegroom. It becomes like apocalyptic sayings regarding the Son of Man. The rule of God promised in apocalyptic has at least proleptically arrived in Jesus. We can read the saying, at least post-Easter, considering the eschatological understanding of the Christ event. Jesus calls people to see the rule of God as near and among them. We can see the reality of that rule even in the mundane and trivial matter of food. We will see it in how we live. Thus, if Jesus is present, fasting is not appropriate. Yet, the saying permits the return of fasting into the lives of those that follow Jesus.
[1] Johann Arnold, Seeking Peace (Pennsylvania: The Plough Publishing House, 1998), 140.
[2] Pannenberg, Systematic Theology Volume 2, 332.
[3] Pannenberg, Systematic Theology Volume 2, 335-6.
[4] Pannenberg, Systematic Theology Volume 3, 284-5.
[5] Galatians 2:11-12 11 But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood self-condemned; 12 for until certain people came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But after they came, he drew back and kept himself separate for fear of the circumcision faction.
[6] Pannenberg, Systematic Theology Volume 2, 328.
[7] Pannenberg, Systematic Theology Volume 2, 331.
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