Devotional Thoughts for Today
Mark 2:13-17
He went out again beside the sea, and all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them. 14 And 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. 15 And 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. 16 And 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?” 17 And 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.”
In this passage, we see Jesus calling Levi—better known to us as Matthew, the author of the first Gospel—to be one of His disciples. The first thing we learn about this man is his occupation, that he is a tax collector. Now, as much as we might dislike taxes and tax collectors, the typical Jew would have had a bitter hatred for tax collectors—especially if they were one of their countrymen. And this hatred would have been justified because tax collectors were employees of the occupying Roman Empire and their governors. The Jews absolutely hated Roman control over their land, and so collecting taxes for the Romans would have been viewed as a traitorous act. Therefore, the only people who would be willing to take such a job would have been those who were desperate for money and already outcasts of society. If you have already been rejected by society, what does it matter if you are cast out even further? At a certain point you have nothing to lose and everything to gain by betraying a society that has already betrayed you. Why Matthew chose to become a tax collector, we don’t know, but we do know that he was very comfortable being around other “sinners.”
For these reasons, it is amazing that Jesus called this man to “follow him,” and to make him one of His leaders. There are only two call narratives in the Gospel of Mark: the first is the calling of two pairs of brothers, Simon and Andrew, James and John. It’s clear why Mark mentions these particular men because three of them would go on to form the nucleus of Jesus’ ministry. But after that, there is no mention of how the other eight men were called—except for Levi. And so what does this tell us? There is something significant about the calling of Mathew, because it is one thing to make disciples of fisherman, and a totally different thing to make a tax collector a disciple. There is nothing morally objectionable about being a fishermen—you might not be the most educated person or have any sort of position in society but can still be a respectable person. But a tax collector has lost all respectability and has become an outcast of society; no respectable religious leader would have kept company with such a person. But we see here that Jesus not only keeps company with such people, but He makes them disciples and identifies with them.
Jesus goes on to have dinner with Matthew and his band of “sinners.” This group would have included adulterers, prostitutes, thieves, and others on the fringe of society. By having dinner with them, Jesus was extending a hand of friendship to this group. Jesus is the friend of sinners and He longs to dine with us. When Mark wrote the description of this dinner, he used the Greek word katakeisthai, which is a far more formal and luxurious term than the usual meaning of the word “dinner.” This was not a group of friends getting together for an informal gathering. Rather, Matthew would have taken out the best of his silverware and cooked the most expensive of foods. The better term here might be the word “banquet,” because I believe it’s safe to assume that in this dinner, Mark saw a symbol of the great Messianic banquet at the end of age, when all sinners will be gathered together with Christ for a wedding feast. And at the feast of heaven, there will be people that we will not expect to be there, occupying the seats of honor. Perhaps that homeless person that you drive by everyday, who struggled all his life to maintain his faith in the midst of poverty and dementia, will be seated at a place of great honor. Perhaps sitting next to you will be former drug addicts, prostitutes, and others who were lost, but somehow they were found and gave their lives to the Lord. We can all look forward to the day when every sinner invited to the banqueting tables of God will rejoice with their Savior. What a glorious day that will be!
Prayer: Father, we are forever grateful that You call sinners to Yourself and that You sent Your Son to be the friend of sinners. We acknowledge that it is by Your grace that all are saved and not by our own righteousness. Though we didn’t deserve the love that was shown to us on the Cross, help us to receive it. We look forward to the day when we sit with our Savior and dine with Him. Amen.
Bible Reading for Today: Judges 2-3
In this passage, Jesus gives the crowd physical evidence of His spiritual authority to forgive sin. But in order to prove to the religious leaders and skeptics that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sin, He commands the paralyzed man to rise up and pick up his mat. From man’s perspective, we would conclude that it is far more difficult to command a physical healing, because you can’t prove if someone’s sins are forgiven. However, from God’s perspective, the forgiveness of sin comes at a far greater price and is a much more difficult thing—something only God can do.
A great number of evangelical, Bible-believing Christians don’t truly believe that God performs miraculous healings today. These views are largely shaped by the negative publicity of healing ministries and their leaders, who make a fortune on the misfortune of others. Investigations show little documented evidence of the names and illnesses that they have healed, and some even use actors to fake healings. These ministries seem to be a far cry from the way Jesus healed in the Gospels, and appear to be driven more by money than faith.
What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus Christ? The topic of discipleship is something that I’ve thought about since my time in seminary. I vividly remember our New Testament professor asking the class, “How many of you consider yourself to be Christian?” I wasn’t sure if this was a trick question, but it certainly was the easiest question we’ve been asked in seminary; so all of us raised our hands confidently. But after our response, the professor asked the hardest question in my years of theological training: “How many of you consider yourself to be a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ?” I remember looking around the room, and at first no one raised their hand, and then about five of us in a class of twenty reluctantly put our hands up. Now you need to realize that this was a class of third year seminary students, many of whom had decided to make ministry a full-time career. Yet we were unsure and confused about what discipleship to Christ meant. And then my professor taught me a lesson that I will never forgot and one that I hope you will never forget. In the New Testament, there is no distinction between being a Christian and being a disciple of Christ—they are one and the same.
Each of the four Gospels begins with differing points of view and emphasis according to each author and audience. The Gospel of Mark begins the story of Jesus Christ, not by tracing His genealogy down a long list of names or even going back to a certain point in time, but it begins with a location. From the vantage point of this particular Gospel, I believe the Spirit of God is interested in teaching us that the gospel had its beginnings in the wilderness. And as we recognize this theme being played out here in this first chapter of Mark, we need to ask ourselves what is the significance of the wilderness.
The AMI QT Devotionals from March 5-11 are provided by Pastor Mark Chun of Radiance Christian Church in S. F. Mark, a graduate of University of California, San Diego, and Talbot School of Theology (M.Div.), has been married to Mira for 20 years; they have two children, Jeremiah and Carissa.
The Gospel of Mark opens with John the Baptist’s acknowledgment of the superiority of Jesus’ ministry, based on one very important distinction—the nature of their baptisms. We read that while John baptized his followers in water, Jesus came to baptize His disciples in the Holy Spirit. John clearly saw the limitation of his own ministry, and in this passage he talks about the fact that his own work is limited to baptism by water.
My father passed away the summer of 2017. For many years of his life, he faithfully served as an elder at a large Korean church. I still remember as a kid how happy he was in becoming an elder. His primary function as an elder was to lead and direct the choir, since he had studied music in college; so he faithfully directed the choir to sing songs of worship every Sunday for over two decades. He was also given opportunities to travel throughout parts of the world with the choir on their short-term mission trips—he enjoyed them so much! Those privileges and responsibilities given to him truly motivated him to work even more diligently, preparing Sunday after Sunday. He’d stay up for hours writing and re-writing some of the music pieces for the choir members. Of course, his pursuit of excellence and the hours and hours he put into his preparation also led to a certain set of expectations for the choir members; thus, he also become known as the “scary” elder, as he would at times yell at choir members for not performing to his high standards.
My wife sometimes gets in the mood for jigsaw puzzles, so we’ll get out a 500 or a 1000 pieces puzzle set and get to work putting the picture together. You can spend hours or even days putting the puzzle together, depending on the picture. I’ve asked people their opinions on puzzles; while some feel that it is a total waste of valuable time, others enjoy the satisfaction of finding the matching pieces as they rummage through hundreds of pieces searching for that match. Our family enjoys jigsaw puzzles as our children also get involved.
Today’s AMI QT Devotional is provided by Rebecca Wong, who is currently serving as the Children’s Ministry Director at Kairos Christian Church. Rebecca is a graduate of Point Loma Nazarene University with a degree in Media Communications.
What is the first word you associate with the word “dysfunctional”? Unfortunately, it wouldn’t be a glitching laptop, a broken zipper, or even a failing organ. I think most people would think of either “family” or “relationship.” Never in the history of mankind has there ever been a “perfect family”—and I think each and every one of us can personally attest to this. We can even see dysfunctional families all throughout the Bible: Adam and his wife playing the blame game right at the beginning of time, their son killing his own brother, Abraham’s family tree of adultery, lies, deceit, and betrayal, and David and his sons targeting each other for the throne—just to name a few of the big ones.
Today’s AMI QT Devotional is provided by Charles Graham. Charles is a new intern with Kairos, who came aboard in September of 2017. He is currently studying at Talbot School of Theology to prepare himself for a life of service and ministry.
At the end of Genesis 49, we see Jacob pass away. Genesis 50 wastes no time illustrating the immediate effect of Jacob’s death on his son, Joseph. Joseph is crushed at his father’s passing, made evident by his actions: hurling of himself at Jacob’s body, weeping and kissing him. To fully appreciate the sentiment here, we have to grasp the biblical understanding of weeping. When the biblical writers describe an instance of someone weeping, they do not mean soft sobbing and a few tears. No, weeping in their eyes is instead a strong, sometimes uncontrollable act of lamentation. Jacob’s death, in fact, carries such weight that all of Egypt mourns his passing for 70 days, just two days less than that of a Pharaoh’s.