13 He went out again beside the sea; and all the crowd gathered about him, and he taught them.
Jesus is still in Capernaum, a fishing town right by the Sea of Galilee. In this early stage of Jesus ministry he stays within Capernaum and the surrounding towns, he has not yet preached in Jerusalem according to Mark’s account. Mark narrates the story thematically Jesus starts small in the less populated towns and then at the end of the ministry ventures out to Jerusalem. Considering the yearly obligations of pilgrimage to the Temple at least three times a year, we know he would have actually gone to Jerusalem, John’s account records this but Mark chooses not to for thematic reasons.
Similar to how he approached the first four disciples for recruitment, Jesus goes to the shore which was on the perimeter of Capernaum. As a fishing village it was located right on the shore itself so one side of it faced the sea. As a fishing village, most of the population were working on this shore, Jesus uses it as a place to teach the most amount of people, he sees the beach of Galilee as his own auditorium.
14 And as he passed on, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.
As he passes on from the place he was teaching on the shore of the Sea of Galilee Jesus sees Levi the son of Alphaeus also known as Saint Matthew, the author of the Gospel. Since Capernaum is a bustling fishing hub, filled with trade and the region is under the authority of the Roman empire, it would have its own tax office. This is where people were required by Roman law to pay their taxes on their fishing profits. This is where Levi works, he is a Jewish Palestinian working for the romans.
Jesus simply tells Levi to follow him and without question, Levi does exactly that. Mark keeps this action short and sweet but great admiration should be felt when reading between the lines here. Levi is working a pretty financially rewarding job albeit socially reprehensible and this new popular rabbi has approached him, told him to follow him and he simply rises and follows. Unlike the disciples who had previous interactions with Jesus during John the Baptist’s ministry, Levi has no such history from what is told to us in the Gospels. Though considering the constant flow of people in and out of the tax office he is definitely likely to have heard of the new miraculous rabbi.
15 And as he sat at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were sitting with Jesus and his disciples; for there were many who followed him.
Mark’s account is brief in many respects and leaves some details a little ambiguous. Verse 15 simply says “And as he sat at table in his house” it does not actually clarify whose house this is. Luckily cross-referencing with the other accounts we get additional details, Luke’s Gospel explains this is Matthew’s house, here called Levi. Jesus is sat at table in Levi’s house with many tax collectors, sinners and his other disciples. This phrase at table might seem like they are just having a meeting or something but this phrase explicitly refers to eating together, clarified by the following verse.
Eating together was a sign of familial and covenantal connection. By eating with people you are essentially saying “I am in community with these people”. This is extrapolated from the Passover meal which unified those of the covenant family which in itself is the earthly representation of the divine banquet that Moses shared with God. You do not just casually eat with people, a lot of this ancient covenant context to meal eating is lost on the modern reader because we simply do not practice this style of intimacy anymore, even with our own families.
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?”
The scribes of the Pharisees see that Jesus is eating with tax collectors and sinners and catching the ear of his disciples they ask a question radiating their disapproval of his welcoming of them to a covenantal meal. “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
The Pharisees were the biggest religious-political party among the first century Judeans, they were considered the rightful inheritors of Moses’ teaching office in the same way the Sadducee party of priests were the rightful inheritors of the Aaronic and Levitical ministerial office. The scribes were legal consultants of the Law. So the legal consultants of the Pharisaic party are proposing the question.
Since tax collectors were working for the Romans in order to do their job and were collecting profits from the Judeans in order to the fund the Roman empires inherently pagan civilisation they were seen as racial and religious traitors to their people. On top of this already negative connotation they were largely corrupt and took more than they were told, extorting many poor Hebrews out of the money they worked so hard to earn. They were essentially treated like lepers and the worst of sinners, they were not included in the covenant family of common Jewry, excluded from social and religious functions but here is Jesus sharing a meal with them, the most common sign of covenantal communion.
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.”
Jesus overhears this question that the scribes have proposed to the disciples. He answers them himself by pointing out that his very decision to mingle with and eat with them is because they are sick, spiritually speaking. He uses the analogy of a doctor and the physically sick, someone healthy does not need a doctor but the sick do. Jesus positions himself as the divine physician who can heal with spiritually sick people. He is not being tarnished by eating with them, they are being purified by eating with him.
Jesus says he comes not to call the righteous, but sinners. This is kind of a trick statement, everyone knows they are not perfect or righteous, especially not these gossiping scribes. Anyone who was by some miracle already righteous at this gathering would not need fixing and also would not be complaining that he has come to those that need spiritual healing.
Leave a Reply