Mark 2:13-17

1. Position yourself to hear God

2. Pore over the passage and paraphrase the main points

3. Pull out the spiritual principles

4. Pose the question

5. Plan obedience and pin down a date

Mark 2:13-17 (NIV)

Jesus Calls Levi and Eats With Sinners

¹³ Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. ¹⁴ As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.

¹⁵ While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. ¹⁶ When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

¹⁷ On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Paraphrase

• Jesus was teaching the crowd and passed by Levi, the Tax Collector and said to follow Him.  He obeyed.
• Jesus fellowshipped with sinners and tax collectors
• The Pharisees judged Jesus in who He was spending time with.  Jesus explained that it is the sick who need a doctor

Principles

• There was automatic obedience from Levi when Jesus called him
• We need to be spending time with unbelievers as they are the ones that need Jesus
• We are not to be judgmental in how we view people

Questions

• Are there areas in my life where I am not obedient?
• Am I willing to share the Gospel with those that need to hear it?
• Am I judgmental in my thoughts towards people?