I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance

Then He went out again by the sea; and all the multitude came to Him, and he taught them. As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, "Follow Me." So he arose and followed Him. Now it happened, as He was dining in Levi's house, that many tax collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus and his disciples; for there were many, and they followed Him. And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, "How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?" When Jesus heard it, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."

The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were fasting. Then they came and said to Him, "Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?" And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast. But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days. No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; or else the new piece pulls away from the old; and the tear is made worse. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins."

- Mark 2:13-22

In yesterday's reading, we read the story of the paralytic who was let down through the roof of the house where Jesus was preaching, in order to be healed. The house, of course, was packed with people, and at this early point in Mark's Gospel, Jesus' fame is already widespread. People come from all directions to hear Him and see Him. He displays His divinity, saying that He, as Son of Man, has the power "on earth" to forgive sins, while the scribes wonder in their hearts how this can be. Jesus says, "Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Arise, take up your bed and walk'?" And to everyone's astonishment, this is exactly what happens. See That you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins.

Then He went out again by the sea; and all the multitude came to Him, and he taught them. As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, "Follow Me." So he arose and followed Him. My study bible points out that Levi (otherwise known as Matthew, and the author of the first Gospel in the New Testament) "is the only one of the Twelve with a powerful position in society and presumably an education. He probably already heard of Jesus. Follow Me is a divine call, a command, not merely a suggestion. Of course, Matthew, like anyone receiving a call, must respond by his own free will." Mark gives us this "call" in the same way He gave us the call to the first-called disciples: the brothers Simon (Peter) and Andrew, and the brothers John and James Zebedee. It is very simply and directly put. One gets the impression in this earliest-written Gospel that the necessity was to record the call, what is essential for discipleship, and not a whole history of what has come before. This Gospel has its own feel, and sometimes details are essential to the picture, and sometimes they are not. All are like vignettes, realities captured in icons, and Mark teaches us a lot about the perspective of the early Church. We can't read this text as a history book, but as marked scenes for our understanding of the unfolding of our faith, teaching us about how it works and how we grow in discipleship and how grace is at work in the life of Jesus and all that He does and touches (and those who are called).

Now it happened, as He was dining in Levi's house, that many tax collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus and his disciples; for there were many, and they followed Him. My study bible says: "In dining with sinners, Jesus shows the Kingdom's openness to the outcast, and its destruction of the barrier between sinful men and God. Jesus recognizes these people as a definable group. It is possible to follow Jesus and remain in one's social class; however, friends no longer come first." Jesus, in this sense, forms a new group. Discipleship conveys with it the bonds that become community, redefining all relationships. We get the picture here of many tax collectors and sinners following Him - here is the good news for them: the man who has the power to forgive (see yesterday's reading).

And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, "How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?" A note here reads: "The teachers of the Law sought to expel evil; Christ comes to transform it. Jesus does not become unclean by contact with the unclean. Rather, His touch makes the unclean clean." This note reminds us again of the healing of the leper in a previous reading, and the themes in Mark recur. One can only imagine the stunned perspective of the leadership, the scribes and Pharisees. Jesus presents us with a radical picture, just after He has shocked them by His suggestion that He has the power to forgive sins.

When Jesus heard it, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance." Here is the powerful flip-side of the coin of forgiveness: the power to forgive is necessary for those who need healing, and this Gospel does not separate forgiveness from healing (refer again to yesterday's reading and the healing of the paralytic). My study bible notes: "Christ came to save and heal, not to judge (John 1:17; 3:17). There are righteous people who do dead works (actions which are good in themselves but are motivated by legalism rather than by love) and keep people from God. True righteousness comes through faith and is accompanied by wholesome works. Many Pharisees were masters of dead works; some tax collectors and many sinners would become masters of true righteousness."

The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were fasting. Then they came and said to Him, "Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?" And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast." Here we get a picture of the centrality of Christ to our spiritual lives, and there is no doubt this is a statement of divinity. Christ calls Himself the bridegroom, and the people (His disciples) are His bride. My study bible calls this "an expression of the messianic joy which accompanies the presence of Christ." Many see in this picture a revealing of the Eucharist, the Presence in the feast.

"As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast. But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days." There are times to fast, and times not to fast -- clearly this meal, with all included at the table with Christ, is a time for celebration and joy and union. And forgiveness and its healing power can't be separate from this joyful time: it is the thread that runs through it. We practice fasting in order to fast from sin; it is a kind of development of discipline that teaches us how we can practice discernment, and learn the detachment necessary for making choices. In the presence of the power of forgiveness and union the goal of fasting is manifest: we are restored to ourselves in union with Christ; He is our joy. My study bible says that "fasting is not to be neglected as unimportant, or as smacking of 'works of salvation.' Jesus clearly states His disciples will fast. Refusal to fast . . . causes one to miss a great spiritual blessing."

"No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; or else the new piece pulls away from the old; and the tear is made worse. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins." My study bible says that "this is not a blanket condemnation of Old Testament traditions, which Christ came to fulfill, not to destroy (Matt. 5:27). Rather, this verse stresses the newness of Christ's teaching. The old and the new cannot mix." Jesus' radical departure from the past is powerful and complete in the same sense in which the Pharisees and scribes may be shocked at what they see. The power of forgiveness creates a new sort of energy, a new reality, so that the picture of tax collectors and sinners feasting with this holy man seems utterly incongruent. It creates a picture such that it is not just a patch on the old, and neither can those who are unable to embrace or grasp the new be a part of it.

There is a radical departure here in the sense that the good news of forgiveness and therefore healing and restoration requires new perspectives, a real "change of mind" (the literal meaning of the Greek word for repentance) in everyone in order to receive it. Those who sit at table with Christ are the "new wineskins" in some sense. They can receive this new understanding, and they are joyful for it. It's also a poetic metaphor that the work of grace, of forgiveness, itself is what creates the new, and "renews." Over and over again we are given reminders of making new: starting with John the Baptist's preparation of baptism and repentance, Jesus' baptism renewing the waters, and the healings we have so far witnessed. In the Eucharistic sense of the world returned to Creator, everything is "made new." And this is the good news, the source of the joyful banquet. To be made new, forgiven and loved, restored to Creator is truly our joy. And this is the sense I believe we should take away from this reading; in exchange for the old we are given joy, utter happiness at restoration and renewal. Too often we forget that this great prize of grace, of the Bridegroom Himself, is our joy. Can you accept the gift?