Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick

 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 that Jesus again entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house.  (That is, the family home of Simon Peter and Andrew, Jesus' "headquarters" in Galilee.)  Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door.  And He preached the word to them.  Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men.  And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was.  So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying.  When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven you."  And some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, "Why does this man speak blasphemies like this?  Who can forgive sins but God alone?"  But immediately, when Jesus perceive in His spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, He said to them, "Why do you reason about these things in your hearts?  Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Arise, take up your bed and walk'?  But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins" -- He said to the paralytic, "I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house."  Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, "We never saw anything like this!"

 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."  Levi is also named Matthew, author of the Gospel which bears his name.  Tax collectors were Jews, assigned to different areas by Roman overlords.  These tax collectors, backed by the might of the occupying Roman soldiers, were also free to collect extra revenues for their own profit.  My study bible says that "their collaboration with the occupying Romans, their fraud, and their corruption" caused other Jews to hate them and to consider them to be unclean (Matthew 11:19).  That Jesus not only accepts Levi/Matthew as a disciple ("Follow Me"), but also eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners is a great offense to the Pharisees and their perspective on the Jewish holy way of life.  Jesus' defense of His ministry is simple and straightforward, and it also reflects all that we have read of what He has been about with consistency:  He goes where the need of a physician is greatest.  Jesus' words give us a great deal of understanding of the perspective of His mission, and our own orientation to our faith and to our own place in the Kingdom.

 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." Typically, Jews fasted twice a week (Luke 18:12), on Monday and Thursday.  In addition to this, there were public fasts that were regularly observed or occasionally proclaimed (2 Chronicles 20:3; Ezra 8:22-23; Esther 4:16; Joel 2:15), especially on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:31-34) and in times of mourning (Zechariah 7:5; 8:19).  But, to the contrary, the day of the Messiah was seen as a wedding feast.  That is, a time of great joy and gladness, the union of God and God's people.  Jesus is here proclaiming that day, and declaring Himself to be the Messiah or Bridegroom.  My study bible says therefore of the traditional practice of fasting, that for Christians, it is not gloomy but desirable, a bright sadness, because by fasting one learns self-control and preparation for the Wedding Feast - the day of Christ's return.  In this light, the old garment and old wineskins are the Old Covenant and the Law, viewed as temporary and imperfect.  The new wineskins and the New Covenant are those in Christ.  My study bible says that the new wine is the Holy Spirit dwelling within renewed people, who cannot be constrained by the old precepts of the Law.

Jesus teaches about the new life, the New Covenant, the new wine being made in the presence of these people with His ministry.  It is the new life being brought into the world through this "news" of the Messiah who is both God and man, who sits and dines with sinners, calls all to salvation, and offers the life of the Kingdom as a great physician.  We can just imagine how despised tax collectors were.  In any similar situation today, regardless of our orientation, such a person working for an occupying power, using means of extortion on his own people, would certainly be viewed with the same kind of popular contempt.  And that teaches us something essential about Christ:  repentance through Him is available and open to all.  This is part of the reality of this new wine, this Kingdom brought into the world through His presence.  His Church is a kind of hospital, with healing of all kinds available.  This healing occurs not only on an individual level, but also on a community level.  With such an understanding it is important to note exactly how it "replaces" the Law, by fulfilling the promises and aims of the Law and expanding its work.  We note the process of expansion, which Jesus gives us in the concept of the new wine that needs new wineskins which will accommodate its expansive enzymatic action.  Packed into the beginnings of this Church is all the potential of this Kingdom in the world, mysteries unknown to us in their depth and height and breadth.  We still simply do not know, and cannot calculate, the healing power in depth and dimension of the work of the Spirit, the presence of Christ's dwelling in us and among us.  These new wineskins are still expanding to hold new wine.  But we must see them in the context of healing, redeeming, saving.  This mission for the life of the world is all about the potential in our faith, which after all is encapsulated in the notion of the wedding feast, our union with the Bridegroom.  In each of our lives, and extending to community, we don't know where that will lead us.  We only know and trust it is for a level of healing we can't see, because we are not the Physician and don't know, really, what true health looks like from our limited perspectives.  Let us understand His mission, and pray for healing, knowing that it ultimately means union with our Bridegroom at the great feast where we celebrate with new wine.