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

 

 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 

 

Yesterday we read that again Jesus entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house.  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 perceived 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.   Levi the son of Alphaeus is also known to us as Matthew, and is the apostle whose Gospel bears that name (Matthew 9:9).  

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."   My study Bible explains that Roman overlords assigned specific areas to Jewish tax collectors, who then were free to collect extra revenues for their own profit.  This would amount to a type of extortion backed by Roman might at their disposal.  Therefore, their collaboration with the occupying Romans, couple with their fraud and corruption caused other Jews to hate them and to consider them unclean (Matthew 11:19).  As Jesus dines and accepts a tax collector as His disciple ("Follow Me"), He offends the scribes and Pharisees.  But Christ's defense is simple, says My study Bible.  He goes where the need of a physician is greatest.  He did not come to call the righteous, He says, but sinners, to repentance.  In Matthew's version of this story, Jesus quotes from the prophesy of Hosea, "I desire mercy, and not sacrifice" (Hosea 6:6; Matthew 9:13).  

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."  Here my study Bible explains to us that the Jews typically fasted twice a week (Luke 18:12), on Monday and Thursday.  Additionally, there were public fasts which were regularly observed or occasionally proclaimed (2 Chronicles 20:3; Ezra 8:21; Esther 4:16; Joel 2:15), particularly on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:31-34) and in times of mourning (Zechariah 7:5, 8:19).  But for the Jews, the day of the Messiah was a wedding feast.  That is, a time of joy and gladness.  Here Jesus proclaims that day, and declares Himself to be the Messiah or Bridegroom.  My study Bible adds that for Christians, fasting is not gloomy but rather desirable -- often called a bright sadness.  For by fasting we gain self-control and prepare ourselves for this Wedding Feast.  The old garment and old wineskins are images of the Old Covenant and the Law, which is viewed in this perspective as imperfect and temporary.  The new wineskins are the New Covenant and those in Christ.  My study Bible elaborates that the new wine is the Holy Spirit dwelling within renewed people, who cannot be constrained by the old precepts of the Law. 

 So how do we, as Christians, understand the Holy Spirit dwelling within us as renewed people?  For most Christian denominations, the Holy Spirit is a gift conferred at Holy Baptism.  In this light, we understand fasting and ascetic practices as those things designed for us to pay attention to this gift within ourselves, so that we might focus more deeply on the things of the Spirit, and see where God leads us to make us holy people.  This works not just as individuals but as a community living the life of our faith.  So, in today's reading, we have these mixed images of fasting and a wedding feast.  Christ announces that He is the Bridegroom, and more than a bridegroom.  For He is also Physician.  The Pharisees and scribes are scandalized that He calls tax collectors to be His disciples.  As we indicated in yesterday's reading and commentary, for the Jews, sin was a kind of contaminant, akin (and sometimes synonymous) with disease.  We can see that in the attitudes of the Pharisees and scribes to Christ dining with people who were considered to be sinners.  But Christ brings several things into this picture of what was considered to be ascetic or pious practice.  First, He characterizes Himself as Physician, indicating that sin is something not simply put aside somewhere and projected outside of oneself and community, but something that needed to be healed.  Moreover, in and through Himself, sin was possible to heal.  Therefore the new wineskins -- that must be used for a new people (new wine) are necessary, because this new understanding, this new covenant, is something that needs room to grow.  It must be able to expand, and its dynamic action is something that must be allowed to grow and to change our experience of sin and holiness.  The enzymatic action that produces new wine needs to be allowed to expand.  It is akin to the work of the Holy Spirit, and makes a metaphor to grace that works as energies to transform and transfigure.  In other words, to heal what needs changing.  It's the whole notion of healing in itself that is new here, and it is the gospel message of Jesus Christ.  Therefore, even fasting becomes transfigured; as my study Bible calls it, a time of bright sadness.  This is because, in the words of St. Paul, we fast based on a hope of something to come.  St. Paul writes, "For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance" (Romans 8:22-25).  Fasting and other ascetic practices prepare us, as my study Bible says, for the Wedding Feast, the time of the Bridegroom.  These practices are meant to help us to focus on the indwelling of the Spirit, removing the distractions that keep us away from this faithful focus.  We fast from the things that distract us from prayer and worship and the remembrance of God and where we are within God's community.  We fast from the things that keep us from hearing the things we need to change.  For this is the real meaning of repentance, to change one's mind.   So let us deeply focus on what is happening in today's reading, the healing of sin and sinners, the Physician and Bridegroom -- who does not repudiate fasting altogether, but rather transfigures it as He does all things He touches, even as He calls Matthew the tax collector to follow Him.