Mark 2:13-28

Today we're looking at two short stories that deal with the Pharisees disapproval of Jesus' choice of friends and lifestyle. There's a whole lot to unpack here, but first I want to point out something about the literary form of this passage.

In the absolutely amazing, incredible, must-have book "How to Read the Bible for All It's Worth" by Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart, they talk about the interesting charge the Gospel writers had. They had to write a historical account of the life of Jesus, record the apostles' "memoirs'," to use a modern term, and also somehow preserve the teachings of Jesus--those precious proverbs, parables, and other sayings that had been handed down word-for-word from Jesus' mouth to believers half a generation later.

I think we're starting to run across some of the sayings of Jesus here--in my opinion, the author's purpose in these particular sections (to get ahead of myself) is to record things that Jesus said, moreso than the things Jesus did. Also notice that these passages seem to be grouped according to topic, not necessarily chronology. You'll notice passages beginning with "Some people came to Jesus," "One Sabbath day," "Another time," etc.

So see if you can pick out the sayings of Jesus in these passages, those little nuggets that are straight from the Master's mouth. People in the early church memorized them, passed them along, preached sermons on them, etc. Maybe we should do the same!

Mark 2:13-22 (New International Version, ©2010)

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.”

Jesus Questioned About Fasting

 ¹⁸ Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. Some people came and asked Jesus, “How is it that John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not?”  ¹⁹ Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them. ²⁰ But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast.
   ²¹ “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. ²² And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.”

Have at it, ladies. What message do you think Jesus (and Mark) is trying to get across here?