Mark 2:13-17 Unexpected Members

First Things: Devotions in Mark’s Gospel

Mark 2:13-17 Unexpected Members

Overheard at Thanksgiving, someone mentioned talking to a couple of old men on separate occasions. They looked like retired, small-town farmers, still wearing their overalls. And they had money. Who would have known they were millionaires? I guess selling farmland is a good gig if you can get it.

But these men were, come to find out, unexpected members of the millionaires club. Why unexpected? Because they looked just like the guys scraping by on their social security checks.

This passage, Mark 2:13-17, also contains “unexpected members.” It may have something to do with money, since tax collectors had too much of “my” money and yours, especially under the system in far-off lands in the days of the Roman Empire. But they were not unexpected members of a rich club, but rather unexpected members of “the Jesus Circle.” What in the world are they doing here?

Jesus’ command to Levi, the tax collector, was just like his command to the fishermen: “Follow me.” And he did, leaving everything behind. He immediately invited Jesus to his house, along with, we assume, the other disciples. The house was filled with Levi’s friends, also tax collectors. The text says that “there were many of them, and they were following Him.” This is not what we would have expected. It should have been the religious, the Biblically educated, who flocked to and followed after Jesus. But it was the opposite. Jesus’ Circle is filled with unexpected members.

Do you regard yourself as an “unexpected member” of Jesus’ circle? Or, do you silently think, “Well, of course I’m a part of that circle. After all, I’m …”  And how would you finish that sentence? Because you are an American? Because you are a Baptist (or, some other)? Because you were raised in a Christian home? Because you give money or do nice things for people? We should be very careful, because there will be many American Baptists (or some other) raised in Christian homes who give money and do nice things who, unexpectedly, are not and will not be part of Jesus’ Circle.

That any one of us is saved by grace is and must be, from our own point of view, unexpected. We do not deserve it. We cannot earn it. God’s grace does not honor pedigree or play favorites. He delights in the salvation of Zacchaeus, and Levi, and perhaps .. unexpectedly, you. Unexpected members.