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Scripture • World English Bible
Mark 2:13–22
13He went out again by the seaside. All the multitude came to him, and he taught them.
14As he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office. He said to him, “Follow me.” And he arose and followed him.
15He was reclining at the table in his house, and many tax collectors and sinners sat down with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many, and they followed him.
16The scribes and the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with the sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why is it that he eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?”
17When Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are healthy have no need for a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
18John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting, and they came and asked him, “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples don’t fast?”
19Jesus said to them, “Can the groomsmen fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they can’t fast.
20But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day.
21No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, or else the patch shrinks and the new tears away from the old, and a worse hole is made.
22No one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the skins, and the wine pours out, and the skins will be destroyed; but they put new wine into fresh wineskins.”
World English Bible (WEB) • Public Domain
Reflection
Mark 2:13–22 shows Jesus doing three unmistakable things: he calls a sinner to follow, he eats with sinners and welcomes them, and he insists that his new work cannot be held by old forms. Each action reveals who Jesus is and how his kingdom operates.
First, notice Levi. He’s sitting at his tax booth—an occupation that usually identified him with Rome and with local corruption—and Jesus simply says, “Follow me.” Levi gets up and follows. There’s nothing sentimental or complicated about the call; it’s personal, immediate, and life-changing. Jesus’ summons reaches into the ordinary and the disreputable and invites a whole new future.
Second, Jesus sits at table with tax collectors and sinners. That table is the concrete sign of a community being formed. Eating together in that culture meant acceptance. The scribes and Pharisees object and ask, “Why is it that he eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?” Their complaint exposes a human tendency to draw circles that keep God’s mercy at bay. Jesus answers with a picture: a physician treats the sick. His mission is to pursue the spiritually ill and bring them to repentance and healing, not to praise those who think themselves already well.
Third, Jesus teaches that the new life he brings won’t fit neatly into old containers. He uses two images: the bridegroom with his groomsmen and the new wine in wineskins. While the bridegroom is present, there’s celebration, not fasting; new wine requires fresh skins. These images warn against patching the gospel onto worn forms of religion or trying to squeeze grace into structures that have hardened into mere ritual. The gospel brings transformation that reshapes people and communities; if we insist on the old ways, we may lose both the new life and the old fabric.
What does this mean for us? Jesus still calls people like Levi—people with compromised reputations, tangled pasts, and practical sins. He still welcomes them at his table. And he still demands more than cosmetic fixes: genuine repentance and a changed life. That change affects how we welcome others, how we practice discipleship, and how we steward church life. We must be ready to be made new, and to make room for the new work of Christ, even when it unsettles our preferences or traditions.
This passage also balances joy and discipline. The bridegroom image reminds us there are seasons of rejoicing in Christ’s presence and seasons of sober devotion when Jesus is not visibly with us. Fasting and other disciplines have their place, but they are not substitutes for the grace that calls and heals. The priority is relationship with Jesus; everything else flows out of that encounter.
So receive the call. Sit at his table. Let Jesus reshape your garments and your wineskins. Don’t harden your community against those Jesus wants to bring in. New life requires new shape—and the good news is that Jesus is making that newness available to anyone who will follow him.
Putting Faith Into Action
- If you’ve been waiting for a clean slate, answer Jesus’ simple call: tell him you’ll follow, name one area where you need his help, and take one practical step this week (a confession, a counsel meeting, or a practical change) toward it.
- Practice hospitality that welcomes outcasts: invite one person who feels marginalized or overlooked in your circles to share a meal, listen without judging, and offer prayer and practical care.
- Examine one church practice or personal habit that tries to hold the new wine in an old wineskin—then commit to either reforming it or letting Christ remake it through prayer, discussion, and a small experiment in your group.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, you called sinners and welcomed them to your table. Call me, change me, and give me courage to welcome others without judgment. Help me to be a fresh wineskin for your new wine—flexible, open, and ready for the work you want to do. Amen.
Memory Verse
Mark 2:17 — When Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are healthy have no need for a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” (WEB)
“When Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are healthy have no need for a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.””
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Bible Context
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Bible Context
Read all of Mark 2
Mark 2
World English Bible • WEB
1When he entered again into Capernaum after some days, it was heard that he was at home.
2Immediately many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even around the door; and he spoke the word to them.
3Four people came, carrying a paralytic to him.
4When they could not come near to him for the crowd, they removed the roof where he was. When they had broken it up, they let down the mat that the paralytic was lying on.
5Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.”
6But there were some of the scribes sitting there and reasoning in their hearts,
7“Why does this man speak blasphemies like that? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
8Immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you reason these things in your hearts?
9Which is easier, to tell the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven;’ or to say, ‘Arise, and take up your bed, and walk’?
10But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic—
11“I tell you, arise, take up your mat, and go to your house.”
12He arose, and immediately took up the mat and went out in front of them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”
13He went out again by the seaside. All the multitude came to him, and he taught them.
14As he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office. He said to him, “Follow me.” And he arose and followed him.
15He was reclining at the table in his house, and many tax collectors and sinners sat down with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many, and they followed him.
16The scribes and the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with the sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why is it that he eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?”
17When Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are healthy have no need for a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
18John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting, and they came and asked him, “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples don’t fast?”
19Jesus said to them, “Can the groomsmen fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they can’t fast.
20But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day.
21No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, or else the patch shrinks and the new tears away from the old, and a worse hole is made.
22No one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the skins, and the wine pours out, and the skins will be destroyed; but they put new wine into fresh wineskins.”
23He was going on the Sabbath day through the grain fields; and his disciples began, as they went, to pluck the ears of grain.
24The Pharisees said to him, “Behold, why do they do that which is not lawful on the Sabbath day?”
25He said to them, “Did you never read what David did when he had need and was hungry—he, and those who were with him?
26How he entered into God’s house at the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the show bread, which is not lawful to eat except for the priests, and gave also to those who were with him?”
27He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.
28Therefore the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”
World English Bible (WEB) • Public Domain