Bible Study Series: Mark 2:13-17 Matthew-Levi said yes. What about you?
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I also translate to learn. The translations are mine, unless otherwise noted. If you would like to see many others, please click here:
If you would like to see the original Greek, please click here:
At that link, I also offer more commentary and a Summary and Conclusion, geared towards discipleship. Scroll down to the bottom and check it out!
Let’s begin.
Scripture: Mark 2:13-17
13 And he again went out along the lake of Galilee, and all the people were coming to him. And he was teaching them. 14 And as he was going along, he saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus, sitting at his tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” Then he got up and followed him. 15 And it happened that Levi invited him to recline at table at his house, and many tax collectors and sinners reclined at table with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16 Then the teachers of the law allied with the Pharisees, seeing that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, were saying to his disciples, “For what reason does he eat with tax collectors and sinners? 17 Then Jesus, hearing this, said to them, “The healthy have no need of healing, but those having sickness do. I have come not to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Mark 2:13-17)
To find out a little more about who Matthew / Levi was, please see the post:
The Meaning of the Names of the Twelve Apostles
On v. 14, Wessel and Strauss write of Levi’s / Matthew’s identity:
But the easier and more likely explanation is that “Matthew” and “Levi” are two names for the same person. “Levi” may have been his given name and “Matthew” (“gift of God”) his apostolic name (cf. “Simon Peter”). Or perhaps both names were given at birth. Another one of the twelve is names “James son of Alphaeus,” perhaps Levi’s brother.
13:
“teaching”: The verb means to instruct or tell or teach (BDAG), sometimes in a formal setting like a classroom or another confined setting, other times in a casual setting. He spoke with authority, unlike the teachers of the law and Pharisees (Luke 4:32; Matt. 7:28-29). This is what the Spirit does through a surrendered heart and mind. It was his habit and custom to enter their synagogues and teach the people, or sometimes he taught by the lakeside. He combined a teaching and healing ministry. His insight into Scripture was profound. Some Christians of the fiery variety don’t teach, but evangelize and shriek and freak, after they read one verse or two, and put on a show. How much time do they put in to study the word? Jesus had a full ministry: teaching, healing, miracles, and deliverances.
As for Levi’s seemingly instant response, he heard the message, and maybe his heart felt strangely warm within him. Sometimes skeptics say that there is no way that Levi would follow a stranger with two words, “follow me.” But Jesus was teaching the crowds, and we can fill in the gaps in the text and conclude that Levi heard him teach over the weeks.
14:
Tax collectors were considered awful and evil, for they took advantage of people and charged too much, so they could skim money off the top.
To learn more about them, please click on this post:
Quick Reference to Jewish Groups in Gospels and Acts
But Jesus was not reluctant to associate with them. We should not be afraid to do this, either.
15:
Luke and Mark say that Levi (Matthew) prepared a great feast in his house (Mark 2:13-17; Luke 5:27-32). Once again, Matthew trims such details.
“sinners”: it means someone who does not observe the law, in this context. But let’s explore the term more thoroughly.
BDAG, a thick Greek lexicon, defines the adjective as follows: “pertaining to behavior or activity that does not measure up to standard moral or [religious] expectations (being considered an outsider because of failure to conform to certain standards is a frequent semantic component. Persons engaged in certain occupations, e.g. herding and tanning [and tax collecting] that jeopardized [religious] purity, would be considered by some as ‘sinners,’ a term tantamount to ‘outsider.’” Non-Israelites were especially considered out of bounds [see Acts 10:28].)” “Sinner, with a general focus on wrongdoing as such.” “Irreligious, unobservant people.” “Unobservant” means that the sinner did not care about law keeping or observing the law.
“recline”: that’s how they ate back then. Contrary to Da Vinci’s Last Supper, where everyone was sitting in chairs at a table, they used to lie on the floor with mats at a low table or maybe the food was on other mats, and their feet stuck out away from the table.
“disciples”: BDAG says of the noun (1) “one who engages in learning through instruction from another, pupil, apprentice”; (2) “one who is rather constantly associated with someone who has a pedagogical reputation or a particular set of views, disciple, adherent.”
Wessel and Strauss on Levi’s call to discipleship and his acceptance:
The parallel call of the four fishermen in 1:16, 18, confirms that Levi’s call is one to discipleship. There was much at stake for Levi in accepting Jesus’s challenge. Fishermen could easily go back to fishing after taking a “leave of absence” (as some of the disciples did after Jesus’s crucifixion), but for Levi there would be little possibility of his returning to his occupation. No doubt his post would have been filled very soon after he left it, for jobs of tax collectors were highly sought after as sure ways to “get rich quick.”
So, Levi’s response to the call of Jesus cost him everything. However, I can imagine that Levi may have left the post to a relative, like a brother, and tell him to keep his spot. But Wessel and Strauss have a point. The call was costly, if Levi never did return. He was rich, but he responded. He gave up a lot.
Jesus Calls Certain Disciples in Four Gospels. Do the Accounts Contradict?
16:
“teachers of the law allied with the Pharisees”: The Greek literally says “teachers of the law of the Pharisees.” Apparently some teachers were allied with the Pharisees. Some teachers of the law were Pharisees, but not all Pharisees were teachers of the law, and not all teachers of the law were Pharisees. So some—not all—teachers of the law could be a subset of the Pharisees.
Wessel and Strauss write of v. 16 and table fellowship:
Table fellowship carried significance in the ancient world; to dine with someone meant acceptance of that person. That Jesus would include in his most intimate circle a man associated with such a disreputable profession and would sit at table with tax collectors and sinners was too much for the teachers of the law.
Strauss adds:
Meals were important social rituals in the ancient world, and one would normally eat only with those of similar social status. In Judaism a scrupulous Pharisee would never eat at the home of a common Israelite since he could not be sure that the food was ceremonially clean or that it had been tithed … He would especially not eat with a defiled and sinful tax collector. The Pharisees expect Jesus, a respectable rabbi, to act in the same exclusive manner.
Who were the Pharisees? Click here to find out more about the the teachers of the law and Pharisees, once again:
Quick Reference to Jewish Groups in Gospels and Acts
17:
“I have come”: this is a statement of Jesus’s mission. Let’s not miss it. John’s Gospel adds that Jesus came from heaven, while Matthew, Mark and Luke merely hint at it. The Father is behind it all.
5. Do I Really Know Jesus? He Came Down from Heaven
“healthy”: it could be translated as “strong.” This is a proverb circulating at the time, and Jesus transforms it into a righteous / sinner contrast.
“righteous”: some interpreters say he is using irony. The issue is of the heart. Jesus deepens the requirements and turns them into love for God first. If we love God, we will keep his commandments (John 14:15). In the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5-7) and on the Plain (Luke 6:17-49), Jesus deepens the requirements of the law to the heart, and everyone fails in some way. Therefore, they are unhealthy in some way before God and need him through Christ. No one can be righteous enough for God, and if the Pharisees saw their own need, they would realize this. It is they who need the doctor—the healer of their souls. Jesus is calling them to repentance, if they could only see it.
All Jews, even the extra-devout, need Jesus their Messiah.
“call”: Jesus’s call goes out to anyone who sees his need for the kingdom and the King. Anyone can respond. But if anyone thinks he is self-sufficiently healthy, then he probably won’t respond to the call to follow Jesus
GrowApp for Mark 2:13-17
1. Jesus called Levi. Levi responded with yes. How did you respond when Jesus called you? Did you hesitate or follow him immediately? What was conversion like? Tell your story.
RELATED
10. Eyewitness Testimony in Mark’s Gospel
2. Church Fathers and Mark’s Gospel
2. Archaeology and the Synoptic Gospels
14. Similarities among John’s Gospel and the Synoptic Gospels
1. The Historical Reliability of the Gospels: Introduction to Series
SOURCES
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