IT IS TIME TO GO TO JESUS by JURIELY ENOCK CHEMISTRY /BIOLOGY (UDSM)

Jesus receives a person as he/she is despite of his or her condition of life what he needs is only that acceptance of that person

The bible verse says tat 13 And he went forth again by the sea side; and all the multitude resorted unto him, and he taught them. 14 And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alpheus sitting at the receipt of custom, and said unto him, Follow me. And he arose and followed him.

15 And it came to pass, that, as Jesus sat at meat in his house, many publicans and sinners sat also together with Jesus and his disciples: for there were many, and they followed him. 16 And when the scribes and Pharisees saw him eat with publicans and sinners, they said unto his disciples, How is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners? 17 When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

Compare: Matthew 9:9-13; Luke 5:27-32

Jesus & Levi

Jesus is depicted here preaching again and there are many people listening. It isn’t explained whether this crowd also gathered in order for him to heal people or whether by this point the large crowds are attracted by his preaching alone. It also isn’t explained what a “multitude” is — the numbers are left to the imagination of the audience.

At this time, though, Jesus sees someone named Levi — is this someone whom Jesus already knows or was this person just picked out at random? In Matthew’s gospel, the man is identified as Matthew and he’s “sitting in a tax office” (which doesn’t mean that he was a tax collector, though that’s what Christians have traditionally assumed). The Levi here is commonly identified as Matthew and this is the “call” to be a disciple of Jesus, but Mark’s text doesn’t say that at all.

Where does Levi follow Jesus to — Levi’s house or Jesus’ house? Traditionally it’s been read as Levi’s house, but isn’t it odd for Jesus to lead a man to his own residence? The pronouns in the following verse makes just as much sense as if they eat at Jesus’ house.

Levi is a tax collector — not a popular job, although presumably it paid well. In addition to taking people’s money, tax collectors were working for the Roman occupation forces; it wasn’t uncommon for the Roman authorities to auction off the right to collect taxes to the highest bidder.

In order to pay the Romans and still earn a profit, tax collectors and their publican employees could use vicious tactics to extract money from people — not that the Romans cared, so long as they got their share. In addition to the perception of tax collectors as being dishonest, they were also regarded as impure because of the constant contact with Gentiles.

Despite the unpopularity of tax collectors, Jesus sat to eat a meal with Levi — and not only him, but also with other “sinners.” What kind of house did Levi have? Was his entire family rotten with sin? Did he simply have a lot of raucous parties? Or is this perhaps just literary device: there was no Levi with a house full of “publicans and sinners,” but rather just the author‘s way of explaining how Jesus sat and ate with undesirables from time to time?

One wonders how the story of Jesus eating with sinners would translate into the modern era. Asking what sorts of “sinners” Jesus was spending time with is, by extension, a question about the sorts of people Jesus would spend time with were he around today. Prostitutes? Drug addicts? Thieves? CEOs? Politicians? Evangelical Christians today often call themselves “sinners,” and insofar as they only imperfectly follow the moral standards they believe in, this is probably an accurate assessment.

Are they, though, really “sinners” of the sort that Jesus spent time with and would they be the sort of person Jesus would spend time with today? Jesus’ eating with unpopular and ritually impure people is treated as a sign of his mission to overturn traditional social conventions and religious assumptions, but Christianity has created its own religious categories and has been quite comfortable with a variety of divisive social conventions (racial segregation, for example).

When was the last time Christian leaders attempted to emulate behavior like this? How often do Christian priests and pastors try to actively minister to racists, child molesters, and drug dealers? Some do, certainly, but in most cases a priest sitting down to have a friendly meal with such people would cause a scandal in the church. Imagine if a registered child molester moved into a neighbourhood and a local pastor visited to have dinner with him — or invited him to the pastor’s house for dinner. It’s hard to think of something like that happening, isn’t it?

Scribes and Pharisees complained to Jesus’ disciples about this nasty habit — not to Jesus himself mind you, but to his disciples. Were they afraid to confront him directly? Were they trying to sow discord between Jesus and his disciples? One wonders what message the author of Mark was trying to convey with that.

Jesus responded, but it is not clear whether he was explaining himself to his disciples, rebutting the Pharisees, or both. According to Jesus, it should be expected that he spend his time with sinners like tax collectors. Why? Because his purpose is to help them — they are the ones who are “sick” (spiritually) and therefore need his help. Doctors don’t spend all their time with healthy people, so why should Jesus spend all his time with righteous people?

The Pharisees tend to be portrayed negatively in the gospel stories, worse than prostitutes and tax collectors. If they are so bad and if Jesus considers himself a “physician” who must spend time with the “sick,” then why doesn’t he try to spend more time with the Pharisees? They certainly appear to need “healing” pretty badly. Why does the story suggest that the Pharisees are among the “righteous” who have little or no need of Jesus?

Still Jesus loves you it is the proper time for you to left apart the world and have one company with Jesus who will sent you to haven so it is your last chance to accept salivation please believe today by saying the following prayer LORD JESUS I remember that am a sinner and I believe that you die in the cross for me so let your blood wash may sins away in Jesus name I prey

Now you are salivated find a living church and worship GOD there amen

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Everyone who accepts salivation in Jesus Christ the son of the living god