Once again he went out along the sea. All the crowd came to him and he taught them. 14 As he passed by, he saw Levi, son of Alphaeus, sitting at the customs post. He said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him. 15 While he was at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners sat with Jesus and his disciples; for there were many who followed him. 16 Some scribes who were Pharisees saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors and said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 17 Jesus heard this and said to them [that], “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.”
Mark shows Jesus doing two things back to back. He teaches the crowd by the sea, and then he calls one man out of that crowd into discipleship. Levi is “sitting at the customs post” when Jesus passes by. He is not searching for Jesus or offering a speech. Jesus speaks first: “Follow me.” Levi’s response is immediate. He “got up and followed him.” Mark has already told similar call stories where Jesus speaks a direct summons and men leave their work to follow him (Mk. 1:16-20). Here the same pattern reaches a man whose job made him despised: tax collectors were often known for overcharging and pocketing the difference, and so they were commonly grouped with ‘sinners’ and treated as outcasts.
The next scene explains why this call is controversial. Jesus is “at table in his house,” and “many tax collectors and sinners” are there with Jesus and his disciples. In that culture, sharing a meal signaled acceptance and friendship. It was not a casual moment. It showed who belonged at the table and who did not. That is why the scribes who were Pharisees objected, not to Levi’s call alone, but to Jesus’ table fellowship. Mark’s wording keeps the focus on Jesus’ action: they saw that “he was eating with sinners and tax collectors.”
Mark also clarifies that this is not a one-time exception. “There were many who followed him.” In other words, Levi is not the only one from that despised circle who responds to Jesus. More than one tax collector and sinner is beginning to follow him, which is exactly why the table scene becomes such a flashpoint. Luke describes the same pattern and gives the same point: Levi leaves his post, makes a banquet, and Jesus is criticized for receiving and eating with tax collectors and sinners (Lk. 5:27-32). In Mark, this meal scene is one step in a growing conflict that will keep building as Jesus’ mission becomes clearer.
Jesus’ answer uses a common proverb and turns it into a statement about his purpose. “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do.” He is not denying that sin is real. He is explaining why he goes where the need is greatest. A doctor does not keep distance from the sick. He goes toward them to heal them. In Mark’s story, this fits what has just happened. Jesus has already acted with authority that belongs to God alone by forgiving sins (Mk. 2:5-10). Now the One who forgives sins also seeks out those most in need of mercy, calling them into a new life.
The last line makes the point even sharper: “I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.” In the immediate setting, “the righteous” are those who see themselves as already safe and therefore do not recognize any need for conversion. Jesus’ mission is not limited to a few. It is directed to those who will receive it. Mark has already summed up Jesus’ preaching as a call to repentance because God’s kingdom is drawing near (Mk. 1:14-15). Levi’s call and this meal show what that looks like on the ground: Jesus brings God’s saving mercy into places that polite religion avoids, and he calls people to follow him out of what they were into what God is making them to be.
Lord Jesus, you call people where they are, and you lead them into a new life. Give me a clear mind to hear your call, and a humble heart that does not excuse sin but receives your mercy and learns to follow you. Amen.
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Sources and References
- The Holy Bible, New American Bible, Revised Edition (2011).
- Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: The Gospel of Mark, p. 68.
- Raymond E. Brown et al., The New Jerome Biblical Commentary (1990), p. 602, para. 16.
- Faculty of the University of Navarre, The Navarre Bible: Mark (Four Courts/Scepter), p. 169.
- José Enrique Aguilar Chiu et al., eds., The Paulist Biblical Commentary (2018), p. 983.
- John J. Collins et al., eds., The Jerome Biblical Commentary for the Twenty-First Century (3rd fully revised ed.), pp. 1248-1249.
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