THE GREAT CALL

Mark 2:13-28

Monday, 09 March 2026

When Jesus heard it, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”-Mark 2:17

As Jesus began His earthly ministry, He went about preaching the gospel of the Kingdom of God and exhorting people to repent and believe the gospel (Mark 1:15). He also chose His disciples one by one from different walks of life. Today we read of the call of Matthew a tax collector to follow Jesus.

• Response to the call

Tax collectors in Jesus’ day were despised by the Jews as they were seen to be agents of the Roman government in the extraction of tax. But it was an elite job at that time and tax collectors were generally wealthy. To let go of his career in order to obey Jesus’ call wasn’t that easy for Matthew—yet “the creation” must have just felt compelled to respond to the Creator’s powerful voice beckoning him. Matthew had to count the cost of following Jesus-one of the terms of discipleship according to Jesus (Luke 14:25-33). Leaving his profitable profession meant taking a leap of faith in Jesus to provide for his every need as he followed Him. 

• Relationship in the call

Once he responded to the call, Matthew forges a relationship with Jesus which is evidenced by his hospitality at his home. He invites Jesus to a meal, a way of acceptance and fellowship. Jesus’ consent to his invitation showed his willingness to associate with Matthew’s friend circle which brought hard criticism to Jesus. How could he eat with “tax collectors and sinners”? (v.16)— as they were “unrighteous” according to scribes and Pharisees. 

This is when Jesus gives a fitting reply as seen in our key verse. His mission was to call sinners to repentance; not the so called “righteous” who felt no need for a Saviour! Even in the story of Zachaeus, the tax collector, Jesus mentioned: “…for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Luke 19:10). Jesus came seeking those lost in the labyrinth of life, far away from their Creator, groping in the darkness of sin to lead them to the light of life. For Jesus spoke in John 8:12: “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

Jesus in forging a relationship with Matthew reached out to those unreached in his circle who were considered outcasts by the elite Jewish religious group. Everyone needs salvation! Everyone needs Jesus! In associating with “sinners” Jesus did not participate in their sin but purposely initiated a relationship for the Good News to reach them! 

Paul practiced the same principle to win people to Christ Jesus. He says in 1 Cor.9:22-23: “…to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. Now this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I may be partaker of it with you.” To the different nations and cultures that Paul took the gospel, he was able to win many to Christ because he became like one of them without compromising on the principles of God’s Word. Besides, he counted the cost of following Christ by letting go off all that he once held dear: “Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ…” (Phil.3:8).

How is our commitment to the Lord Jesus? Are we truly following Him? Let us build bridges with people whom the society may look down upon and extend the love of Christ that we may win them for Him!

Think on: ‘The spirit of Christ is the spirit of missions. The nearer we get to Him, the more intensely missionary we become.’ ~Henry Martyn

Listen: 'Send the light'