Home > Jesus is God in Mark's Gospel
The calling of Levi (Matthew) and the subsequent feast, Jesus reveals His nature as the “Physician of Souls”. The story appears in three Synoptic Gospels, each giving a slightly different angle but the same core event
Mark 2:13–17 - He went out again beside the sea, and all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them. And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.
And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
In the Matthew account, Jesus refers to a Hosea fulfillment.
Matthew 9:13 - Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Hosea 6:6 - For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
In the Old Testamant, God is the one who takes the initiative and gathers the outcasts and heals the brokenhearted. It is a fulfillment of prophetic themes.
Psalm 147:2–3 - The Lord builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the outcasts of Israel. He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
Isaiah 56:8 - The Lord God, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, declares, “I will gather yet others to him besides those already gathered.”
Ezekiel 34:11–16 - “For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land. And I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the ravines, and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them with good pasture, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land. There they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel. I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord God. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice.
Jeremiah 30:17 - For I will restore health to you, and your wounds I will heal, declares the Lord, because they have called you an outcast: ‘It is Zion, for whom no one cares!’
By initiating fellowship with "tax collectors and sinners," Jesus is acting as the Shepherd-God described in Ezekiel 34, who personally seeks out the lost sheep. Jesus’ statement, "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners," reveals His authority for salvation. He is not merely a teacher of the law; He is the Judge who determines the criteria for entry into the Kingdom. This harkens back to Jesus's authority to forgive sins in Mark 2:2-12 where the man admitted his need, as did his friends, for they desperately wanted their friend healed. Only the scribes admitted no need and therefore received no healing.
Cooper, R.L. (2000) Mark. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers (Holman New Testament Commentary), p. 34.
“Doctors’ offices are not generally crammed with healthy people clamoring to see the doctor. It is only when they realize their sickness that they turn to the doctor”. Cooper, R.L. (2000) Mark. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers (Holman New Testament Commentary), p. 34.