Shocking Grace

Mark 2:13-17

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%202%3A13-17&version=NIV;NLT

 

When was the last time you ate with a bunch of “sinners”? Jesus’ ministry model was to spend time with “sinners” that nice, religious people wouldn’t want to associate with. Jesus looked at people differently.

 

In Matthew 20, Jesus told the parable of the vineyard keeper who paid the men who worked 1 hour the exact same wage as the men who worked 11 hours! It was an illustration of what the Kingdom of Heaven is like. A friend of mine referred to it as “shocking grace”. But that’s what grace is like; it’s shocking!

 

Tax collectors were considered to be the scum of the earth by Pharisees and other righteous Jews. They were thought of as traitors who turned on their own people because they collected taxes on behalf of the Romans. Levi recognizes that he is the recipient of shocking grace.

 

²⁷ Later, as Jesus left the town, he saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at his

tax collector’s booth. “Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him. ²⁸ So Levi got up, left everything, and followed him.      Luke 5:27-28 NLT

 

Following the pattern of Peter, James and John, who left their fishing business to follow Jesus, Levi left everything to become a disciple of Jesus. And Levi wanted his friends, who also happened to be “sinners”, to hear about this shocking grace; to meet Jesus face to face; to find out what it meant to be a disciple of Jesus.

 

²⁹ Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them.   Luke 5:29 NIV

 

How can we duplicate Levi’s example? With whom has God brought into your life? Placed on your heart? A co-worker or neighbor or friend or someone on the periphery of church life? Jesus was always reaching out to sinners; and those sinners reached out to their friends.

 

That’s called discipleship.

 

That’s called “shocking grace”.

 

 

 

 

Connect - Your Mission this week

Matthew 9:10-13

Think about people you have felt a connection with. Why them? Was it something they said? The way they talked? How they listened? Their eyes?

It is a comfortable feeling when we sense connection and acceptance. When we know we can count on someone no matter what our circumstances, we feel a calm assurance.

Jesus loved and accepted all people. His mission was to seek sinners and the undesirable so that he could sincerely get to know them, demonstrate his love and acceptance and lead them to righteousness.

“I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Matthew 9:12

Jesus also stated, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.” when he heard the disciples being questioned about why Jesus was sitting with tax collectors and sinners.

All of the physical healing Jesus did, was due to the faith of someone. Sometimes it was the person in need, other times it was because of the belief of others who cared for them. Regardless, the vehicle through which Jesus worked was deep faith. Physical healing also resulted in spiritual health and eternal promise. When Jesus said "You are healed." He didn't mean just the external ailment.

In Mark:5, Matthew:9, and Luke:8, Jairus, a synagogue ruler was told his sick daughter had died as he was pleading with Jesus to save her. Though men were telling him not to bother Jesus any more, Jesus ignored them and told Jairus “Don’t be afraid, just believe.”

 

If we look at those without faith as “not well” and approach them as a friend with a heart for their circumstance, we will likely get through to them in time and allow God to heal them from the inside out.

Lord, may we be the pathway you use to reach those in this world you guide us to minister to. Help us open our hearts and meet them where they are. Please give us the strength, courage, and deep faith to touch the lives of others in a way that delivers them to you, forever. Amen