15 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. — Mark 2:15

A Going-Away Party

Now, the day of salvation in your life should be a day of celebration, and that's how Levi saw things. He invited Jesus to his houseand invited his friends, many tax collectors and sinners (15). They gathered around the table and, as was their custom, reclined as they feasted together (15). It was a celebration, but also a farewell party. Levi had a new life, calling, and adventure in front of him.

Sinners

And, just in case someone thought Jesus' call of a tax collector was a temporary oversight, an exception rather than the rule, he went into the house and ate with Levi's friends. They are called tax collectors and sinners (15). For the religious leaders, it was offensive enough that Jesus called Levi, but now his offense metastasizes. This is now policy: Jesus came to sinners. He makes zero effort to avoid them and seems to pursue and even prefer them.

But who are these sinners? Why does Mark—and Jesus give them this title?

It is possible these were the ruffians and outcasts of town. One would expect an unsavory sort of people to connect with the tax collectors, so perhaps Levi's friends all lived on the fringes of society.

It is also possible these were "sinners" according to the religious leaders' definition, people who did not abide by rigid pharisaic standards. In other words, common people. For them, the rules were just too tough, so they gave up. The Pharisees then referred to them as sinners, people living outside the strict standards set by their traditions. This is the more common view of the identity of these "sinners."

It is likely a mix of both types, however. People living in open rebellion, but also people who couldn't keep up with the legalistic codes of their leaders—common people, non-Pharisees, all gathered together in Levi's home. This meant they lived sinfully rather than religiously. They didn't care what the religious community thought of them.

Old Testament Foreshadowing

This table is one of the most beautiful portraits of Jesus we have. There he is. No pretension. No judgment. Eating and drinking with the outcasts of society, the tax collectors and sinners. And, since Mark is presenting Jesus as the Son of God, the long-awaited Messiah-Christ, this episode is meant to shock the reader.

But should we be shocked? This is the same God who chose Noah, a man who succumbed to the debauchery of drunkenness after the flood. This is the same God who chose Abraham, a man who often gave into fear and half-obedience to God. This is the same God who chose Isaac, a passive man who resisted God's plans. This is the same God who chose Jacob, a conniver and deceiver who spent the first half of his life manipulating everyone to his advantage. This is the same God who chose David, a man who committed adultery and murder when seated on the throne of Israel.

This is the same God who chose Rahab, a prostitute in Jericho, to become an ancestor of Jesus and a hero in Israel. This is the same God who chose to bless a widow in pagan Zarephath and a leprous commander of the evil Syrian army. This is the same God who chose to forgive the citizens of the barbaric city of Ninevah after their wholesale repentance after Jonah's preaching.

This is the same God who gave grace to Ahab, the most wicked king of Israel's history. After page after page recording the terrors of Ahab's life, when Ahab finally repented, God said to Elijah:

"Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the disaster in his days..." (1 Kings 21:29, ESV).

Over and over again, God is presented as ready to forgive the sinner. He says it's part of his name!

The Lord passed before (Moses) and proclaimed, "The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation." (Exodus 34:6–7, ESV).

The Church Age

And after Jesus ascended, God's reach to the tax collectors and sinners continued. For the first ten years, the church remained predominantly Jewish, but it reached the regular folks of Israel. Then, after a decade, the Spirit unleashed them upon the nations. The whole world began to hear the hope of the gospel message.

And that world was far different from the one the exclusively Jewish church had grown up in. The Roman world was a bastion of all sorts of sins. But that didn't stop them -- and the gospel -- from going to the highways and hedges, compelling people to come, preaching the love of Christ, so that God's house could be filled (Luke 14:23).

And it worked! People began placing their faith in Jesus. Tax collectors and sinners submitted themselves to Jesus. In places like Rome, Ephesus, and Corinth, the church was established. Listen to Paul's words to the Corinthian church.

Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6:9–11, ESV).

Such were some of you, he said! The image is that of a new humanity started by Jesus!

The Messianic Banquet

But all that is a mere foreshadowing of the great marriage supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:9). The song of heaven says to Jesus:

"Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth." (Revelation 5:9–10, ESV).

As I said earlier, we've already learned quite a bit about Jesus' kingdom at this point in Mark. But now we learn Jesus' kingdom is for sinners. For this, we rejoice. Why? Because we are sinners!