Mark: The Life and Times of Jesus Christ The Messiah-Dinner with Sinners

Aloha and welcome to The Mission North Shore's podcast! This powerful message takes us into Mark chapter 2, where we witness Jesus doing something absolutely scandalous for His time: calling a despised tax collector named Matthew to be His disciple. Tax collectors in first-century Israel were considered traitors, thieves, and outcasts, completely cut off from religious and social life. The rabbis even taught that repentance was virtually impossible for them. Yet Jesus walks right up to Matthew's tax booth, looks him in the eye, and says those same words He spoke to Peter and the other fishermen: "Follow me."

Jesus once again sets the example, displaying compassion for broken people who desperately need a Savior. "It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but the sinner."