Mark 2:13-17



Mark 2:13-17

Any One Need a Doctor?

Scripture: Mark 2:13-17

Lesson Focus: Jesus saw an individual for whom they could become through Him.

Memory Verse: “I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”

Mark 2:17b

Activities and Crafts: Coloring Picture, Jesus’ Disciples Work Page, 1st & 2nd Grade Color Wheel story of Levi.

Introduction: Bible Story Charades: Tell the kids that we are going to play the game of      charades. They are going to act out a situation or a person and the kids have to guess      what they are acting out. The child that guesses what they are acting out will come up      and act out the next words.

1. A sick person

2. A doctor

3. A dinner party

4. A person who is proud

     After you have played the game tell the kids that all of these people and situations will      be in our lesson today. We will see what God thinks of “sick people.”

Bible Lesson:

Mark 2:13: Jesus had just healed a man that was paralyzed. His four friends had                lowered him from the roof to the feet of Jesus. After this Jesus went by                the sea and the multitude came to see Jesus. Jesus taught them.

Mark 2:14: “The Meeting!”

Jesus meets Levi.

√ Where did Jesus see Levi?

√ What is another name for Levi? (Matthew) Levi and Matthew is the      same person. (Matthew 9:9 and Mark 3:18.) Matthew will be one of      the 12 disciples of Jesus Christ. He will later write the book of      Matthew. We do not know at what time Levi’s name changed to      Matthew, but we do know that they are the same person. Matthew’s      name means (gift of God.)

√ What did Jesus say to Levi?

√ What did Levi do for a living?

Tax collectors were hated by the Jewish people. They were seen as traitors that collected taxes for the Roman government that controlled them at that time. Many tax collectors would cheat the people and make them pay more money than the Roman government wanted so that they could take some of the money for themselves. To be honest no one has ever liked to pay taxes. Even today people get upset and revolt about taxes. But it is the way of every government to fund itself.

Many people would not talk to Levi, but Jesus did. Jesus did not care what he did for a living….He cared about his soul. Jesus saw what Levi could become, not who he was! Jesus talking to Levi was remarkable! Of all of the people in Capernaum, Levi was one of the most “unacceptable” to be one of Jesus’ disciples. No one else would every choose Levi. But Jesus did!

Illustration: Centuries ago a number of workman were seen dragging a great marble block into the city of Florence, Italy. It had come from the famous marble quarries of Carrara, and was intended to be made into a great statue of a great Old Testament prophet. But it contained imperfections, and when the great sculptor Donatello saw it, he refused it at once. So there it lay in the cathedral yard, a useless block. One day another sculpture caught sight of the flawed block. But as he examined it, there rose in his mind something of immense beauty, and he resolved to sculpt it. For two years the artist worked feverishly on the work of art. Finally, on January 25, 1504, the greatest artist of the day assembled to see what he had made of the rejected rock. Amonth them were Bottcelli, Leonardo d Vinci, and Pietro Perugino, the teacher of Raphael. As the veil dropped to the floor, the statue was met with a chorus of praise. It was a masterpiece! The succeeding centuries have confirmed the judgment. Michelangelo’s David is one of the greatest works of art the world has ever known. (taken from Kent Hughes commentary on Mark.)

Just as Michelangelo choose that imperfect stone…Jesus choose Levi to become Matthew.

√ What does it mean to “follow Jesus?”

√ How did Levi respond?

Luke tells us in his parallel passage that “Levi got up, left everything and followed him.” Luke 5:28 This was a firm decision on Levi’s part. He gave up his business and everything to follow Jesus.

Mark 2:15: “The Dinner Party!”

√ Where did they end up?

√ Do you think that it was an accident that they ended up at Levi’s house                  for dinner?

√ Who was at that dinner party?

1. Many tax collectors

2. Sinners (people who the Pharisees felt were inferior because they did not follow the laws and customs of that day.)

The Bible makes a point to let us know that there were “many” sinners and tax collectors.

√ Do you think that it is important that there were “many?”

√ What does the Bible say that the sinners and tax collectors did?

(they followed Jesus)

Mark 2:16: “The Party Crashers!”

√ Who got upset at what was happening at Levi’s house?

√ Why were they upset?

Mark 2:17: “Who Jesus invites to the Party!”

Jesus uses the word “righteous” which means those that are “whole.”

Jesus responds with a telling them that those that are well do not need a physician. That means if you are not sick you are not going to go to the doctor. But people that are sick will go to the doctor to get some help for what is ailing them. Jesus came to help those people who knew that they needed a Savior. Jesus came to save sinners. Those that think that they do not need a Savior will never believe in Jesus. Jesus is talking to the Scribes and Pharisees who think that they are “righteous” and that they do not need any thing else to save them.

Jesus speaks as the physician what has come to help the sick.

What do we learn from this passage?

1. What it means to “follow” Jesus? To follow Jesus means to give up      everything. To care about what Jesus cares about and not what is important to      us. It does not mean that we have to sell everything that we own (unless God      tells us to.) But it does mean that we grow in our knowledge of Jesus (by      reading the Bible and prayer and worship.) And as we grow we will do the      things that Jesus wants us to do.

Are you following Jesus?

2, Jesus knows what people can be become!

Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before hand that we should walk in them.” Jesus did not care that Levi was hated by everyone else. Jesus probably knew that Levi had cheated people and had done bad things in his past. But Jesus also knew that Levi was a sinner and that Levi knew it. Levi knew that He needed a Savior. He responded to Jesus instantly and decisively. He did not waver, he gave up everything. Jesus had a job for Levi to do, and knew what he was created for. Levi became Matthew and wrote the first Gospel (Matthew). Levi became one of the twelve disciples that followed Jesus and was taught by Jesus.

Do you know what Jesus has for you to do?

3. Jesus went to the people that needed Him. Jesus ate with sinners and tax      collectors. He went to their house. He did not care what the “religious rulers”      thought of Him. You have to understand that these “sinners” were probably      some bad people. We need to care and love those around us that are the “bad”      and “unlovely”. We need to have Jesus’ love for all people. Jesus came to      save the “sick.” We have to be careful that we don’t separate ourselves from a      needy world. We don’t want to become like the world, but we do need to love      the people in the world. We need to love Jesus enough, to tell others about      Jesus, no matter who they are or what they have done.

a. We need to work hard at not looking down on people who are different       or mean or just don’t believe in God.

b. We need to realize that our sin is the disease that we all have inside of       us. That disease (sin) separates us from a holy God. Jesus paid the       price for our sin…He is our Great Physician. He healed us on the       inside! He came to save sinners. But you have to realize that you       need a Savior. Just like our memory verse tells us, we need to repent,       to turn away from our sin.

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