Healing Presence

Mark 2

We are clearly all sinners. The Bible is emphatic that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). 

But some sins are more obviously notorious in some cultures. In Jesus day, to be a "tax collector", who collaborated with the Roman invaders, and who may have also been exploiting the people by over taxing, and not keeping the ritual laws of the Bible very rigorously, was seen as very bad by the "Pharisees". The Pharisee response to 'notorious sinners', like tax collectors, was to keep separate from them to avoid ritual uncleanness (Mark 2:16). To a tax collector or other 'notorious sinners', such separation by the Pharisees, could have made them feel condemned and rejected and hopelessly unable to live the set apart, religiously pure, life called for by the Pharisees.

On the other hand, some people in our current culture may want to respond in a way that is very different to the Pharisees and they attempt to declare that what was formerly called sin is actually quite OK. This is done in an attempt to show love and acceptance.

The response of Jesus is very different to the condemning Pharisees and to our condoning current culture. Jesus' way may be described as the way of loving, supernatural healing that comes from being in His presence (v17).

Despite His seeing sinners (which is actually all of us) as "sick" (v17), Jesus called them to follow Him (v13-14, 17) and befriended and socialized with such people (v15). His association was not intended to reclassify sin as good behavior. Rather, Jesus knew that He was the Great "physician", and that spending time in His presence would bringing healing to all people (v17, 15).

May we learn from Jesus not to just speak in condemnation and rejection of sinners, nor to condone and re-classify sin, but to help other sinners, like ourselves, to find more love and healing in the presence of the Great "physician".