Re:Verse passage – Mark 2:13-17 (day three)
“He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting in the tax booth.”
Jesus saw Levi (called Matthew in the other gospels), but it wasn’t merely an instance of line-of-sight, x-y axis perception. He saw “Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting in the tax booth.” Here was a person with a name, a familial context, a social circle, a skill set, weighed down with the burden of living and working in two cultures – one Jewish, one Roman. That’s far more than “human in field of vision.” What could happen to this man and to the world if Levi turned his interests, his knowledge, his abilities, his influence, his physical presence, and his energy toward eternal realities? It was with that kind of whole-person thinking that Jesus looked at this individual. Jesus will teach us to consider others with such whole-person thinking as well.
Bryan I agree that Jesus was looking at the whole person as He does with us & those we come into contact with everyday. And we must do as well, not just seeing a person as one with a specific skill set or career or, heaven forbid, something ‘wrong’ with them in OUR estimation. Rather we should seek to see those around us as children of God, people Jesus would reach out & touch no matter their specific situation or need. I love it when Pastor Chris, Aaron & you discuss the Everyday Prayer on Mondays & especially what you all said this week about this passage. As a church, as members of the Lord’s house, we need to look beyond our own prejudices and our own ‘needs’ & seek to see others exactly as Jesus wants us to see them, people in need of a Savior, people with their own needs & really be there for them.