A Disciple's JourneyNäide

The Types of People Christ Calls

Another thing we learn early on in Mark is that the call to follow Christ is for everyone. When you just think through the people that Jesus spent his time around, it’s an odd group. Peter, Andrew, James, and John were all fishermen. And we learn that Jesus spent most of his time around people most Jews wouldn’t associate with. In Mark 2:14–15, the text says: “And as [Jesus] passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he rose and followed him. 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.”

Disciples came in all shapes and sizes! But the even stranger thing was that the people who would have seemed most likely to follow Jesus, the Pharisees, were the ones who refused to do so. They were content to be His critics, to watch from the sidelines and shake their heads.

The Only Prerequisite

Mark 2:16–17 goes on to describe this tension, “And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

When you think about what Jesus is saying, it’s not that the Pharisees, the religious leaders and Bible experts at this time, did not need a Savior. It’s not that they were healthy and righteous and didn’t need Christ. We know from Scripture that we’re all sick, we’re all sinners, and we all fall short of the glory of God.

The problem with the Pharisees wasn’t that they didn’t need a Savior—their problem was that they thought they didn’t need a Savior. They refused to admit they were sinners, or that they were sick and in need of healing. That’s why Jesus spent his time around tax collectors and sinners. They were unrighteous and sick, but at least they were aware of it. They knew something was wrong, that there was a hole in their life. And they were open to the possibility that Jesus could be the answer, the solution.

So the only prerequisite for being a disciple, the only prerequisite for going on the disciple’s journey, is that you would humbly admit that you don’t know where to go. That you would humbly raise your hand and say, ‘I need to be led.’ You have to admit you’re sick before you can seek treatment. You have to admit you’re a sinner before you can seek a righteous Savior. The good news is that Christ came for you, to heal and to save you! The call to follow Christ is for everyone, if you will simply admit you’re a sinner and seek out Jesus as your Savior.