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A Different King, A Different Kingdom
Defying Expectations
~ Josh Ginn
January 26, 2025
Then Jesus went out to the lakeshore again and taught the crowds that were coming to him. As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at his tax collector’s booth. “Follow me and be my disciple,” —Mark 2:13-14 NLT
They were a mafia-like organization in the first century. They served Rome, the Gentile occupying power of Israel. They were like dishonest IRS agents who overcharged the people for their own profit. They were expelled and banned from the synagogue. The touch of a tax collector rendered a house unclean. —Daniel Akin
Later, Levi invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. (There were many people of this kind among Jesus’ followers.) But when the teachers of religious law who were Pharisees saw him eating with tax collectors and other sinners, they asked his disciples, “Why does he eat with such scum?” —Mark 2:15-16 NLT
“Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.” —Mark 2:17 NLT
The Purpose of the Kingdom
Benediction:
Holy Spirit, as we go and be the church in the places where we live, learn, work and play, may we fix our eyes on Jesus, and empower us to follow Jesus and to be His disciples.