Festival of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist
Posted on August 29, 2022 by under
Scripture: St. Mark 2:13-17 (NKJV)
2:13 Then He went out again by the sea; and all the multitude came to Him, and He taught them. 14 As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So he arose and followed Him.
15 Now it happened, as He was dining in Levi’s house, that many tax collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many, and they followed Him. 16 And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, “How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?”
17 When Jesus heard it, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”
Devotion
God’s Word teaches a salvation (and declaration of righteousness) through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. In contrast to this, the scribes and Pharisees considered themselves to have become righteous by their performance of good works. Therefore, they made it a practice to regularly shun those who had not yet made themselves righteous by doing the required amount of works.
Jesus agrees with the leaders’ premise that these “tax collectors and sinners” were spiritually sick and in need of salvation. However, Jesus explains that those who are sick people should not be shunned by a doctor until they become well. That would be unloving. Jesus is the doctor reaching out to the spiritually sick with the preaching of the Word of God to heal them. Through the repentance worked by the Law, and faith worked by the Gospel, Jesus’ teaching at Levi’s house is bringing righteousness and salvation to these sinners.
Were these scribes and Pharisees actually “righteous”? No. How could they be when they are without mercy toward those who need help? Jesus’ correction calls into question their claim of not needing “Doctor” Jesus. We are saved by grace through faith, and not by works.
Prayer: Almighty and Everlasting God, Who art always more ready to hear than we to pray, and wont to give more than either we desire or deserve: Pour down upon us the abundance of Thy mercy, forgiving us those things whereof our conscience is afraid, and giving us those good things which we are not worthy to ask, but through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Collect for the Festival of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist
O Lord, as Thou didst grant unto Thy Forerunner and martyr to proclaim Thy Word before princes and not be ashamed, we pray that Thou wouldst grant to Thy saints a zeal for a faithful confession in the times of persecution, Who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
