Mark 2:16-17
16 When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
17 On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Mark 2:16-17: Verse-by-Verse Analysis
Verse 16: “When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: ‘Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?'”
The Pharisees were religious leaders who strictly followed Jewish law. They saw Jesus eating with people they considered unclean. Tax collectors were despised because they worked for the Roman occupiers and often cheated people. Sinners were those who did not follow the law. The Pharisees questioned Jesus’ disciples, showing their disapproval. They couldn’t understand why a teacher would associate with such people.
Verse 17: “On hearing this, Jesus said to them, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.'”
Jesus heard the Pharisees’ question and responded directly. He used a simple analogy: healthy people don’t need a doctor, but sick people do. Jesus compared sinners to the sick, implying they need spiritual healing. He stated his mission clearly: to call sinners, not the righteous. Jesus emphasized that his purpose was to help those who recognized their need for change, not those who believed they were already righteous.