VOICE OF TRUTH FOR TODAY
Scandalous Grace
The first-century religious leaders wrestled with a difficult question: Who is Jesus?
Was He a prophet? The Son of God? Or a false teacher who threatened their traditions?
In Mark 2:13–17, Jesus does something that shocked everyone watching. He calls Levi, a tax collector, to follow Him. In that culture, tax collectors were viewed as traitors—corrupt men who worked with the Roman government and cheated their own people. They were considered unclean and were often rejected by the community.
Yet Jesus saw something different.
Instead of avoiding Levi, Jesus invited him into relationship. Levi became one of His disciples.
But the scandal didn’t stop there. Jesus then sat down to eat in Levi’s home surrounded by tax collectors and sinners. To the religious leaders, this behavior was outrageous. In their minds, a true religious leader would avoid such people.
But Jesus’ mission was never about avoiding sinners.
It was about rescuing them.
Jesus explained His purpose clearly:
“It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Mark 2:17)
His grace is scandalous because it reaches people others might reject. Rather than being contaminated by sin, Jesus brings transformation.
I know this truth personally. Like Levi, I needed His grace. I needed the forgiveness and redemption only Christ can offer.
The same invitation that Jesus extended to Levi still stands today.
He calls each of us to follow Him.
He desires relationship, restoration, and intimacy with every person willing to respond to His grace.
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Excerpt from Voice of Truth Magazine
“Journey with Jesus” by Rev. Lisa Morrison