The Question of Scum

Scripture — Mark 2:15-17 (NRSV)

And as he sat at dinner in Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were also sitting with Jesus and his disciples—for there were many who followed him. When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, they said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” When Jesus heard this, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.”

Devotion

When I was the pastor of Irvine Presbyterian Church, I once got into considerable trouble when preaching on this passage from Mark. At that time, I was using the New Living Translation of the Bible. In this translation, the question of the Pharisees and other Jewish leaders was not the literal “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” but rather a more interpretive “Why does he eat with such scum?” While not literal, this translation surely renders the feeling behind the Pharisees’ question.

After worship was over, a man in the congregation approached me with an unpleasant look on his face. He was upset with me for saying something like, “Why did Jesus eat with scum?” I even asked my congregation, “Who are the scum in your life?” My critic’s point was that Jesus didn’t think of people in this way and neither should we. He was right, of course. This disgruntled church member failed to hear the irony in my usage of “scum.” I wasn’t speaking from my own point of view, but rather from that of the religious leaders in the time of Jesus, especially the Pharisees. They would have seen the “tax collectors and sinners” with whom Jesus dined while at Levi’s house as “scum.” I wanted my congregants to think about whether or not they regarded certain people or certain types of people as scum.

If we’re to understand why the Pharisees were so unhappy with Jesus and his practice of eating with people they considered to be scum, we must realize that in the culture of Jesus, table fellowship signified deep intimacy. To eat with someone was to share in their life and to allow them into yours as well. The Pharisees, who were committed to the highest standards of ritual purity, would never eat with people who were soiled by their impurity. They would have expected Jesus to do as they did, keeping plenty of distance between himself and questionable types who might compromise Jesus’s ritual holiness.

So, why did Jesus eat with such people? Jesus ate with “scum” because he didn’t see them as scum. Nor was he concerned about preserving the appearance of his religious purity. He ate with obvious sinners because they needed his help, and because they were open to receive it. As he explains in verse 17, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.”

This story challenges me to consider my attitudes and behavior. Am I more concerned about what people think of me than I am about people in need? Am I willing to “get my hands dirty” by entering into relationship with people who aren’t so neat and tidy? Do I see some kinds of people as “scum,” or rather as creatures bearing the image of God? Am I willing to be like Jesus? Or am I more like the Pharisees?

Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: The Calling of Levi (Mark 2:13-17).