Disciples of Jesus - Mark 2:13-17

This is our Sunday teaching by our Senior Pastor, Tom Thompson. Recorded live at our Sunday Service in Harris Academy Purley, Croydon on Sunday 18th October, 2026.

Talk Summary - The God Who Comes Looking for Us

Mark 2:13–17 | Disciples of Jesus

What sort of person does Jesus choose?

In Mark 2, a crowd gathers beside the lake to hear Jesus teach. Hundreds of people have made the effort to be there. You might expect him to choose his next disciple from among them. Instead, walking away from the crowd, Jesus notices a man sitting at a tax collector’s booth.

His name is Levi. He’s collecting taxes for the occupying Romans, making himself wealthy at the expense of his neighbours. He’s precisely the sort of person respectable people would avoid. And Jesus looks at him and says two words: “Follow me.”

It’s an extraordinary moment.

Jesus doesn’t wait for Levi to sort himself out, come to a meeting or prove he’s serious about changing. He comes to Levi right in the middle of the life he’s living. Jesus sees everything that’s wrong, but he also sees someone worth loving, forgiving and restoring.

There’s a story about a young man called James who crashed his mum’s much-loved car shortly after she’d put him on the insurance. He knew how badly he’d let her down. But when he got home, she’d cooked him a special meal and bought him a present. She wanted him to know that even at his worst, he was loved.

That’s what grace feels like. It doesn’t pretend that what we’ve done doesn’t matter. It tells us that our worst moment doesn’t have to define our future.

When the religious leaders question why Jesus eats with people like Levi, he replies: “It’s not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.”

And there’s something beautiful about what happens next. Jesus doesn’t simply rescue Levi and move on. Levi follows Jesus — and then Jesus follows Levi home. They eat together. Friendship begins.

Many of us believe Jesus can forgive us, but struggle to believe he actually wants to be with us. We carry shame, keep our heads down and quietly assume we’ve disappointed him once too often.

But Jesus is still saying, “Follow me.”

He comes looking for us, and he stays. And when we begin to know that kind of love, we find ourselves making room at the table for others to discover it too.