Jesus the Recliner

And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. (Mark 2.15)

We have all experienced the deep contrast of rejection and acceptance. A personal hero or local celebrity that does not live up to our expectations because as we went to express our excitement to meet them we were rebuffed with indifference. We are left alone with our shattered expectations and disappointment, we thought we knew who they were (and perhaps in our hurt do not consider the unknown circumstances that may be preoccupying them). Likewise we have been surprised at the acceptance and celebration of meeting someone who elevated us beyond our assumptions of them and ourselves.

The Pharisee’s experienced a deep rejection from Jesus because they did not consider the circumstances that preoccupied His focus. He was more considered with the sick than the well. It is not to say the healthy are unworthy of a check up from their doctor but the plagued and expiring must be treated first. Jesus chose to share His life with the unworthy.

And this is Jesus the recliner, Jesus who seats Himself among the unworthy and speaks into our human shells’ eternal worth! Jesus saw the tax collectors and sinners as He sees us today: we find our worth in His loving words, His call to repentance, His embrace with nail-pierced hands. He reclines at the table and tells us to recline with Him. He puts us at ease with His comfort, His unexpected love, His undeserved recognition of us by name. Our souls find peace in Jesus who dwells among us in peace.

Jesus, thank you for inviting me to the table, truly carrying me to the table like Mephibosheth, and calling me to enjoy your love and my soul’s peace in your presence.

Jesus the Homeward Bound

And when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. (Mark 2.1)

Is it any wonder that when Jesus wanted to be alone with the Father He would withdraw to lonely places, secluded and deserted? Wherever Jesus went people followed, even to His home. After Jesus had gone on a whirlwind ministry tour he returned home. There the word spread that Jesus was back in town. Jesus was home. And so the crowds came flooding into His home.

Missionaries understand this ministry reality better than most. Today, as in the day of Christ, many cultures still feel comfortable coming unannounced to the homes of important people. The fact that Jesus was home does not denote rest or reclusion, but nearness and accessibility. Jesus was home and therefore available. And so people came. They came in droves. They came and packed themselves into Jesus’ home so that a group of desperate friends had to tear a hole in Jesus’ ceiling to lower a paralyzed friend.

It would be difficult to focus on the need before you when your home is being destroyed. And yet, Jesus the homeward bound is not distracted by the destruction of personal property. Jesus sees through the broken thatch and mud bricks to the need for redemption. Jesus the homeward bound invites the crowds in his temporary home—paralytic and his friends, religious leaders and scribes—to join Him in His homeward journey. Jesus Himself has ripped a hole in the ceiling of their impossible self-salvation schemes and invites them in. Jesus calls them to forgiveness of sin and home.

Jesus, thank you that you saw me in my broken state and have called me home.