Disciple Making 101

Mrk 2:13-17 (ESV) He went out again beside the sea, and all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them. [14] And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him. [15] 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. [16] And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” [17] And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

1. Look for those who will be taught.

Mrk 2:13-14 (ESV) He went out again beside the sea, and all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them. [14] And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.

• Jesus was always looking for those to teach. Those who were willing to sit down and to listen and to have a conversation.
• Mark makes a point in his gospel to tell us that the crowd was coming to Jesus as he was out at the Sea of Galilee beside the town of Capernaum.
• Jesus made the decision to leave the seaside and to enter the town, and as he passed by the tax booth of Levi (Matthew), he saw him. I picture Jesus walking through the town of Capernaum with the crowd pressing in on him, and yet, he saw Levi. He stopped and looked directly and intently at him.
• Are we taking the time to look around and to see individuals around us?
• See them. Teach them. Call them to follow Jesus, leaving their old lives behind and experiencing the new life that Christ brings.
• Disciple making forces us to see individuals.
• The love of Christ compels us to live no longer for ourselves, but for the One who died for us and rose again. It is that same love that compels us to love people and to see people.
• 2Co 5:14-15 (ESV) For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; [15] and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.

2. Make the time to sit down with people.

Mrk 2:15 (ESV) 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.

• Levi may have been the son of Alphaeus, but he was more than likely disowned and despised as a son and as a citizen of Capernaum. He had no participation in the life of the community. He was hated as a tax collector. He was an evil traitor. He became rich at the expense of his Jewish community. He had no participation in the religious life of the community. So, very likely he went through his day in the small town of Capernaum and the only interaction he had was with people who hated him, despised him, rejected him, wanted nothing to do with him, and the only time they even talked with him was to negotiate their tax bill or to sell to him in the marketplace.
• Jesus saw him and sat down with him. Jesus went to his house and had a meal with him. Jesus made the time to sit down and to talk, not only to Levi, but to all of Levi’s associates from tax booths of other towns.
• Jesus was reclining at a meal with Levi and his friends, and they were reclining at a meal with Jesus. Jesus didn’t participate in sin, but he routinely participated in people.
• Do we make time to sit down with people and simply talk with them about life and the things of God? Do we make the time to enter into life with the people around us?
• Disciple making forces us to sit down with people and to do life with them because we love them.

3. Care for people by calling them to leave their sin and to follow Jesus.

Mrk 2:16-17 (ESV) And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” [17] And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

• The scribes of the Pharisees didn’t see Levi the person. All they saw was Levi the sinner. Jesus was sitting there eating with Levi and all the other tax collectors and sinners of the town of Capernaum and the surrounding area. Not the scribes. They cared about their religion and their rules. They didn’t care enough to love people.
• Those who never recognize their need for healing will never come to be healed. Jesus came specifically to call, to summon, to invite those who are spiritually sick to come to him and to be healed.
• How are we demonstrating that we really care about people? How are we helping them to follow Jesus?
• Disciple making forces us to care enough to call people to follow Jesus.
• This story in Scripture is the progression of making disciples.
• See people. Sit down with people. Call them to follow Jesus.