Mark, Day Four

Mark 2:13-28

• Jesus gains another disciple.  This time a tax collector named Levi (why isn't he named Matthew in this gospel? I don't know) who also just gets right up and follows this man.  Though by now Jesus is getting famous.  And people like him.  I can see how that would be appealing to a tax collector.
• The rest of the chapter is basically a series of questions people ask about and his disciples:
• Why does he eat with sinners?
• Why do his disciples not fast?
• Why are his disciples plucking grain on the Sabbath?
• Jesus answers each question, and I'm sure each could be analyzed individually, but what strikes me is that in each case, Jesus defies expectations by being less restrictive than his religious brethren.  Less concerned with following the rules.  Jesus accepts others - their joy, their hunger, their worth.  Here, it's the religious people who draw lines.