Passage of the Day - January 6, 2013

Mark 2:14-17

¹⁴ As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting in the tax booth, and He said to him, “Follow Me!” And he got up and followed Him.
¹⁵ And it happened that He was reclining at the table in his house, and many tax collectors and sinners were dining with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many of them, and they were following Him. ¹⁶ When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that He was eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they said to His disciples, “Why is He eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners?” ¹⁷ And hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

This verse adds quite a bit of spice to the topic of infant baptism.  This passage shows us that the focus of Christ’s ministry is the wayward unbelievers, not the children of believing parents (who have already been instructed how to handle their children in Deuteronomy).  Since the focus of Christ’s ministry is wayward unbelievers, then it should not surprise us that the Bible focuses on the conversion of wayward unbelievers.

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®,
© Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Used by permission." (http://www.lockman.org/)