The passage
      v13. After the success of the healing of the paralytic, 2:1-12, Jesus again confronts the powers of darkness in the wilderness ("beside the lake" = desert). As usual, he does this through a word ("he began to teach them").
      v14. The full designation of Levi is most likely "Levi son of Alphaeus who is surnamed Matthew." As a tax collector he was a hated member of Jewish society, a total outcast. He operated in Capernaum, on the road from Decapolis, taxing such items as fish. He obviously knew of Jesus and his team. Again, we see the results of Jesus' invitation; the lost seeker is immediately gathered to Jesus.
      v15. As an expression of joy, Levi throws a dinner party for Jesus, the disciples and outcast friends. The actual phrase "publicans and sinners" means publicly known outcasts and despised peoples. They were Jews, classed by the Pharisees as ritually unclean.
      v16. For the Pharisees, the purity of table fellowship was easily stained in the presence of a "sinner" and they were less than impressed by Jesus' failure to remain separate from the unclean.
      v17. The form of this incident is quite common in the gospels. Jesus performs a significant act, it is challenged by the Pharisees, Jesus counters with a truth that they may well agree with, but he interprets it radically such that the opposition is silenced. In this episode, the meal represents the messianic feast where God's forgiven people share in eternal fellowship. In the face of his critics, Jesus makes the point that it is the sinner who needs forgiveness, not the righteous, and therefore, it is proper for him to work with those who need forgiveness. The Pharisees may well nod in agreement with Jesus' argument, yet instead of identifying the "called out ones" with the "righteous", Jesus has actually identified them with the "sinners" (the lost who have sought and found forgiveness and thus, entry into the kingdom of heaven).
      v18. The question over fasting serves to challenge the "righteous" Pharisees (churchmen) and so provide another opportunity for radical teaching. The Day of Atonement was the only designated fast day, but the Pharisees had developed a pattern of regular fasting; one obviously followed by the Baptist and his disciples as well.
      v19-20. These words are often interpreted in light of Jesus' passion. The "bridegroom" messiah will soon be crucified. His disciples will "fast" on that day (there is no reference here to ongoing fasting). Another possible interpretation is that the episode is a contrast between joy and sadness in the context of Levi's dinner party. Jesus is a rabbi on the move, a busy man, so rejoice today and reflect (fast) tomorrow when he has gone.
      v21-22. Jesus' comment may be true enough, but in typical fashion he draws out a radical implication. The kingdom of God has dawned and the messianic banquet is rightly illustrated in the joy of a dinner party where the lost feast even on a day of fast. It would be totally inappropriate to fast in sad reflection, awaiting the coming day, as did the disciples of John. The day is here, and to fail to see the day can only bring ruin. The new day demands rejoicing.

Disarming the self-righteous
      When arguing with a (another!) self-righteous person, the best method is to go for the high moral ground and throw as much water as possible on the slippery slope below. A clergyman recently spoke of a meeting he chaired for the purchase of new carpet in the church (always a matter of heated debate). One youthful member demanded that Bible texts be woven into the carpet, therefore justifying the expense of such an extravagance. In the heat of the moment the minister didn't know what to say. The following day, as is always the case, he thought of a wonderful line he could have used. "I would consider writing the scripture on my door post, even on my forehead, but on the ground, to be trampled underfoot, never!"
      Jesus' capacity to lay bare the conviction of human self-worth, is a joy to behold. He disarms us before the grace of God. He acts provocatively, defends Biblically and contends radically. If you like, he pokes the cocky, heads for the moral high ground, and throws water on the slippery slope of self-worth. Having disarmed his critics, maybe they will come to see that salvation is by grace through faith and not of works.
      As the sick need healing, so sinners need forgiveness. Jesus comes to proclaim forgiveness, a word of joy, not sadness, a word that cannot be contained. Yet, there is always the danger that our churchmanship, our piety, our habits even, will stand against the truth of the gospel. None of us would even think of opposing this truth, but somehow it's easy to oppose. The high moral ground is often quite unrelated to the substance of grace. Forgiveness transcends the political and religious correctness of our age, demolishing all human ideals and aspirations that would contain it.
      May we all be disarmed before the sovereign grace of God.

v14
      to telwnion (on) "tax collector's booth" - toll office, customs house, tax booth. Matthew is obviously a toll collector or a customs and excise officer. Either way, it was a hated profession in that it was fairly corrupt and served the Roman invaders.
      akolouqei (akolouqew) pres. imp. act. "follow" - accompany, attend, .... "Follow" with the dative. Note the similarities of Matthew's call with the call of the other disciples. These incidents demonstrate the authority of Jesus' call - they drop what they are doing and go after Jesus. "Follow me (in discipleship)", TH

v15
      katakeisqai (katakeimai) inf. "was having dinner" - recline at a table. Reclining was the normal posture for eating a meal at a low table with cushions used for support. "Dined", "having a meal", REB.
      th/ oika autou "Levi's house" - the house of him. The grammar could mean Jesus' house, but Mark describes Jesus as a wandering teacher.
      aJmartwloi "sinners" - sinners. Used here most likely in the sense of ritually impure rather than criminals and the like. Jesus has attracted a wide crowd of people who have nothing to do with religion and the niceties of the moral and cultic law. Mark is again noting Jesus' magnetism. "Irreligious people", Taylor.
      toiV maqhtaiV (hV) "disciples" - This is Mark's first use of the term to describe Jesus' followers.
      hkalouqoun (akolouqew) imperf. "followed" - [there were many and] they were following [him]. It is likely Mark is simply explaining why, on this occasion, Jesus is eating with sinners. It is because many of Matthew's associates "followed" Jesus to the house to eat with him and the disciples. Mark's does not describe Jesus as having "many" disciples. Church growth is not His thing!

v16
      oiJ grammateiV twn Farisaiwn "the teachers of the law who were Pharisees" - the scribes of the Pharisees. Possibly, "the pharisaical scribes." The addition of Pharisees to the religious crew serves to emphasize the religiosity of these critics in that the Pharisees were the puritans of their day.
      elegon (legw) imperf. "asked" - were saying. The religious crew approach the disciples rather than Jesus. Mark may be emphasizing Jesus' authority in that his accusers cannot quite bring themselves to accuse Jesus face to face.
      oJti - This conjunction may introduce a question (interrogative) as in the NIV, but it is possibly recitative (introducing a direct statement) and therefore producing the accusation "he is eating with toll-collectors and sinners."

v17
      akousaV (akouw) aor. part. "hearing" - having heard. Jesus directly or indirectly hears the criticism, and then acts directly. "Jesus heard what they were saying", Barclay
      oiJ isconteV (iscuw) pres. part. "the healthy" - the strong ones. Here the "well and healthy" are intended. "The fit and flourishing", Phillips.
      kalesai (kalew) aor. inf. "call" - invite, summon, call. The sense "invite" is best as the word "call" carries theological overtones of a divine "effectual call."
      dikaiouV (oV) "righteous" - In not inviting the righteous to share in the coming kingdom, Jesus may be implying that they are either self-righteous and therefore under judgement, or truly righteous and therefore don't need to be invited. As the "righteous" are paralleled with the "healthy", the first option doesn't logically scan, even though it is theologically correct, given the "none are righteous, no not one". None-the-less, it is likely that the parallelism in the saying is used to emphasize a single point, namely, that as the sick needs someone to heal them, so the sinner needs someone to forgive them. It is because of this truth that Jesus associates with sinners and it is this truth that silences Jesus' critics. He must associate with the ritually impure who come to him if he is to lead them to repentance and forgiveness. "It is not upright people, but sinful people I came to invite", Williams.

v18
      nhsteuonteV (nhsteuw) pres. part. "fasting" - fasting. "Were observing a fast", Moffatt, better than "used to fast", AV. In the Law, fasting was required only once a year on the Day of Atonement, although the Pharisees fasted weekly on Mondays and Thursdays. Jesus again demonstrates his authority by superseding this important element of Jewish piety (prayer and almsgiving were the other key elements of Jewish piety). He turns "the sorrow of fasting into the joy of feasting", Gundry. The very presence of Jesus demands rejoicing. None-the-less, in the coming days, the horror of his death will lead his disciples to fast in sorrow.
      ercontai (ercomai) "Some people came" - they came. Impersonal plural. Who came is not identified, but most likely it was the usual crowd, this time with a question concerning Jesus' authority. If John and the Pharisees require their disciples to follow Jewish piety, on what authority does Jesus supersede this piety, given that his disciples are obviously following his example?

v19
      uJioi tou numfwnoV "guests of the bridegroom" - sons of the wedding chamber / wedding hall. "Wedding guests", Weymouth, or possibly "groomsmen", "the bridegroom's attendants", BAGD.
      en wJ/ "while" - in the time which, during the time.
      oJsoV cronon "so long as" - as long time, how long time. "As long as", BAGD; "fasting is out of the question as long as they have the bridegroom with them", Phillips.

v20
      tote "-" - then. "then they will fast on that day", the "then" referring to when the bridegroom is taken away from them (from the disciples).
      oJtan + subj. "when" - when, whenever. The associated subjunctive is not intended to express a possible event, "may", but is simply a grammatical requirement; "when he is taken away."
      aparqh/ (apairw) aor. pas. subj. "will be taken" - is taken away, removed. After that, Jesus' disciples will fast.
      en ekeinh th hJmera "on that day" - The disciples will fast on the day when Jesus is taken away from them because it will be a day of great sorrow. This verse says nothing of an ongoing Christian tradition of fasting on Good Friday, Fridays, Lent, etc... "Then they will go without eating", CEV.

v21
      There are many and varied interpretations of the two parables/proverbs recorded in v21, 22. There is much to be said for the C.H. Dodd line, namely, that the image serves to illustrate the realization (better inauguration) of the kingdom of God; it has burst in upon us, the cloth is torn, the wineskins burst and thus thanksgiving is the only viable response. It is obvious that Mark has linked them to the previous incident, but even then, the meaning does remain unclear. Robert Gundry and others develop the line that Jesus' ministry is driven by the truth of the gospel. This truth, in substance the grace of God expressed in the forgiveness of sinners, causes Jesus to share table fellowship with outcasts and to overturn the practice of pious fasting with the joy that comes from forgiveness. The dynamism of this truth is illustrated in the situation of a patch of new cloth on old cloth and new wine in old wineskins. The power of expansion and contraction destroys the garment and the patch, the new wine and the wine skins. The point of the illustrations is that the truth of the gospel cannot be resisted - Jesus' word is powerful and authoritative and transcends the niceties of prevailing piety.
      epiblhma (a atoV) "patch" - something that is placed upon something else, eg. a patch, a piece of something.
      rakouV (oV ouV) "cloth" - rag, a piece of cloth
      agnafou adj. "unshrunk" - undressed, untreated cloth.
      epiraptei (epiraptw) "sews" - sew on, attach to
      airei (airw) "pull away" - raise up / pull away, remove. Lit. "otherwise the fullness takes away something from it". "Tears away", RSV.
      ceiron adj. "worse" - "A new piece would shrink and tear a bigger hole", CEV.
      scisma (a atoV) "tear" - rent, division .... tear.