"Jesus at the Table" | Mark 2:13–22 | Pastor Jason Smith FBC Boerne — Gospel of Mark Series

A tax collector in first-century Judea wasn't just unpopular. He was a traitor — a fellow Jew collecting money for Rome, using extortion and power to squeeze his own people. If he walked into your home, it became ceremonially unclean.

Jesus walked up to his booth and said, "Follow me."

In this message from Mark 2:13–22, Pastor Jason Smith traces three scenes that together paint one of the most joyful portraits of Jesus in the Gospels: the calling of Levi, the party that follows, and the confrontation with the Pharisees over fasting. Jesus answers them with two quick illustrations — a patch on old cloth, new wine in old wineskins — that reframe everything. He didn't come to patch dead religion. He brought something entirely new.

The message includes the remarkable story of Dr. Rosaria Butterfield — a tenured professor, committed feminist, and vocal critic of Christianity who encountered a pastor who simply invited her to dinner. Not as a debate. Not as a project. Just dinner. And over two years, the word of God and the warmth of a household that looked like Levi's party changed everything.

The closing question lands quietly but won't let go: are we becoming more like the Pharisees standing outside the feast — or like Jesus at the table?

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