A Children’s Sermon on Mark 2:13-22

Preface for Parents and Pastors

This children’s sermon on Mark 2:13-22 would have been for the 8ᵗʰ Sunday after Epiphany this year. However, like in many years, we were well into Lent by then, so the text didn’t come up. 

I’m trying to post children’s sermons for all the Sunday Gospels of Year B of the lectionary. This one will be there for you next time there is an 8th Sunday after Epiphany, or some other time you want a children’s sermon on Mark 2:13-22.

When presenting to children, I strongly favor sticking to one point rather than trying to deal with all the details. Better to get one point across today, and talk about another point on another day.

I think the first story is far easier to make sense of for kids than the second. So, without further ado, here’s my children’s sermon on Mark 2:13-22. 

A Children’s Sermon on Mark 2:13-22 

Good morning, kids! I’m so glad to see you. Thanks for coming up to hear the children’s sermon.

When Jesus was traveling around, teaching people and helping people, lots of people became very curious about him. 

Some of the curious people wanted to know more, so they followed Jesus. 

Other curious people saw that Jesus was very different from most people. That made them sort of afraid. They wanted him to stop, and do what everyone else did. 

Matthew Levi

One day, Jesus was walking home after a long day of teaching. He was passing by the little shop where people went to pay their taxes, and he saw someone working there. 

“Hello!” said Jesus, “I was passing by and saw you working here. I thought I’d stop and talk for a bit.” 

The man looked very suspicious. “Why?” he said,

“I thought maybe we could be friends,” Jesus said. “My name is Jesus, what’s yours?” 

“Oh, you’re Jesus!” said the man. “I heard you were teaching down by the lake today. My name is Matthew Levi.” 

“Nice to meet you, Matthew Levi.” said Jesus,

“Nice to meet you, Jesus.” he said, and they shook hands.  “Actually, most people call me just Matthew, or just Levi, Tell me, Jesus, what were you teaching about down by the lake?” 

“The Kingdom of God, Levi,” said Jesus. “The Kingdom of God.” 

And Jesus told him all about it.

An Invitation

Then Jesus said something that surprised Levi very much. “I’d like you to come and follow me. I’ll teach you more about the Kingdom of God. And you can help me teach other people.” 

Levi looked kind of embarrassed. He was blushing, and he didn’t want to look Jesus in the eye. 

“Are you sure you want me?” Levi asked. “This is my tax shop. I’m a tax collector. Usually nobody wants me around. My only friends are other tax collectors—and other people nobody wants around.” 

“Sure I want you, Levi,” said Jesus. “I really like you. I want you to be my friend. And I want you to come, follow me.” 

“Okay!” said Levi, smiling at last. “Which way are you going?”

“You know the way,” said Jesus, with a wink. “We’re going to your house.. I’m hoping you can make me some dinner.” 

So, off they went to Levi’s house.

While Levi was getting dinner ready, one of his friends stopped by.

 “Levi, isn’t that Jesus?” asked the friend. 

“Yeah!” said Levi. “He wants me to follow him! Can you believe it? Tell the others to come by. We’ll have dinner on about an hour.” 

Well, pretty soon a bunch of Levi’s friends were sitting in the living room having dinner with Jesus. 

They asked questions.

Jesus told stories. 

They all laughed a lot. 

A Knock at the Door

But then there was a knock at the door. When Levi opened it, some other people — not friends of Levi’s — stood there, looking in.

They stared at Jesus, and Levi, and his friends.

They gasped. 

They whispered to each other. 

“Jesus!” one of them called through the door. “What do you think you’re doing?!?”

“I’m having dinner.” Jesus said. “I’m sure there’s enough for you too. Hey Levi, would you mind if these folks joined us?” 

Levi looked at who was standing outside and said “Um… Sure, Jesus.”

“Okay then!” Jesus said. “Come on in and join us.”

The man outside who had spoken before said “No way! We are not eating with those people.” 

“Why not?” Jesus asked.

“Because they are tax collectors!” said the man. “Tax collectors are bad people. They take our money and give it to the government.”

“Yeah,” said another man outside the door. “Plus, I think sometimes they take more than they are supposed to—and they keep it for themselves.” 

“Not all of these friends of mine are tax collectors,” Jesus said.

“Sure,” said the first man outside, “but they all do bad things. We don’t eat with that kind of people.”

“That’s too bad,” said Jesus. “They’re really nice. And the food is great.” 

The Big Why

“But it doesn’t make any sense!” said the man outside. “You came to bring the Kingdom of God. At least that’s what you told us. And we love God. We want to learn about the kingdom. But now you’re hanging out with people who do bad things.” 

“I spend time with people I like,” said Jesus. “And all kinds of people need to hear about the Kingdom of God.”

“But you should stick with people who do good things,” the man answered. “You shouldn’t be with people who do rotten things.”

“Think about it, my friend,” Jesus said, “If I was a doctor, would I go only to healthy people? What kind of people does a doctor go to help?” 

“Sick people,” said the man at the door, looking down at his feet. But then he looked up with a sparkle in his eye. “So I guess that means my friends and I aren’t sick. We must be doing just what God wants.”

“I wonder,” said Jesus. 

The guys at the door turned to leave. 

But Jesus called out “By the way, I’ll be teaching down by the lake again tomorrow. See you there?”

Wondering

I wonder if the guys at the door came the next day to hear Jesus teach?

I wonder how they felt when they found out that Jesus made Matthew Levi an Apostle? 

I wonder if you would like to have dinner with Jesus?

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You are, of course, free to use this children’s sermon, or adapt it as you find most useful. But, if you use it, please do one (or more!) of the following.

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