Mark 2:17

Mark 2:17, in plain English

Jesus heard their complaint and replied, 'Healthy people don't need a doctor—sick people do. I didn't come to call those who think they have it all together. I came for those who know they need help.'

Why it's here

This might be one of Jesus' most important statements. He didn't come for people who think they're fine. He came for people who know they're not. If that's you, you're exactly who He's looking for.

Who's speaking

Jesus gives one of His most memorable responses, explaining exactly who He came for.

Where it sits in the story

A doctor doesn't spend all day with healthy people. A doctor goes to the sick. Jesus was doing exactly what He was supposed to do—and if you've ever felt broken or unworthy, His answer here is for you.

The scholarly reading

Jesus responded with a physician metaphor: the healthy (hoi ischyontes) don't need a doctor (iatrou), but the sick (hoi kakōs echontes) do. He declared, 'I came not to call the righteous but sinners' (hamartōlous).

Language and setting

The physician analogy was well-known in ancient philosophy (e.g., Diogenes). Jesus may have been using 'righteous' ironically—referring to those who considered themselves righteous—while affirming that His mission targeted those who recognized their spiritual need.

Voice

Jesus responds directly to the Pharisees' criticism with a proverbial saying that redefines His mission.

Significance

Jesus' answer was both simple and revolutionary: His mission was defined not by association with the respectable but by ministry to the broken. He was a physician, and physicians go where the sickness is.

15While Jesus was dining at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with Him and His disciples—for there were many who followed Him.

16When the scribes who were Pharisees saw Jesus eating with these people, they asked His disciples, “Why does He eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

17On hearing this, Jesus told them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

18Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were often fasting. So people came to Jesus and asked, “Why don’t Your disciples fast like John’s disciples and those of the Pharisees?”

19Jesus replied, “How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while He is with them? As long as He is with them, they cannot fast.

Read all of Mark 2 — Jesus forgives sins, eats with outcasts, and lets his disciples skip fasting. The religious leaders can barely keep up with the offenses.