He went out again beside the sea, and all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them. And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.
And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
How many people in our country are fans of the IRS? Probably not many. Taxes are not a pleasant discussion with people. Not now and not back in Jesus’ day. Now the tax code today might be a little murky. But the tax code back then was not just murky it was filthy. The tax collector represented the Roman oppression in Jewish circles. But the tax man also represented himself. He was often an unscrupulous man who was also an independent operator. He had power from the Romans to tax you but would use this power to put money in his own pockets and those who were the military enforcers, who accompanied him. Jesus made friends with this crew. Imagine that. Jesus went to their homes and had meals with them. To this the religious leaders objected. (We might ask, how did they know this unless they were also mingling with them?). Jesus is accused by these religious zealots to live a pure life and not hang with sinners and publicans. Remember, Jesus had crowds following Him. These were crowds that would typical see the religious leaders and give honor to them. These religious leaders were powerful. On the surface Jesus is accused of not keeping Himself pure. But in reality they were just jealous that the crowds followed Him. Jesus explanation about His hanging with this tax collector crowd tells us the Gospel message. Jesus did not come to call the righteous to repent (why would they have to repent?). Jesus explained that He came to call the sinners to repent and to receive eternal life. We often qualify sinners in our lives. One group is an acceptable group of sinners and the others are not. Gluttons, gossips and workaholics are acceptable sinners. Gays, homeless and drug addicts are not. Jesus did not agree with the sin of those He hung-out with, but He did wish to see them repent and receive eternal life in His name. We might do well to adjust our groups of friends and hang-out with a few sinners now and then. Even if there day time job happens to be IRS agents.
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