Tax Collectors and Sinners, By Matt Cole

    About a year ago the favorite Bible song around our house told the story of a wee little man who climbed a sycamore tree so that he could get a view of Jesus as he came to town. What is amazing is what happens next. Jesus spots this little guy and he knows his name. But not only does Jesus know his name, he announces, not only to Zacchaeus, but to the surrounding crowd that he was headed to stay at Zacchaeus’ house.  Big deal, right? Wrong. It was a big deal because Zacchaeus was a tax collector. Correction. He was the chief tax collector.

      In another incident Jesus comes across a tax collector doing his job on the outskirts of town and after saying, “Follow me,” Jesus finds  himself as the honored guest in Levi’s home surrounded by a host of tax collectors. Big deal, right? Wrong. It was a big deal to the religious elite and to Jesus.

      The disreputable. Societal outcasts. Traitors. Sinners. All terms to express the way in which people like Zacchaeus and Levi were viewed by the religious leaders. In fact, Jesus even tells a parable in which the Pharisee goes so far as to thank God he is not like the tax collector. This was a big deal to the Pharisees because tax collectors were typically Jews who had signed up to work for the Roman government. This made them traitors to those who preached so fervently the importance of obedience to the Law. For Jesus, this was a big deal because he knew he had something to offer those that had been cast aside. And apparently, according to Luke 15:1, the tax collectors and “sinners” thought Jesus had something to offer them too.

      What is it that Jesus had to offer? Concisely put, it is that God’s love is for all people and his salvation reaches far and wide. What Luke is trying to tell us about people who are generally known to be living sinful lives and are doing something we believe is inherently evil is that “God’s salvation is not rootless. It springs from his great love for the whole race” (Leon Morris, Luke, p. 38). God’s love is inclusive, not exclusive. In addition to this message came Jesus’ call for tax collectors to change their lives to live in a way in a way “in which God’s care for the oppressed, the imprisoned, the blind and the poor heads the agenda” (Fred Craddock, Luke, p. 77).

      It is interesting that Jesus’ interactions with Zacchaeus and Levi lead him into their home and around the table. Fred Craddock points out that in Jesus’ day having a meal with someone or a group of people meant a total acceptance of them (Luke, p.78). When attacked for his so-called “bad table manners,” Jesus doesn’t jump down anyone’s throats; instead he clearly indicates those to which his ministry is focused (Luke 5:31, 32; 15:2). However, what is most convicting about Jesus’ response is that it caused his listeners to decide for themselves whether they are healthy or sick, righteous or sinner. Even today we are good at categorizing people, but through Jesus’ interactions with tax collectors and “sinners,” as readers we cannot be spectators at the feast. Instead, we have to look introspectively and ask the tough question, “Am I at the table with Jesus, tax collectors, and sinners, or am I among the critics?”