Tax Collectors and the Pharisees

March 8, 2025 - Saturday after Ash Wednesday

Luke 5:27-32

Capernaum was a bustling town on an ancient trade route called the Way of the Sea (Via Maris). It connected Egypt with Syria and Mesopotamia, making it an ideal place for a customs post. That’s exactly what Herod Antipas set up—positioning tax collectors like Levi to collect tolls on travelers passing through.

In Luke’s Gospel, we meet two tax collectors by name: Levi and Zacchaeus. Levi left everything behind to follow Jesus. Zacchaeus, after encountering Jesus, gave away half of his wealth and promised to repay those he had wronged. But they had one thing in common—after meeting Jesus, they both threw a great banquet for Him. And in both cases, religious leaders complained: Why would a teacher like Jesus eat with tax collectors and sinners?

The Gospel doesn’t tell us exactly what Jesus saw in Levi that made Him call him. But while we judge by appearances, God looks into the heart. While we assess people by their actions, Jesus sees their potential. His words have power—the same call that lifted a paralyzed man from his bed also lifted Levi from his tax booth. The paralyzed man walked, and Levi followed.

When Levi threw a banquet for Jesus, he invited other tax collectors and “others.” The Pharisees, however, labeled these “others” as sinners. Did they consider everyone except themselves sinners? The parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector praying in the temple (Luke 18:9-14) seems to confirm this: The Pharisees saw themselves as righteous and looked down on everyone else.

But Jesus was different. He didn’t distance Himself from tax collectors and sinners—He welcomed them. He came as a doctor, not avoiding the sick, but healing them. His mission was clear: “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:32).

Interestingly, tax collectors responded to God’s call. When John the Baptist was preaching repentance, they came forward asking, “What should we do?” His reply was simple: “Collect no more than you are authorized to do” (Luke 3:13). But what about the Pharisees? They also came—but likely to investigate, not to be baptized. And we never hear them asking, “What should we do?” Perhaps they assumed they already knew the answer.

Jesus longed to bring both groups together—to unite sinners and the self-righteous, outcasts and insiders, around one table. But would the Pharisees let Him? Would they let go of their pride and sit alongside the very people they despised?

And what about us? Would we?