Tax collectors and sinners

"He sits with tax collectors and sinners."

This is a common attack Jesus receives in the New Testament. For instance, in Luke 15, a crowd gathers to hear Jesus teach. The crowd is divided. On one side, a group of religious leaders. Like many religious leaders throughout history, these particular leaders have both political and religious influence in their community and are respected (even feared) by those around them.

On the other side, a group described as "tax collectors and sinners." This is the only description we have of the others. "Sinners" may refer to those who are known trouble makers in the area: thieves, men and women who sell themselves to others and even former prisoners.

Tax collectors get their own category. This is not because they simply collected money. Tax collectors back then were traitors. They were people who grew up in the village, but decided to "sell out" and go to work for the Roman government, who were the oppressors of Israel. These tax collectors, instead of supporting those with whom they grew up, were snitches. They made sure the Roman soldiers and governors knew exactly what their neighbors had, so they would have to pay taxes on all of it.

If something was overlooked, these tax collectors made sure the Romans found it and taxed the people for it, and the tax collectors who were spying and snitching for Rome got to keep the bonus taxes they told Rome about. It becomes clear why tax collectors got their own category.

Yet, there they were, listening to Jesus teach.

Before Jesus even started teaching, the religious/political leaders spoke up: "This man, Jesus, welcomes those sinners -- and even eats dinner with them in their homes!" (Luke 15:1). Jesus heard them. So, he tells three parables meant to illustrate why the lines they try to draw don't work in the Kingdom of God. The stories Jesus tells start with a parable of a shepherd who has 100 sheep, but leaves them to go and rescue one sheep who has disappeared from the flock. The second is about a woman who has ten coins, but searches her whole house top to bottom until she finds it. After these "findings," both the shepherd and the woman rejoice. They celebrate and even invite friends to join them. "That's how God feels when even one lost person comes home," Jesus says.

The third story he tells is the most famous of all. It is often called "The Prodigal's Son." In short, it's about a son who wants to take his inheritance early and leave his father's house. His father is sad about it but lets him do so, and the son gets in big trouble.

He squanders his money and nearly starves to death. So, the boy goes back toward home, and on the way, he rehearses his speech about not wanting to be considered a "son" anymore. Instead, he will try to convince his father that he will just be a hired hand. It's better than starving, after all.

However, the young man finds there is no need for his speech. The father, according to the parable, runs out to meet him while he is still far away, hugs him, gives him the finest clothes and throws a party on his behalf, welcoming him back to the family.

At the end of the parable, the older brother is jealous and chastises the father (sound familiar? See verse 1!). But the father replies back that the right way to celebrate a lost person -- a "sinner" or a traitor -- who wishes to be restored and be forgiven is not to shame them or harm them, but to welcome them, forgive them and even celebrate them. Not a bad idea.