Tax-collectors
did not have a good reputation. They often demanded higher taxes than were
actually prescribed. They worked for the Romans who were occupying the country.
For this reason the Pharisees did not want to have anything to do with them.
One
day Jesus was walking along the shore of the sea of Galilee when he saw the
tax-collector, Levi, sitting in his booth. Jesus said to him: Come, follow
me. Levi got up and went with Jesus. When Jesus was dining in Levi’s house,
many tax-collectors and sinners also ate with him and his disciples. The
Pharisees and scribes saw this and said to his disciples: How can he dine in
the company of sinners? Jesus heard the question and replied: It is not the
healthy, but the sick who need the doctor. I have not come to call the just,
but sinners.