Luke and tax collectors

I feel like I've heard a lot about tax collectors lately. This Sunday we will read about Zacchaeus, the chief tax collector and wee little man who climbed a tree to see Jesus in Luke 19:1–10. Last Sunday, we heard the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector and their revealing prayers in Luke 18:9–14. But it's more than that. 

Jesus has been eating with tax collectors, inviting the ire of the religious elites. He called Matthew, a tax collector, to be one of his disciples. And the parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin and the two lost sons were told to those who grumbled because, again, Jesus kept company with tax collectors and other sinners. Perhaps it's time to stop and put the pieces together to see what sort of picture Luke paints of Jesus' interactions with some of the most hated people of his day.

Mark gives us a glimpse into this behavior with the calling of Levi and the dinner in his house (Mark 2), but that's pretty much all of the attention that tax collectors get in his Gospel account. Matthew mentions tax collectors more often, but the picture remains incomplete. Sometimes Jesus is eating with them, but other times he is critical of them (e.g. "let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector" in Matt. 18:17). John doesn't really mention them at all. Luke, however, takes the time to build his Gospel around them. Over and over they are featured. This repetition feels exhaustive. As I prepare for another sermon, I find myself wondering what more could possibly be said about how Jesus welcomes tax collectors, and the religious authorities don't like that.