Eating with Jesus - Jesus and the tax gatherers - 16 March 2025

Dear friends of BCUC,Income tax in Roman times was 1%. Sounds Good? Well, no because that was supplemented by many other burdensome taxes. You had to give a tenth of your produce, and there was a poll tax on every adult up until 65 years. In addition, there were taxes on goods, on roads and bridges, on pack animals and axles of wagons and taxes to enter towns marketplaces and ports. The tax gatherers who were locals were actual criminals who charged the population more than was required and pocketed the rest and even ripped off the Romans by accepting bribes from the rich to reduce their taxes. They were reviled for these practices and for working for the Romans and handling unclean non-Jewish heathen money. The Pharisees had the view that the path to heaven was to obey all of their laws and to remain pure, which included not associating with the unclean. Jesus wanted to change that by saying that obeying the laws was not enough since it was more important that we reflected God’s love and grace, quoting Hosea 6:6 that God required mercy, not burnt offerings. He was also not saying that he is not interested in inviting good people to a meal, but his message was directed towards those people who thought that they were so good that they did not see their own sin and did not see the need for being saved. Those people were more concerned with their own righteousness and with criticising rather than helping others. Jesus changed the lives of the tax gatherers Matthew and Zacchaeus by having a meal with them and their friends and illustrated the absurdity of the Pharisees’ behaviour by giving the example of doctors quarantining themselves from sick people. There are clear messages for us today. Our role is not to judge people but to bring them to God, who will be the judge. We must always reflect God’s love and grace to those who need it most. As Jesus shows us sharing a meal with people is a powerful tool to achieve this. Ian Olver