Saturday January 13, 2018
What a wonderful mix: these extraordinary powers of Jesus, and the seedy world of prostitutes and tax-collectors! It is a scandal for anyone who likes to divide the world neatly into groups: the good and the bad, the ‘right people’ and the wrong people, religion and the wicked old world. The English proverb, “a cat may look at a king,” is based on the understanding that there is no parity between them. And we know, of course, that it is not really about cats and kings, but about different classes of people! Jesus had no class-consciousness; he had friends from every quarter. Tax-collectors are frequently mentioned with prostitutes in the gospels. Levi (generally believed to be Matthew) was one of them. Jesus called him, and we usually pause here to wonder at the great open heart of Christ. Let’s not forget the great heart of Matthew either: he gave up a job that he could never return to. Peter and the others returned to their fishing, but Matthew had burnt his boats (no pun intended). Let’s praise all the great-hearted people who have followed Christ at great cost to themselves.
