Lk 5:27-32
27[Jesus] went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the customs post. He said to him, “Follow me.” 28And leaving everything behind, he got up and followed him. 29Then Levi gave a great banquet for him in his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were at table with them. 30The Pharisees and their scribes complained to his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” 31Jesus said to them in reply, “Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do. 32I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners.”
TAX COLLECTORS AND SINNERS: The economy in Palestine in Jesus’ time was mainly agricultural and commercial. Since the country was under the Roman power, Caesar and his “family” (agents, political kins) had an interest in everything. Caesar’s estates were overseen by the Roman prefects of Judea. The Roman emperor was the main beneficiary of the taxes as well as tribute from the local rulers—the Herodian kings (ethnarchs). Local elites like the Herodians and the high priests controlled land and agricultural production, as well as the harbors and fishing ports.
In Galilee, the ruling elites (Herod Antipas and his cohorts) controlled fishing by the Sea of Tiberias. They sold fishing rights to the “brokers” (telonai, commonly translated as “publicans” or “tax collectors”) who, in turn, contracted with the fishermen. The fishermen received capitalization from the brokers and were often indebted to them. The fishermen would form “cooperatives” so that they could bid for fishing contracts or leases.
Today’s Gospel notes that Levi sits at a customs post, probably in Capernaum which was an important fishing locale. It is possible that Levi was a contractor of royal fishing rights. Many tax collectors remained poor. That Levi could give a great banquet for Jesus means that he was a successful contractor. He would also be seen as dishonest. Hence, the Pharisees brand him as a sinner.
When challenged over his association with tax collectors and sinners, Jesus replies that it is the sick people who need a physician. It is not disease that is in view here, but “illness,” that is, the loss of meaning and place in the community. Jesus “heals” Levi and the ostracized like him by restoring them to the community of God which he establishes.