Matthew 18:17-Irony, or Different Tax Collectors?

[newton3005]

Romans 13:1 says, “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.” Well, like people, the “governing authorities,” i.e. the body of government itself, needs money to eat. That’s where the tax collectors come in. Further on we have Verse 7 which says “Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed…” another shout-out to tax collectors.

Yet in Matthew 18:15–17, Jesus says to his disciples that if a brother sins and refuses to listen them, or to witnesses, or to the church, they should be treated “as a Gentile and a tax collector.” A tax collector? The very person that collects on behalf of a government envisioned by Romans 13:1? Why the disdain for a tax collector? That disdain is further supported in the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector in Luke 18:13–14, in which the tax collector confesses that he has sinned. Why a tax collector? Why not someone else?

A reading of the Bible also indicates there are tax collectors who aim to do the right thing. In Luke 3:12–13, they ask John the Baptist what they should do. He says in Verse 13, “Collect no more than you are authorized to do.” That makes sense, no? A tax collector who only collects what a government under God asks him to collect, would seem to be a tax collector that leans toward righteousness, whereas a tax collector who collects more would be regarded as a sinner. This latter tax collector would include those that take bribes.

So it seems there are tax collectors and there are tax collectors. But in Matthew 18:15–17, Jesus lumps, shall we say, CERTAIN tax collectors with heathens? The plain irony is that tax collectors are needed to collect revenue for the government, yet here, Jesus treats them with cynicism. And there is a further irony when in Matthew 17:24–27, he acknowledges the importance of tax collectors. Is Jesus trying to make an example of tax collectors, given the importance of their position relative to the government and as such have a higher standing than the common people in terms of authority and should act accordingly, in a righteous manner?

 

[Lambano]

Yet in Matthew 18:15–17, Jesus says to his disciples that if a brother sins and refuses to listen them, or to witnesses, or to the church, they should be treated “as a Gentile and a tax collector.” A tax collector? The very person that collects on behalf of a government envisioned by Romans 13:1? Why the disdain for a tax collector? That disdain is further supported in the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector in Luke 18:13–14, in which the tax collector confesses that he has sinned. Why a tax collector? Why not someone else?

In First Century Judea, the telones (tax collectors or publicans) were locals employed by the Roman occupiers to collect tribute for Rome. As such, they were considered traitors by their fellow Jews. Some of the commentaries indicate they also were permitted to keep anything above and beyond their official quotas, so they were considered crooks as well. And yet Jesus was known as a friend of tax collectors like Zacchaeus and Matthew/Levi himself. (Which does make Jesus's acknowledgement here that tax collectors were considered outsiders to God's people to be inconsistent with His own behavior, doesn't it? Or does it?)

My uncle worked for the state Department of Revenue, and he found some of the references to tax collectors in the Bible to be ... disturbing.

 

[Deborah_]

(Which does make Jesus's acknowledgement here that tax collectors were considered outsiders to God's people to be inconsistent with His own behavior, doesn't it? Or does it?)

I don't think so. A tax collector in Judea/Israel was (by definition, as you explained) a rebellious sinner and outside the ranks of God's people. But to Christians, they were 'lost sheep' to be loved and evangelised.

A rebellious Christian was to be considered in the same category - an outsider, yet still someone to be loved and hopefully encouraged to repent.

 

[Lambano]

I don't think so. A tax collector in Judea/Israel was (by definition, as you explained) a rebellious sinner and outside the ranks of God's people. But to Christians, they were 'lost sheep' to be loved and evangelised.

A rebellious Christian was to be considered in the same category - an outsider, yet still someone to be loved and hopefully encouraged to repent.

I like the answer, but it’s a bit of an anachronism. First Century Jewish people accepted but did not actively seek Gentile Proselytes, and they certainly did not love tax collectors. The Great Commission would come after Jesus’s death and resurrection.

Maybe that’s the correct understanding? Be open to accepting and restoring the rebel. Though wouldn’t a tax collector fall into the “lost sheep” category, one to be actively sought out, like Jesus did with Matthew/Levi? Matthew has Jesus giving the parable of the Lost Sheep in the immediately preceding context (Luke has it in a different context), which may indicate it was part of the same discourse and same thought-process, not a non-sequitur. In which category does that put the Gentile outsiders, then? Those to be passively accepted, or those to be sought out?

 

[Deborah_]

First Century Jewish people accepted but did not actively seek Gentile Proselytes, and they certainly did not love tax collectors. The Great Commission would come after Jesus’s death and resurrection.

But Jesus was talking to His followers, not to unbelieving Jews. And He had already demonstrated love towards both tax collectors (eg Matthew/Levi) and Gentiles (the centurion whose servant was healed and the Syro-Phoenician woman with a demon-possessed daughter).

In which category does that put the Gentile outsiders, then? Those to be passively accepted, or those to be sought out?

Now, we are to seek them out.