Mark 2:13–17
13 He went out again beside the sea, and all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them. 14 And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him. 15 And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16 And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 17 And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
We've already seen Jesus call his first disciples in Mark 1:16-20. There we saw that he calls them not to follow a way or a teaching or a movement. He calls them to follow himself. This is unprecedented - and a bold move to say the least.
Levi is more commonly called Matthew in the gospels. It was not uncommon for people to go by multiple names. For example, Peter was known as Peter, Cephas and also Simon.
In this story we see a couple of themes advanced. First, the opposition from the "scribes of the Pharisees". In first century Judaism there were three main theological sects—Pharisees, Sadducees, and the Essenes. The Pharisees were the dominant group with the most representation, the most influence, and also the ones who opposed Jesus the most. They were the only Jewish sect to survive the war with Rome in AD 66-70. (We will revisit the Pharisees on Friday... please try to contain your excitement!)
The scribes here were already upset with him for declaring the paralytic's sins forgiven in Mark 2:5-12. Now they are upset that he is associating on a personal level with "tax collectors and sinners".
Tax collectors in this culture were considered among the worst of sinners. They were despised—thought of as sell-outs to the Jewish people. They not only accepted the Roman occupation, but worked for the Romans to collect taxes from the Jewish people. They were also known to collect more than the required tax amount in order to line their own pockets. The Jews were even allowed to lie to tax collectors with impunity! Obviously, nobody likes taxes - especially from a foreign occupying government - and nobody likes tax collectors taking more than required.
Additionally, tax collectors were excluded from the synagogue, and any house they entered was considered "unclean". So Jesus certainly would be thought of as unclean, scandalous even, for entering Levi's house.
The scandal here is twofold. First, he dines with them without condition of their repentance. He doesn't require them to repent and be circumcised in order for him to be with them. He meets them where they are and says nothing of repentance (as far as Mark documents). Jesus knows that life change happens after one believes in him, not before. The second scandal is that he is again usurping the authority of the Law. By dining with them he is violating cleanliness laws and he calls them to follow him, not the Torah.
The last theme we see advanced here is the Messianic theme. The scribes thought the Messiah would overthrow the Romans, and the tax collectors and sinners along with them. Jesus dining with them and associating with them didn't fit with their concept of the Messiah, giving them more reason to reject his identity as the Messiah at this point.