Jesus hung out with sinners, and this irked the Jewish Religious Leaders to no end. It was their unwritten law that , One must not associate with an ungodly man…and this included a Rabbi even teaching the person. But this passage shows that people of all status were drawn to Jesus for His kind & welcoming spirit, unlike the Religious Leaders who were afraid of becoming corrupted by merely being near a sinner. For just as Jesus was never defiled by physical contact with lepers – He was never defiled by contact with sinners. Jesus was part of the table fellowship… teaching & transforming searching hearts… but never partaking of the sin.
Safetypinlove 