In the time of Jesus, a tax collector was notorious for his collaboration with foreign powers to extort heavy taxes from the local community. They were often branded as public sinners who worked with pagans to oppress Yahweh's people. Jesus' intimate association with Matthew, a tax collector, evokes much criticism from the Jews. Jesus reacts to this by restating His mission, 'And indeed I did not come to call the virtuous, but sinners ... It is not the healthy who need the doctor, but the sick.'

As Christians, it seems much more easy for us to look after ourselves and to work with and for those who accept us. Indeed, it is a daunting task to bring the Christian message to those who lie outside the community, to those who reject us and who appear hostile. We are being challenged today to bring Christ to situations that are sick, situations that we ourselves reject as un- Christian. Like Christ, we must be physicians who dare to transcend prejudices and bring God's love even to those whom we do not wish to associate with.