Luke 7:29

7:29 (Now ¹  all the people who heard this, even the tax collectors, ²  acknowledged ³  God’s justice, because they had been baptized ⁴  with John’s baptism.

Luke 15:1-2

The Parable of the Lost Sheep and Coin

15:1 Now all the tax collectors ⁵  and sinners were coming ⁶  to hear him. 15:2 But ⁷  the Pharisees ⁸  and the experts in the law ⁹  were complaining, ¹⁰  “This man welcomes ¹¹  sinners and eats with them.”

Luke 18:13

18:13 The tax collector, however, stood ¹²  far off and would not even look up ¹³  to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, be merciful ¹⁴  to me, sinner that I am!’ ¹⁵ 

Matthew 21:31-32

21:31 Which of the two did his father’s will?” They said, “The first.” ¹⁶  Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, ¹⁷  tax collectors ¹⁸  and prostitutes will go ahead of you into the kingdom of God! 21:32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him. But the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe. Although ¹⁹  you saw this, you did not later change your minds ²⁰  and believe him.

¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the parenthetical nature of the comment by the author.

² sn See the note on tax collectors in 3:12.

³ tn Or “vindicated God”; Grk “justified God.” This could be expanded to “vindicated and responded to God.” The point is that God’s goodness and grace as evidenced in the invitation to John was justified and responded to by the group one might least expect, tax collector and sinners. They had more spiritual sensitivity than others. The contrastive response is clear from v. 30.

⁴ tn The participle βαπτισθέντες (baptisqente") has been translated as a causal adverbial participle.

⁵ sn See the note on tax collectors in 3:12.

⁶ tn Grk “were drawing near.”

⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

⁸ sn See the note on Pharisees in 5:17.

⁹ tn Or “and the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 5:21.

¹⁰ tn Or “grumbling”; Grk “were complaining, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

¹¹ tn Or “accepts,” “receives.” This is not the first time this issue has been raised: Luke 5:27-32; 7:37-50.

¹² tn Grk “standing”; the Greek participle has been translated as a finite verb.

¹³ tn Grk “even lift up his eyes” (an idiom).

¹⁴ tn The prayer is a humble call for forgiveness. The term for mercy (ἱλάσκομαι, Jilaskomai) is associated with the concept of a request for atonement (BDAG 473-74 s.v. 1; Ps 51:1, 3; 25:11; 34:6, 18).

¹⁵ tn Grk “the sinner.” The tax collector views himself not just as any sinner but as the worst of all sinners. See ExSyn 222-23.

¹⁶ tc Verses 29-31 involve a rather complex and difficult textual problem. The variants cluster into three different groups: (1) The first son says “no” and later has a change of heart, and the second son says “yes” but does not go. The second son is called the one who does his father’s will. This reading is found in the Western mss (D it). But the reading is so hard as to be nearly impossible. One can only suspect some tampering with the text, extreme carelessness on the part of the scribe, or possibly a recognition of the importance of not shaming one’s parent in public. (Any of these reasons is not improbable with this texttype, and with codex D in particular.) The other two major variants are more difficult to assess. Essentially, the responses make sense (the son who does his father’s will is the one who changes his mind after saying “no”): (2) The first son says “no” and later has a change of heart, and the second son says “yes” but does not go. But here, the first son is called the one who does his father’s will (unlike the Western reading). This is the reading found in (א) C L W (Z) 0102 0281 ˹ 33 Ï and several versional witnesses. (3) The first son says “yes” but does not go, and the second son says “no” but later has a change of heart. This is the reading found in B Θ Ë¹³ 700 and several versional witnesses. Both of these latter two readings make good sense and have significantly better textual support than the first reading. The real question, then, is this: Is the first son or the second the obedient one? If one were to argue simply from the parabolic logic, the second son would be seen as the obedient one (hence, the third reading). The first son would represent the Pharisees (or Jews) who claim to obey God, but do not (cf. Matt 23:3). This accords well with the parable of the prodigal son (in which the oldest son represents the unbelieving Jews). Further, the chronological sequence of the second son being obedient fits well with the real scene: Gentiles and tax collectors and prostitutes were not, collectively, God’s chosen people, but they did repent and come to God, while the Jewish leaders claimed to be obedient to God but did nothing. At the same time, the external evidence is weaker for this reading (though stronger than the first reading), not as widespread, and certainly suspect because of how neatly it fits. One suspects scribal manipulation at this point. Thus the second reading looks to be superior to the other two on both external and transcriptional grounds. But what about intrinsic evidence? One can surmise that Jesus didn’t always give predictable responses. In this instance, he may well have painted a picture in which the Pharisees saw themselves as the first son, only to stun them with his application (v. 32).

¹⁷ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

¹⁸ sn See the note on tax collectors in 5:46.

¹⁹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

²⁰ sn The word translated change your minds is the same verb used in v. 29 (there translated had a change of heart). Jesus is making an obvious comparison here, in which the religious leaders are viewed as the disobedient son.