Luke 19:7 Commentary and Bible Study

We have heard this complaint twice before in Luke, chapter 5 verse 30, and chapter 15 verse 2. The ones complaining are no doubt the Pharisees and the religious authorities, for the common people saw things quite differently (Luke 19:48). They are very slow to learn; indeed they are resistant to this lesson. They did not want to accept that Christ was the Saviour of sinners and outcasts from society, for in doing so he implied something about them too. Did they need to come for this salvation? That idea was offensive to them. They could not bear to be compared with these rejects from the synagogue. They had spent too long looking down on such people, and boosting their own status in the process. They were unwilling to lose that self-assessment.Anyone who accepted hospitality from such a man was associating far too closely with the unrighteous, and yet it was Christ who had initiated this act of hospitality; he had said, ‘To day I must abide at thy house.’ This was something he had sought out, and we can be sure that there were other tax collectors there, friend of Zacchaeus. Something similar had happened when Matthew was called to be a disciple (Matthew 9:10-11) and then too there had been complaints. But it proved to be a wonderful opportunity for the gospel, and many other former associates of Matthew had come the meal and heard Christ speak.