Luke 5:29-30

5:29 Then 1  Levi gave a great banquet 2  in his house for Jesus, 3  and there was a large crowd of tax collectors and others sitting 4  at the table with them. 5:30 But 5  the Pharisees 6  and their experts in the law 7  complained 8  to his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” 9 

Luke 7:29

7:29 (Now 10  all the people who heard this, even the tax collectors, 11  acknowledged 12  God’s justice, because they had been baptized 13  with John’s baptism.

Luke 7:34

7:34 The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at him, 14  a glutton and a drunk, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ 15 

1 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

2 sn A great banquet refers to an elaborate meal. Many of the events in Luke take place in the context of meal fellowship: 7:36-50; 9:12-17; 10:38-42; 11:37-54; 14:1-24; 22:7-38; 24:29-32, 41-43.

3 tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

4 tn Grk “reclining.” This term reflects the normal practice in 1st century Jewish culture of eating a meal in a semi-reclining position. Since it is foreign to most modern readers, the translation “sitting” has been substituted.

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

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

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

8 tn Or “grumbled”; a term often used in the OT for inappropriate grumbling: Exod 15:24; 16:7-8; Num 14:2, 26-35; 16:11.

9 sn The issue here is inappropriate associations (eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners) and the accusation comes not against Jesus, but his disciples.

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

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

12 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.

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

14 tn Grk “Behold a man.”

15 sn Neither were they happy with Jesus (the Son of Man), even though he was the opposite of John and associated freely with people like tax collectors and sinners. Either way, God’s messengers were subject to complaint.