As ¹  Jesus ²  was having a meal ³  in Matthew’s ⁴  house, many tax collectors ⁵  and sinners came and ate with Jesus and his disciples.

When the Pharisees ¹  saw this they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” ² 

The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him, ¹  a glutton and a drunk, a friend of tax collectors ²  and sinners!’ ³  But wisdom is vindicated ⁴  by her deeds.” ⁵ 

He said, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So ¹  the slaves replied, ‘Do you want us to go and gather them?’

He gave ¹  them another parable: ²  “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed ³  that a man took and sowed in his field.

If ¹  he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. If ²  he refuses to listen to the church, treat him like ³  a Gentile ⁴  or a tax collector. ⁵ 

But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and get his inheritance!’

When the experts in the law ¹  and the Pharisees ²  saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, they said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” ³ 

But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and the inheritance will be ours!’

Now ¹  they wanted to arrest him (but they feared the crowd), because they realized that he told this parable against them. So ²  they left him and went away. ³ 

After ¹  this, Jesus ²  went out and saw a tax collector ³  named Levi ⁴  sitting at the tax booth. ⁵  “Follow me,” ⁶  he said to him.

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.

But ¹  the Pharisees ²  and their experts in the law ³  complained ⁴  to his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” ⁵ 

(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.

The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at him, ¹  a glutton and a drunk, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ ² 

So he went and worked for ¹  one of the citizens of that country, who ²  sent him to his fields to feed pigs. ³ 

But when the tenants saw him, they said to one another, ‘This is the heir; let’s kill him so the inheritance will be ours!’

Then ¹  the experts in the law ²  and the chief priests wanted to arrest ³  him that very hour, because they realized he had told this parable against them. But ⁴  they were afraid of the people.

Who ever serves in the army at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its fruit? Who tends a flock and does not consume its milk?

My point is this: The person who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the person who sows generously ¹  will also reap generously.