Matthew 9:10-11

Matthew’s own account of the feast that he threw for Jesus that followed his calling is brief, and it focuses on the controversy with the Pharisees that occurred then. Matthew had friends who were also tax collectors (cf. Matthew 5:46). "Sinners" is a term the Pharisees used to describe people who broke their severe rules of conduct (Pharisaic Halakoth). Eating with these people put Jesus and His disciples in danger of ceremonial defilement, but the spiritual need of these people was more important to Jesus than ritual cleanliness.

"In the ancient world generally a shared meal was a clear sign of identification, and for a Jewish religious teacher to share a meal with such people was scandalous, let alone to do so in the ’unclean’ house of a tax collector." [Note: France, The Gospel . . ., p. 353.]

The Pharisees’ question, addressed to Jesus’ disciples, was really an ironic accusation against Him (Matthew 9:11). A teacher would normally keep all the religious traditions as well as the Mosaic Law to provide the best example for his disciples. The Pharisees despised Jesus for the company He kept, which implied that He had a lax view of the Law. Note that the Pharisees now become critics of Jesus as the scribes had earlier (Matthew 9:3). Opposition mounts.