Trying to be like Jesus - publicans and sinners

I have been thinking recently about the word "publican".

The first time I really thought about it was when I saw a bar owner referred to as a publican. Pub. Publican. Okay.

More recently I was thinking about how two of the places we ate in Italy were both called "antica osteria" (old tavern). Since I have also been focusing on the New Testament, it just sent me down this road.

Taverns in England were associated with the construction of Roman roads. It's not that no one was drinking ale before, but with more travelers there was more need for lodging, and for places that provided that.

Perhaps that doesn't sound like a public service, but those travelers could often be on government business, or traveling to government posts. I don't know that alcohol production had a lot of regulation in Roman times, but nonetheless it does not seem to be a coincidence that the proprietor of a public house ended up having the same title as a tax collector or public contractor.

Yes, the publicans in the Roman empire were more than tax collectors. They might also be military suppliers and oversee building projects. "Public" remains the key word, even if our understanding of the word has changed.

The tavern was open to those passing through, but by virtue of being open (and possibly due to the presence of alcohol) the locals would gather there as well. It could be a place of fellowship and cooperation.

None of those things sound so terrible. There were reasons that the Jews at the time of Jesus had scorn for publicans. For one thing, when a publican collected more taxes than expected, that was profit for him. It was easy to exploit the position.

Greed, dishonesty, and extortion can all be reasonably condemned, but it had gone beyond that, where just the job was enough.

I am not even saying that Jesus only appealed to honest publicans; we know Zacchaeus had cheated people because he said he was restoring what he had gotten that way. Jesus would call anyone to repentance who would listen.

Beyond that, it is interesting to me how much scorn there still is for both bar life and tax collection, if not always by the same people..

There can be reasonable debate about the role of public works, but just as in Roman times there are benefits to a road system and means of transporting potable water. There are things we do better together, and that requires taxes and civil engineers.

It is also valuable to have places where people can gather together - formally or casually - and the presence of alcohol can make that worse but does not necessarily have to.

We should not be so quick to look down on things. We should especially not be so quick to look down on people.

Related posts:

http://preparedspork.blogspot.com/2017/02/trying-to-be-like-jesus-inside.html