Mark 2:15

An Understandable Version (2005 edition)

And it happened that Jesus was having a meal at Levi’s house and many tax collectors and worldly people sat down with Him and His disciples, for many [of these kinds of people] became His followers.

Cross References

Matthew 5:46

For if you love [only] those who love you, what reward will you get for that? Do not even the publicans [Note: These were people with a bad reputation for their dishonest tax collecting activities] do that much?

Mark 2:14

And as He walked along He saw Levi [i.e., the same person as Matthew. See Matt. 9:9], the son of Alphaeus, sitting at the toll booth [i.e., collecting taxes]. He said to him, “Become my follower.” And he got up and followed Him.

Mark 2:16

And when the experts in the Law of Moses, being Pharisees [i.e., a strict sect of the Jewish religion], saw that He was eating with tax collectors and worldly people, they said to His disciples, “Why does Jesus eat and drink with tax collectors and worldly people?”

Luke 15:1

Now the tax collectors and worldly people were all gathering around Jesus to listen to Him.

Luke 6:17

Then He came down [from the mountain] with them and stood on a level place [where] a large crowd of His disciples and a large group of people had gathered to hear Him and be healed from their diseases.