NOTES for Mar 2:17
The scribes grumbling against Christ can be understood. Near Him they see people with whom a "normal" righteous believer would never even speak, much less sit at table... Bribe takers and racketeers, collaborators and "ordinary" sinners who are not concerned about scrupulously carrying out rituals... Homeless people and the mentally ill, vagrants and women of dubious reputation: all those who have cut themselves off from God, who have no right to hope for His mercy. And out of these people He wants to gather the Remnant of Israel?
But God's mercy surpasses our understanding. The Lord says, "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." And in another place He says that tax collectors and sinners are going into the Kingdom of God ahead of you. They simply heard the voice of Jesus, heard His word of hope, and responded to His call to repentance. An important practical conclusion follows from these words of Christ. First, the possibility of repentance and amendment is closed to no one. And second, you can find the Kingdom of God only if you acknowledge that you are no better than those very sinners who are so unpleasant to you yourself.