Historical context gives us some real eye-opener information

about Jesus asking this tax collector to follow him,

which means being one of his disciples.

Here's the historical insight.

There was not one government in first century Israel.

There were two.

There was the Jewish government

and there was the Roman government.

The Jewish government was the original government.

The Roman government was the oppressors,

was the ones in control.

And so these tax collectors would actually bid,

they would pay money to get the rights

to collect taxes on behalf of Rome.

Then they would recover this massive investment

of money they use to purchase the position of tax collector

by charging you more than the taxes that Rome was charging.

So they were just considered as traders

in every sense of the word.

And he asks this low life, this trader of his own people

who overcharges them to line his own pockets

and get rich off the backs of his own people,

...