gospel · 28 · Capernaum
He was sitting at the toll booth when Jesus passed and said follow me, and he got up and left it — which for a tax farmer meant leaving a purchased concession he could not get back, a harder thing to walk away from than a net. Then he gave a dinner, and his colleagues came, and the Pharisees asked the disciples why their teacher ate with tax collectors and sinners. The answer is the sentence the whole ministry is argued from: those who are well have no need of a physician. Matthew's own gospel is the one that tells it against himself and keeps the trade in the apostle list.
A tax collector joins the Twelve, and the objection that follows becomes the gospel's own defence of itself.