» Friend of sinners

Jesus made himself the friend of “tax collectors and sinners”. Ever wondered who those “sinners” were?

Eckhard Schnabel has done the research and come up with a list of Jewish tradition occupations and people designated as “sinners” because they could not fully keep the Law:

donkey drivers
camel drivers
coachmen
bargees
shepherds
shopkeepers
doctors
butchers
goldsmiths
flax hecklers
sharpeners of stones of handmills
peddlers
weavers
hair cutters
cleaners
bath attendants
tanners
gatherers of dog droppings
copper smelters
dice players
usurers
organizers of pigeon flights
merchants dealing with produce of sabbatical year
leviers of taxes
tax collectors

Yes, gatherers of dog droppings.

Jesus not only reached these outcasts, he turned them into a missionary force that changed the world.

“Early Christian Mission (2 Volume Set)” (Eckhard J. Schnabel), 215.