“The Son of man is come eating and drinking; and you say, Behold, a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of public servants and sinners!”
And when Jesus walks among men and eats and drinks with them, they say, “See, He is a gluttonous man, He is wine-lover, He is a friend of public servants and sinners.” ‘Public servants' were those who served the hated Herod and the government which ruled under Rome, the tax-collectors, the customs officers, the collectors of tolls. They were despised by all as traitors. ‘Sinners' were those who did not follow the Pharisaic regulations for maintaining ‘cleanness' and in tithing, and with regard to the strict observance of the Sabbath and other such matters.
Thus they could not make up their minds as to what they wanted one way or the other. One was too narrow minded, the other too broadminded. For unless men walked in their carefully laid out path, veering neither to one side or the other, they were to be condemned. They accepted no other way.
‘The Son of Man.' That this refers to Jesus is undoubted. But what does it signify here? In Daniel 7 the son of man is both prince and people. Thus here Jesus is emphasising His oneness with the people. He is not apart from them, He is identified with them. Thus He eats and drinks with them. Yet He does it too as an individual. He is one with them and yet He is their King.