Luke 3:12 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

Then came also publicans— The publicans, or tax-gatherers, wishing by all means to keep their places under the Messiah, might be anxious to know what qualifications were necessary for that purpose: or rather, since our Lord hath elsewhere declared, that the tax-gatherers, with the rest of the people, were sincere in their professions of repentance, Matthew 21:32 we may believe that the gravity of theBaptist'sexhortation,thevehemencewithwhich he delivered his threatenings, and his character for sanctity, accompanied with the power of divine grace, affected them to such a degree, that many, who till then had looked on ceremonial righteousness as a principal requisite to salvation, sensible of their error, came to him, and said, "If matters be so, what must we do?" Indeed the tax-gatherers and others, who thus addressed the Baptist, were, in general, people of infamous characters; yet he did not, like the Pharisees, shun their company for that reason: on the contrary, he received them with great humanity, and recommended to them equity in the discharge of their office, Exact no more, &c. that is to say, "In levying the taxes, compel no man to pay you more than his just proportion of the sum which you are allowed by the law to raise."