Note 23 at Mt. 5:46: Publicans were Jews who were employed by the Roman government as tax collectors (Mt. 9:9 with 10:3). Any Jew who collaborated with the Romans was an outcast among his people, but because of their thievery, the publicans were especially despised. The Romans allowed these tax collectors to receive their wages by over-taxing the people. These publicans were rich at the people's expense (Lk. 19:2) and thus were hated and shunned by Jewish society (Mt. 9:11; Lk. 15:1-2). Jesus extended His love and forgiveness to the publicans just as He would to anyone else and some received it (Lk. 7:29; 18:10-14; 19:2-10). Matthew, the publican, even became one of Jesus' twelve apostles (Mt. 10:3). Jesus stunned the very religious chief priests and elders of the Jews by telling them that the publicans and harlots would enter into the kingdom of God before them (Mt. 21:31).