Tax Collectors and Pagans

While reading through the sermon on the mount in the book of Matthew, I noticed Matthew, the former tax collector, wrote that Jesus placed both tax collectors and gentiles in the same boat (Matthew 5:46-48). If you love only those who love you back, you’re no better than tax collectors and pagans. They can show love like that. Did Jesus say this with a little smile and look at Matthew when he said it? We can’t know, but if so it shows Jesus’ sense of humor, and Matthew did include it in his collections of Jesus sayings. We have a Savior, a human Savior, who is not only the wisest and best person we could ever know, but also fun to be around.