And they said unto him, Why do the disciples of John fast often, and make prayers, and likewise the disciples of the Pharisees; but thine eat and drink?
Christ's choice to call Levi from the tax booth is a wonder of grace, not merely that He admitted fishermen, but that He admitted publicans, men of notorious ill fame. No heart is too hard for His Spirit to work upon, and He keeps company with the unconverted so that He might heal their souls, which is the very design of His coming.
AI summary
Commenting on Luke 5:27-39
And he said unto them,.... The disciples of John, or the Scribes and Pharisees: can ye make the children of the bride chamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them? signifying, that he was the bridegroom, and his disciples the children of the bride chamber; and that as it is unreasonable to expect, and morally impossible, that persons, attending the festivals of a nuptial solemnity...
Verse 33. See this passage illustrated in Barnes on "Mt 9:14", also . (y) "but thine eat and drink"