The purpose of Christ eating and drinking with sinners was not to give the impression that their sins did not matter to Him and He could happily enjoy their company, but it was the very opposite of that. He saw them as those who were diseased and in need of the only Physician Who could minister to the soul. This misconstruing of the Saviour's actions on this occasion by the scribes and pharisees has been continued by many ever since that day. While some have taken up the complaint of these hypocrites others have gone in the opposite direction and used the Saviour's actions as a cloak to cover their keeping of the company of the wicked without sharing the Saviour's objective of seeing them saved.