“Inviting the marginalized to the table not only made them equals; it made Jesus their ‘friend.’ The Pharisees viewed this behavior as subversive to their conviction of what Israel needed for true social ordering; Jesus saw it as a manifestation of a new way of holiness based on mercy.
Michael H. Crosby in Spirituality of the Beatitudes

“The merciful will be found consorting with publicans and sinners, careless of the shame they incur thereby. In order that they may be merciful, they cast away the most priceless treasure of human life, their personal dignity and honor. For the only honor and dignity they know is their Lord’s own mercy, to which alone they owe their very lives.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer in The Cost of Discipleship