The publicans had heard John say that every tree which "bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down" (Luke 3:9). The crowd had just asked the same question and received a plain answer (Luke 3:10-11). Now the tax collectors want to know what repentance looks like for people in their line of work. They call John "Master" (in Greek didaskale, teacher), placing themselves under his instruction. Gill notes that some publicans of the time collected only what was fixed, while others "exacted more than what they were ordered." Their question asks John where the line is for them.

John answered: "Exact no more than that which is appointed you" (Luke 3:13). He did not tell them to leave their work. He told them to stop taking more than the lawful amount. Gill says John answered them "Not by advising them to quit their employments," as if collecting taxes were wrong in itself. Later Luke records that "the publicans, justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John" (Luke 7:29).

The KJV word "publicans" translates telonai. Thayer defines the word as "a renter or farmer of taxes," a tax gatherer, and notes that tax collectors "were detested not only by the Jews but by other nations also." Barnes, writing on the call of Matthew, says the character of a publican "among the Jews was commonly not very respectable" (Barnes on Matthew 9:10).

John's answer uses the word diatetagmenon, "having been appointed," for the amount the government set. Barnes explains "that which is appointed" as "by the government," and he holds that the office itself was not dishonorable, though it was often abused.

This short exchange shows how John's call to repentance lands in daily life. Repentance is not only a feeling or a ceremony. For the crowd it meant sharing (Luke 3:11); for the publicans it meant honest dealing in the very place where they had been most tempted. Matthew Henry observes that John's answers "declared the present duty of the inquirers, and at once formed a test of their sincerity."

Luke keeps returning to tax collectors. Levi leaves "the receipt of custom" to follow Jesus (Luke 5:27-28), and Zacchaeus, "chief among the publicans," promises to restore fourfold if he has taken anything by false accusation (Luke 19:2, 8). The question these publicans asked John prepares the way for the grace Jesus would show to people like them.