START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Luke 19:1-10
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OBSERVE:
Jesus is passing through Jericho on the way to Jerusalem for Passover — and on his way to the cross. Jericho has a storied history in the Bible. Jericho is situated just to the west of the Jordan River in the Jordan River Valley. From Jericho, Jesus and his disciples would begin the climb along the mountain roads to the Judean highlands, and to Jerusalem.
Jesus’ fame has preceded him. Crowds are lining the streets in Jericho to see the wonder-worker who has come their way. Even the elites wish to see this itinerant preacher!
We learn of Zacchaeus that he is the:
chief tax collector, and he was rich.
We also learn a little later just how unpopular he is with the Jewish people of Jericho. Zacchaeus was undoubtedly himself a Jew — his name in Hebrew means “pure” or “innocent.”
The fact that he is not only a tax collector, but is the chief tax collector quickly explains why he is despised. He is not despised simply because he is rich. In the popular theology of the day, the rich were normally honored as especially favored by God.
But tax collectors were collaborators with the Roman authorities. Usually they were recruited from among the citizens of the occupied vassal nation. They were charged with collecting the taxes required by the Roman Empire — relying on the threat of Roman military violence to extract their revenue. However, tax collectors tended to add a surcharge to their set tax fees so that they could skim the surplus off the top for their own profit. So tax collection was really a kind of extortion.
And yet this small man desires to see Jesus. He races ahead and, in what seems to be a rather undignified move, climbs into a sycamore tree along the road.
Jesus, of course, sees Zaccheus. We aren’t told how Jesus knows his name. But Jesus, who has already offended the priests and the Pharisees because of his fellowship with “sinners,” invites himself home to Zaccheus’ house!
Now, however, it isn’t just the religious authorities who are scandalized by his willingness to spend time with “sinners”:
When they saw it, they all [my emphasis] murmured, saying, “He has gone in to lodge with a man who is a sinner.”
Zacchaeus is overwhelmed with joy at this generous outreach by Jesus. After he clambers down from his perch in the tree, he makes an emotional confession to Jesus:
“Behold, Lord, half of my goods I give to the poor. If I have wrongfully exacted anything of anyone, I restore four times as much.”
Note that Zacchaeus doesn’t merely call Jesus Rabbi. He calls Jesus Lord. This is the Greek kurios. While Zacchaeus may not have fully understood what he meant by this title, it is clear that Lord denotes more than teacher. This does seem to be a kind of confession of faith in Jesus.
This is reinforced by the willingness of Zacchaeus to be morally accountable to Jesus. We are reminded of the message of John the Baptist early in the ministry of Jesus:
Therefore produce fruits worthy of repentance, and don’t begin to say among yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father;’ for I tell you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones! (Luke 3:8).
Zacchaeus makes an extraordinary commitment — half of his goods he pledges to give to the poor! This certainly exceeds the tithe that was given to the temple! And his fruits worthy of repentance include redistributive justice — he is willing to repay any unjust collections four times what he has received!
This certainly seems to indicate sincere repentance.
Jesus confirms this:
Jesus said to him, “Today, salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham.”
Like his cousin John, Jesus is declaring that Zacchaeus is a son of Abraham not merely because he is a Jew, but because he has repented of his sin and turned to God.
And then Jesus reminds everyone of his own purpose and mission:
For the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost.
The title, Son of Man, that Jesus uses throughout the Gospels to describe himself, has obvious Messianic connotations. And he makes it clear that his outreach to Zacchaeus and other sinners is his mission.
This is a reminder of his message at the very beginning of his ministry, when the scribes and Pharisees grumbled that Jesus was eating with tax collectors and sinners. Jesus’ response was:
“Those who are healthy have no need for a physician, but those who are sick do. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:31-32).
APPLY:
The story of Zacchaeus tells us everything we need to know about the nature of Jesus, and our hope as sinners for redemption.
Jesus is Lord, as Zacchaeus recognizes; and he is the Son of Man. Upon titles like these and ample Biblical evidence, the church has concluded that Jesus is fully God and fully man. This alone qualifies Jesus as our Savior.
And what is extraordinary is that Jesus comes looking for us, just as he seeks out Zacchaeus perched in the tree. Jesus, Son of God and Son of Man, has come among us to seek and to save that which was lost.
And then there is Zacchaeus. I avoid the temptation to see any symbolism in his small stature. But we can identify with his response to the coming of Jesus into his neighborhood. Zacchaeus is so eager to see Jesus that he is willing to lose his dignity by climbing up into a sycamore tree, like a schoolboy! And when Jesus reaches out to him, he responds with eager enthusiasm — and with repentance.
Repentance is not mere remorse. Repentance = a changed life, and:
fruits worthy of repentance.
RESPOND:
Like most kids who grow up in Sunday School, one of the first songs I ever learned was the tale of Zacchaeus:
Zacchaeus was a wee little man
And a wee little man was he
He climbed up in the sycamore tree
For the Lord he wanted to see.
And when the Savior walked that way
He looked up in the tree.
And he said: “Zacchaeus, you come down —
For I’m coming to your house today,
I’m coming to your house today.”
The thought that Jesus might want to come to my house was awesome! And that is precisely what Jesus wishes to do with all of us.
I also can’t help but think of another tale that I remember from my childhood — the animated Dr. Seuss story that almost always played on TV around Christmas — The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.
The Grinch hated the village of the Whos who lived down in Whoville, and he especially hated everything about their celebration of Christmas. It was noisy and annoying to him. So, the Grinch undertakes to steal Christmas! By that, he means to steal all the Christmas presents, and the stockings, and the Christmas trees, all the way down to the very last Christmas ornament. He even:
took the Whos’ feast,
He took the Who pudding, he took the roast beast.
He cleaned out that ice box as quick as a flash.
Why, the Grinch even took their last can of Who hash.
And then, as he is pushing his grossly overloaded sleigh back up the mountain, Christmas morning dawns in Whoville. And to his astonishment, the Whos all gather together in the town square, and sing a song welcoming the coming of Christmas Day — despite the loss of all their presents and trees and trimming.
And it also dawns on the Grinch that maybe, just maybe, Christmas is about more than just presents and trimming. And Dr. Seuss says:
And what happened then? Well, in Whoville they say
That the Grinch’s small heart grew three sizes that day!
And then the true meaning of Christmas came through,
And the Grinch found the strength of ten Grinches, plus two!
The Grinch returns all of the Christmas accoutrement that he has stolen, and
He brought everything back, all the food for the feast!
And he, he himself, the Grinch carved the roast beast!
Repentance isn’t merely changing one’s mind, but it is acting on that changed mind, and restoring what has been stolen.
Lord, I find myself “up a tree” at times in my life. In order to climb down and meet you, help me to repent and turn my life back over to you. Amen.
PHOTOS: "Luke 19-10" by New Life Church Collingwood is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.