1 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through it. 2 A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was rich. 3 He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. 5 When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today." 6 So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. 7 All who saw it began to grumble and said, "He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner." 8 Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, "Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much." 9 Then Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost."
We have been on the journey of Jesus to Jerusalem and the cross. His last stop on this road was in Jericho, some 20 kilometres NE of Jerusalem. Jericho was located on a highway where many commercial goods were transported, and thus where a huge amount of custom duties were collected (for the Roman government). Tax collectors would certainly be seen here.
So we read that in Jericho there was a man named Zacchaeus. How was he described? Two key descriptions ... (i) a chief tax collector, and (ii) rich.
A “tax collector” was seen by his own Jewish people as a gross traitor, as he collected taxes on behalf of the occupying Roman authorities, and thereby participated in a corrupt system whereby the highest amounts of tax possible were extracted from the citizens. A “chief” tax collector could well and truly profit above and beyond the amounts that he would pay on to the government (through taking a slice of the contemptible profiteering activities of his hired collectors). This institutionalised extortion especially hurt the poor, making their life unbearable. Such a person as this “chief tax collector Zacchaeus” was generally viewed in the worst category of ‘sinners’. His greed had led to great wealth being accumulated at the expense of those who suffered in poverty.
And in being described as “rich”, we are likely to recall Jesus’ earlier words, that due to the seductive nature of money, it would be easier for a camel to fit through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God (Luke 18:25). So there are two major strikes against Zacchaeus’ character.
These two strikes suggest that, in terms of his spirituality, Zacchaeus is in an impossible position. Yet the quote I began earlier, goes on to say, “What is impossible for mortals is possible for God” (18:27). A ‘third strike’ may see Zacchaeus barring himself from God’s kingdom for all eternity. This ‘third strike’ might have taken the form of further resistance or opposition to God, yet instead, in Zacchaeus, we happily see a remarkably seeking heart.
Jesus came to Jericho, and suddenly there was a sense of hope for Zacchaeus. Such was the depth of his dark hole, without someone like Jesus there was no hope of a better life for Zacchaeus. There we have it, a picture of the worst of sinners, consumed by his wealth, heading nowhere when it came to faith. Yet when Jesus arrived, and he was sought out, there grew tremendous new possibilities.
By his actions, Zacchaeus certainly seemed desperate to see Jesus and find out more about him. Had he heard certain things about Jesus and wanted to know more? Would this Jesus hold the answers to the way Zacchaeus felt about himself? Or, was Zacchaeus just responding to the clamour of the crowd around him concerning the person who was coming through Jericho? Either way, this was evidence that Zacchaeus was ready for change. So much so that he rushed around to find a better vantage point, and finished up climbing a sycamore tree. But we might still have some ‘why’ questions!
What had Zacchaeus come to think about himself and his life, do you think, that brought such feelings of dissatisfaction???
· Sick of everybody ridiculing and hating him
· Regretting his social and religious isolation
· Realising that power and wealth was not making him happy
· A feeling of emptiness inside
· Thinking that there must be more to life
· Hadn’t ever quite escaped a religious upbringing
· Just maybe experiencing feelings of guilt (regarding those being cheated)
· Maybe he had heard about how Jesus befriended another tax collector called Levi (Luke 5:27-8), and that Levi (Matthew) was now following Jesus everywhere
· Perhaps this was just an inner response that he wasn’t able to even explain himself yet.
For someone like Zacchaeus to rush around and climb a sycamore tree like this, also shows a humbling of oneself. This is the sort of humility which shows a readiness to respond to something new.
It’s a wonder that Zacchaeus didn’t fall right out of that tree with what happened next! Zacchaeus was only trying to get closer to Jesus, sort of like taking some tentative steps, but then Jesus spotted him and called to him by name. How did Jesus know his name!?! And what did he just hear ... Jesus wanted to come to his place for lunch!! This was something completely remarkable considering nobody else ever wanted to speak with Zacchaeus let alone voluntarily going to his home. Jesus could have received any number of invitations from ‘respectable’ people, but he was actually choosing Zacchaeus to spend time with and share some hospitality. And of course, in this culture, such sharing of hospitality was an acknowledgement of acceptance and friendship. Despite his shock and probably some trepidation (given his life choices thus far), Zacchaeus enthusiastically responded and “hurried down” from the sycamore tree ... ‘happy as Larry’.
Now do you see the power of Jesus’ invitation and willingness to spend time at Zacchaeus’ own home? Jesus didn’t suggest a meeting at the temple, nor even in a neutral place – Jesus went right into the heart of Zacchaeus’ life, despite his reputation! And what a personal impact this had!
As we move on to verse seven ... of course the people around grumbled, for they could not see beyond their own negative judgements. There was certainly reason for them to dislike Zacchaeus, but they failed to understand what Jesus had repeatedly said ... that he had come to “seek out and save the lost”. We should not get stuck in our mindset simply according to current realities, failing to see the possibility of (transformational) change. We can’t even afford to get stuck within any bitterness that has developed against those who have offended us. In the case of Zacchaeus, who knows what led or caused him to go down the track in life that he did! What sort of pain leads one to become a persecutor of others? The fact is, there is a chance for anyone, no matter how bad things have got, to experience freedom from what is oppressing them.
Jesus would have been deemed by many to have become ‘unclean’ himself through this interaction with a chief ‘sinner’, but this did not of course deter Jesus. Jesus showing acceptance for Zacchaeus brought about tremendous results. Jesus did not of course accept how Zacchaeus had been behaving, but rather accepted him as a person with a view to what he could become. Such acceptance and friendship as this, brought about such great outcomes, not only for Zacchaeus personally, but also for those that he would turn around to subsequently help. It was in this context of acceptance that Zacchaeus hurried to welcome Jesus (verse 6).
Sometime later, after there had been fellowship and conversation shared between Zacchaeus and Jesus, Zacchaeus acknowledged how he now viewed and responded to Jesus by referring to him as “Lord”, and then secondly committed to a new way of living, at least in the way he viewed money. First he gave away half of his assets to the poor, and then he set about paying restitution to all those he had cheated – unlikely to be a short list – and to give them four times as much as he may have originally profited – sincerely seeking to make up for some of the misery he had caused. This is pretty radical action ... but, given the circumstances, it was required action. This indeed would prove the sincerity of his new association with Jesus. This will also help Zacchaeus participate in the life of the community again, reducing some of his social isolation.
Whereas this is only a monetary example of a change of mindset, it does give a strong indication how a heart has been more holistically changed. Zacchaeus has acted on his guilty conscience with serious repentance, thus progressively moving from a selfish self-centredness toward following the Jesus way into concern and care for others. Zacchaeus decidedly left behind dishonesty and began embracing a whole new pattern of generosity.
As the crescendo of this narrative we read Jesus saying, “Today salvation has come to this house” (verse 9). This “salvation” results where someone responds to the invitation from Jesus to change their focus away from self ... toward God and neighbour. Zacchaeus had lost himself in his professional occupation and in his concern for the material things in life, causing much harm to himself and others. Yet he had found forgiveness through the grace of Jesus and turned in a new direction. In this way he re-entered the path of eternal life and the kingdom of God, and could be regarded as a true child of God. God will now restore the person Zacchaeus was originally designed to be.
What can we learn from all this???
· Jesus is seeking the lost, no matter what dark situations they have fallen into
· Many people are searching for something that will change their ‘fortunes’
· Some people are not far from the Kingdom of God – they just need some of the ‘dots’ to be connected
· Transformation is possible, as people encounter Jesus
· Jesus took the initiative in connecting with Zacchaeus – we will need to be prepared to take initiative ourselves
· And further, Jesus was prepared to connect with people on their own ground.
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