This is one of the classic stories taught to kids in Sunday school about the sinner who repents upon meeting Jesus and shows great generosity by giving away most of his ill-gotten gains to the poor. It is often used as an illustration of how people can change when they meet Jesus.
But is that what is really going on in this story or is there another way it could be understood?
Most Christians will know the story well, but it is often taught in isolation of what else is happening in the Gospel as well. So first we need a little information to set the scene.
At this point in the Gospel, Jesus is on his way from Galilee to Jerusalem, a journey he began all the way back in Luke 9:51. He has just arrived in Jericho and he has healed a blind man who called out to him repeatedly to have mercy on him (Lk 18:35-43). Before that he engages with a rich young ruler on the topic of inheriting eternal life, disappointing the man by telling him he should sell all his possessions and give the money to the poor, before following him (Lk 18:18-30). Then he tells his disciples for the third time that in Jerusalem he will be killed and rise again (Lk 18:31-34).
With all this in mind, let us examine the story of Zacchaeus:
19:1 And entering, he [Jesus] was going through Jericho. 2 And behold a man who was called by the name Zacchaeus, and he was a chief tax collector and he was rich.
Jesus goes to Jericho, to pass through on his way to Jerusalem. Zacchaeus lives in Jericho. He is a chief tax collector there and very rich. Already we are suspicious of him as rich people generally do not come off well in Luke’s Gospel (e.g. the rich ruler in 18:18-30, just a few verses before).
However, at the same time, tax collectors shown to be very open to the gospel message. They are present at the Jordan when John the Baptist is preaching and respond to him (3:12-13), Levi the tax collector becomes one of Jesus’ disciples (5:27-32), and they are presented as repentant in the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector (18:9-14).
3 And he was seeking to see who Jesus was but he was not able to because of the crowd, for he was short in stature. 4 And after running on ahead, he climbed up into a sycamore in order that he might see him because that one was going to pass by.
Zacchaeus the tax collector wants to see Jesus and find out who he is, but can’t see over the crowd because he is short. But he doesn’t want to miss this opportunity so he runs ahead and climbs a tree so he can see Jesus when he passes by. He doesn’t expect to do much more than see Jesus pass by. It appears that Zacchaeus might know something of Jesus teaching; otherwise he would not have been so keen to see him. At the least he has got wind of his notoriety as a result of all the miracles he has performed and his new teaching.
5 And when he came to that place, after looking up Jesus said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry, come down, for today I must stay in your house.” 6 And hurrying he came down and he welcomed him, rejoicing.
Jesus sees Zacchaeus and addresses him, inviting himself to his house. Zacchaeus’ response is immediately one of joy as he hurries down to welcome Jesus.
7 And all who saw were complaining, saying, “He has gone to find lodging with a man who is a sinner.”
The crowd of people surrounding Jesus responds to what they have just seen happen. This is the first time in the narrative that Zacchaeus has been identified as a sinner and it is by the crowd. He does not appear to consider himself a sinner as he does not object to Jesus coming to stay with him. Earlier in the Gospel (5:1-11), Peter didn’t feel worthy to be in Jesus’ presence because he considered himself a sinner. But Zacchaeus, the rich chief tax collector has no such problems. In fact, he rejoices at the idea, as it would have been a great honour to have Jesus stay with him.
8 And after standing still Zacchaeus said to the Lord, “Behold half of my property, Lord, I give to the poor, and if I have extorted anything of anyone I pay back fourfold.”
This verse is fascinating. Not only is Zacchaeus the one who responds to the crowd’s complaints, but he does so by demonstrating his generosity. In this verse, the verbs “I give” and “I pay back” are both present tense, describing a present reality. But they can be understood in two ways; they can either describe a present resolve (a decision made now, to be carried out in the future) or a present behaviour (something done regularly).
In some translations like the NRSV they are translated as future tense verbs, indicating that Zacchaeus will give away half of his property to the poor and pay back those who he has extorted (usually with the implication that there are a lot in that category because he is a tax collector and that is what tax collectors in the ancient world do).
However, as these verses are present tense then they could just as easily be describing what Zacchaeus does already. Half of his property he customarily gives to the poor and if he finds that he has extorted someone, he pays them back fourfold.
Several factors should be taken into consideration when deciding which way to read these verbs. So far, only the crowd has identified Zacchaeus as a sinner, likely because he is a tax collector and therefore by default a social outcast. Also, Zacchaeus did not think it odd that Jesus wanted to come and stay with him, he didn’t protest at all. But at the same time, it is hard to imagine how he is considered rich if he has this custom of giving away so much of his property. And how the people of Jericho in the crowd didn’t know about it and instead considered him a sinner.
But let us look at the final two verses of this story as well, where Jesus responds to see if that can shed any light on this problem.
9 And Jesus said to him, “Today, salvation came to this house, in view of the fact that he too is a son of Abraham; 10 for the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
At first glance this appears to support Zacchaeus planning to be generous in response to Jesus, as Jesus identifies the salvation that has come upon Zacchaeus’ house with his mission to seek and save the lost. But he also says that Zacchaeus is a son of Abraham. Descent from Abraham was one of the things that marked out Israel from among the other nations and it was an important factor in their identity as God’s people. Throughout Luke’s Gospel, Jesus has been challenging the assumption that descent from Abraham is an important factor for salvation. In fact, John the Baptist is the first to bring it up in 3:8 when he says “Bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not begin to say to yourselves, “We have Abraham as our ancestor”; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham” (NRSV). Descent from Abraham is worth little without also bearing fruit worthy of repentance. But in both cases Zacchaeus is bearing these fruit, regardless of whether it is his usual practice to do this or his sudden public declaration before the crowd.
It is also worth noticing that John was in the region round the Jordan when he spoke the words recorded in 3:8. Jericho is not very far from the Jordan. Luke records how many tax collectors where baptised by John and he instructed them to “Collect no more that the amount prescribed for you” (3:13). It is not impossible that Zacchaeus was among those tax collectors, having come out from Jericho to hear John speak and resolved from there to be generous with his wealth. This could explain why he was so keen to see Jesus that he climbed a tree just to get a glimpse over the crowd.
There is still the reference to seeking and saving the lost. This could refer to the fact that as a result of this encounter between Zacchaeus and Jesus and the crowd’s response, the tax collector has shown himself not to be a sinner and should now be considered a full member of the community and no longer an outcast. Or that a sinful tax collector has been inspired by meeting Jesus to be generous in the spur of the moment. One more lost sheep brought back to the fold.
What all this points out is that no passage has to mean what we were taught in Sunday school. Merely realising this opens the rich potential of this passage. If it is read either way, it provides a stark contrast to the rich ruler only a handful of verses back. His response to Jesus telling him to sell everything he has was one of sadness. Jesus’ response to this is that it is very difficult for the rich to enter the kingdom as it is their wealth that gets in the way, but that all things are possible with God. With Zacchaeus we get to see this in action. The rich tax collector, a sinner in the eyes of the people around him, demonstrates either his customary generosity or his realisation of the error of his ways through his repentance and making amends to those he has extorted. Either way, God has made it possible for this rich man to enter the kingdom because he is generous with his wealth and uses it to help the poor. Through this action he demonstrates that he is a child of Abraham as his repentance has borne fruit shown through his generosity. In Zacchaeus the Kingdom of God is at work.
No comments:
Post a Comment