Luke 19:1-10
Ah…Zacchaeus…the wee little man!
- He is one of our favorite New Testament characters.
- The children like him because he is small.
- Many of them know the Bible school song that features his story.
- Zacchaeus was a wee little man,
And a wee little man was he.
He climbed up in a sycamore tree
For the Lord he wanted to see. - There is something enchanting about a tax collector who climbs a sycamore tree.
- Walking along a road in Jericho…Jesus sees him…calls him to come down…
- And then he invites himself to the unusually small tax collector’s home.
- The Lord be with you.
But let’s not forget who Zacchaeus really was.
- Luke calls him a chief tax collector.
- That means the Roman empire had given him the franchise in the oasis city of Jericho.
- That was a big deal for such a short little guy.
- As a first-century tax man…Zacchaeus fronted the money to pay off Rome.
- Then he employed a number of neighborhood tax collectors to collect what he needed…and to charge whatever more they could get.
- He was the Big Cheese in a first century pyramid scheme.
- Zaccheaus took his cut first and made a lot of money.
- It was a murky business…prone to corruption.
- It is no surprise that tax guys were quickly regarded by their neighbors as thieves and sinners.
Luke says Zacchaeus climbed the tree so he could see Jesus over the crowd…
- But it may be that he also used the tree’s foliage for cover.
- He wanted to see Jesus but did not want anybody to see him.
- If spotted…the crowd…full of his neighbors…would have him right where they wanted him.
- He was vulnerable.
- Most likely…Zacchaeus did not plan to come down from his perch until Jesus and the crowd moved on.
When Jesus reached the spot…he looked up and said to him: Zacchaeus…come down immediately…I must stay at your house today.
- And now the entire story turns.
- The chief tax collector climbed down to greet the man he wanted to see.
- He welcomed Jesus and said:
- Yes…you must come to my home.
- The crowd that hated Zacchaeus now spewed their venom.
- The Bible verse says: they began to grumble…but snarled is more like it.
Do we see what Jesus had just done?
- At risk to his own life and reputation…Jesus rescued a tax collector.
- He shielded this thief from a crowd that despised him.
- The Lord did not merely impose on the rich man’s hospitality.
- He saved his life.
- It was a rescue story.
- Luke says Zacchaeus welcomed the Lord joyfully.
And then the chief tax collector for the city of Jericho…a wealthy man…
- Declared he would give half of his riches to the poor.
- And if he had ever cheated anyone…he would quadruple the amount and pay it to the victims.
- A rescue story became a generosity story.
- Jesus saved a short man from an angry crowd…
- And the short man used his money for financial justice.
- This was stunning.
Over the years…Bible readers have wondered about this turn of events.
- Some think there was a table conversation in Zacchaeus’ house that transformed him.
- But the story reveals no mention of table or conversation.
- Everybody was still standing in the middle of the street…surrounding Jesus and Zacchaeus.
Others have thought that Jesus looked into the tax collector’s eyes and let him know he was loved.
- And suddenly…miraculously…the cold heart of Zacchaeus melted…and he changed his ways.
- That’s a pleasant thought…kind of an Ebenezer Scrooge story.
- But the text does not say anything about the defrosting of the tax collector’s soul.
The best hint comes from Joachim Jeremias…the New Testament scholar from the past century.
- In his research about the despised trades in first-century Palestine…
- He tells us that any alms given by tax collectors would have been rejected.
- Why? Because the money was regarded as tainted.
- The ill-gotten gains were considered poisonous.
- The only way a chief tax collector could give money to the poor was if he gave up his occupation.
With this…the pronouncement of Jesus takes on greater meaning.
- Zacchaeus is a son of Abraham.
- He…like his fellow Jews…is a true-blue child of God’s covenant.
- Now he signaled he was a different man…that he was giving up his job.
- No longer excluded because of his scornful occupation.
- No longer an outcast due to the economic plundering of his neighbors.
- No longer to be hated or despised.
- He was literally saved through the graciousness of Jesus.
- His money had isolated him from his community…but now…no longer.
We have no idea how Zacchaeus proceeded at the end of our story.
- Yet he pledged to do what he said.
- Something punctured the protective bubble around his assets.
- He felt empowered to relinquish his grip.
- In the presence of Jesus…he affirmed he was on a journey to generosity…
- A journey that the people of Jericho would never have imagined.
- We can assume he had to work through the complications of unloading half of his wealth.
We can affirm he was profoundly generous…and we know why…
- Jesus saved his life.
- Jesus risked his own life to save the life of Zacchaeus.
- That profound act of unexpected grace created more grace.
- This is how generosity works.
- When we start giving…more giving is created.
- When we commit to sharing…our hearts are enlarged.
- Generosity is an ever-deepening invitation to participate in the needs of the world…to the glory of God.
This is the invitation that our church makes to us.
- We are invited to support the work of God.
- Because God in Christ has found us…
- We in turn find a way to share it.
- Because the Risen Christ has invited himself into our lives…
- We pass it along to others.
- Because we have discovered ourselves rescued and redeemed…
- We make the same happen for others.
- Generosity is an essential discipline as we follow Jesus.
- And it is good for the soul.
- The more we give…the more joy we create for others.
For through our generosity…the Spirit of God is working in the world.
- So then…we become the children of Abraham for our time and place.