110619 – Luke 19. 1-10
There are a couple of “important contexts” here:
- You know that Jesus is headed to Jerusalem and all that – that means…
- Jericho is CLOSE to Jerusalem, so this “road trip” is coming to its abrupt END.
- Jesus came “to DELIVER or to SAVE the LOST.”
You DO NOT get “much more LOST” than Zacchaeus…talk about your “losers…”
Jesus will “OBVIOUSLY” eat with anyone.
Which should say something about having an “open communion table,” and WHO should be permitted to be present…
This is a “feel-good-change-of-heart-kind-of-story.” This is GOOD NEWS!
If a guy like Zacchaeus CAN be SAVED, then ANYONE can be saved. So as much as Luke harps against the RICH-even “a filthy rich dude” like Zacchaeus can be saved! Bank on it!
So, let’s talk about him. “Him” being (of course) Zacchaeus…
He is an OPPORTUNIST. He is a SINNER. He has grown wealthy by SKIMMING and SQUEEZING. He was known for charging his “sizeable administration fees.” He is “DESPISED” as “a traitorous AGENT” of Rome’s oppression. He was the “TOWN CROOK!” Far from being popular…
Everyone in Jericho believes that he has wealth that DOES NOT belong to him. He probably was the wealthiest man in town. His wealth was ACQUIRED wealth, which meant that — someone else had to “LOSE there’s” in order for him to “GAIN his…”
He was not to be TRUSTED…ever.
Then, there is this whole thing about his STATURE. He was a “wee-little man….small of stature.” Short! Did you know that there really is such a thing as a “short-man-syndrome?” That whole “Napoleon complex,” thingy? There is no “short woman syndrome” by-the-way it only “applies” to men! There is a PREJUDICE. “Short people need to get out of the way or get run over.” They need to KNOW their place! MOVE!
Talk about “when you’re weary and feeling small!” – Zacchaeus was there…like a bridge over troubled waters…sing it!!!!
Oh, incidentally, MEN did not climb trees EVER – it would have been behavior “unbecoming a MAN.” How do you climb or “shimmy up” a tree in a robe? You could not “hike it up!” You could not expose your legs…
The FACT that he was “up a tree” at all – is “highly suspicious” – it was just one more reason why he would be “SHAMED and DESPISED.” Was this camouflage? Was he HIDING from the crowds? Was his attempt at “his concealment” because he was a MARKED man?
It is funny, because he goes “to see” or to check out Jesus, but Jesus “SEES” and checks out HIM.
Zacchaeus is a man who is SHAMED, “wealthy as all get out,” but shamed just the same!
Jesus just seems to be “drawn” to the “shame” and the “brokenness” and the “hurting of others”…like a moth to a flame!
And again for the record, “eating with someone in ANCIENT TIMES” was a sign of “social approval” and “complete acceptance!” And Jesus was known for eating with all kinds of people, including the hated and the despised!
So, while the crowds booed and hissed and shook their heads in confusion at what this Rabbi was doing…Jesus was not concerned with the sin, but rather with the sinner.
Zacchaeus ends up SQUANDERING everything he had “amassed” in his business dealings… Once a tax collector, always a tax collector…still thinking in terms of numbers…He will give away HALF of his goods…to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything I will restore it FOURFOLD.
One encounter with Jesus and the dude has a change-of-heart. He who was “an immoral con-man,” the “town skunk,” a “common thief” – protected by Rome BECOMES a changed man.
The crowd was shell-shocked with disbelief. What did Jesus say? What did Jesus do?
A TOTAL TRANSFORMATION from greedy to GENEROUS, from selfish to SELFLESS, from thieving heart to a THANKSGIVING kind of heart…
The scoundrel, the reprobate had said he would change BUT as everyone knew…only TIME would tell…
And all those people who were grumbling, pointing fingers and backstabbing could not believe what they were hearing.
PEOPLE CAN AND DO CHANGE! Amen.