Jesus entered Jericho and made His way through the town. There was a man there named Zacchaeus. He was the chief tax collector in the region, and he had become very rich.He tried to get a look at Jesus, but he was too short to see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree beside the road, for Jesus was going to pass that way. When Jesus came by, He looked up at Zacchaeus and called him by name.”Zacchaeus!”He said.”Quick, come down! I must be a guest in your home today.” Zacchaeus quickly climbed down and took Jesus to his house in great excitement and joy. But the people were displeased. “He has gone to be the guest of a notorious sinner,” they grumbled. Meanwhile, Zacchaeus stood before the Lord and said, “I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have cheated people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!” Jesus responded,”Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.”
Luke 19:1-10
1. Features that have the Shock Factor:
A) I am sure you got the first shock. If you have been following Gems for a while, you must have got it. It is the same one as in the Prodigal story. Zacchaeus runs. We talked all about that in Gems 1038 and 1039. Important men running. Well, here is another important man running, in Luke’s gospel. This one, as we saw yesterday, is the Chief Tax Officer of the region, no doubt. He throws caution and decorum to wind and runs flat out ahead, to climb up into the Sycamore tree so he can see Jesus as He passes by. He takes no thought for his dignity, for what people will say about him. Can you imagine the top tax guy in your area running?
B) Well, what about climbing trees? Equally as shocking. Important men are not supposed to climb trees. If we do it in the West as I have done, people say we are in our second childhood and laugh. If we do it in the East as I have done, getting mangoes from the top of the mango tree, people are shocked. At your age (I was 40 at the time) you are not supposed to climb trees. It is just not dignified. Get younger people to climb for you or to run for you. Don’t do it yourself. Not only does Zacchaeus run, but he climbs too. He clearly is setting out for the sycamore tree, as fast as he could. But I wonder if when he got to the sycamore tree, he looked furtively around and when he thought it was safe, i.e., no one was watching, he quickly shinnied up the tree. I am sure he didn’t want to be seen up there. If he didn’t want them to see him climbing up, I am sure he didn’t want them to see him up there. The Sycamore would have given him a good covering of large leaves so no one would see him. It is a large spreading tree with branches at low levels as well. So it would have been easy to climb.
C) Jesus’ behaviour must have been shocking too. Normally, when a dignitary goes to a small town, there is all the pomp and ceremony befitting the moment. The crowd would have gone out to welcome Him and then accompany Him in to the town. No doubt, there was a reception planned somewhere. They would have been expecting Him to staying the night, before moving on. They would have planned out whose house He was staying at. If there was a civic reception, then certain people would have been invited and not others. Certainly, not Zacchaeus.
We have experienced many of these kinds of occasions here in Asia, with all these details planned out ahead of time. We were always seated right up the front of the proceedings, most often on the stage, and found ourselves staying in the Bupati’s [top Govt. official of a regional area) house or the Kepala Desa’s (the leader at local district level) house. We never got to choose. It was always pre-arranged.
The story begins with Jesus passing by. But it ends up with Him staying there in Jericho, if not for the night, at least for a meal. “How did that happen?” “Jesus invited Himself!” “Say that again! You are kidding me. You mean He invited himself to someone’s place? But what happened to the official who’s house He was supposed to stay at?”
D) Jesus stays at that scumbag Zacchaeus’ house, self invited. Jesus dares to go and have a meal at Zacchaeus’ house! Now that takes the cake. Zacchaeus was not a well-liked man. He was short. He was rich on their money. He was despised. No wonder there was no way he could look at Jesus where the majority were standing. He couldn’t see over the people in front of him. [I imagine him to look like Danny Devito.] Normally, people would invite an important person to the front of the crowd. It is a common cultural courtesy in the Middle East and the East. But no one is letting this guy push his way in so he can see. They shut him out and force him to race off to the Sycamore tree. He was persona-non-grata and Jesus ended up going to his place for a meal.
2. Links to the Bartimaeus story
As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind beggar was sitting beside the road. When he heard the noise of a crowd going past, he asked what was happening. They told him that Jesus the Nazarene was going by. So he began shouting, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” “Be quiet!” the people in front yelled at him. But he only shouted louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” When Jesus heard him, He stopped and ordered that the man be brought to Him. As the man came near, Jesus asked him, “What do you want Me to do for you?””Lord,” he said, “I want to see!” And Jesus said,”All right, receive your sight! Your faith has healed you.” Instantly the man could see, and he followed Jesus, praising God. And all who saw it praised God, too.
Luke 18:35-43
As I have worked on this I realize I won’t be able to deal with this in one Gem. There is too much. I suggest you highlight the similarities and contrasts and we will work through them tomorrow. Not only do you need to contrast these two stories which are placed side by side by Luke, but I also suggest you look at wider links as well. We will explore these tomorrow.
This is no chance meeting between Jesus and Bartimaeus, nor between Jesus and Zacchaeus. Furthermore, it is certainly not by chance that Luke places these two stories side by side.
Finishing strong is the best way to forget about a bad start!
Matthew Barnett
Timing plays an important part in learning to trust God. If He did everything we asked for immediately, we would never grow and develop.
Joyce Meyer
God doesn’t ask you to figure it all out, he only asks you to believe.
Joel Osteen
We are not human beings on a spiritual journey. We are spiritual beings on a human journey.
Stephen Covey