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
Who was Zacchaeus?
Zacchaeus [Ζακχαῖος] Zakchaı́os, from זכּי, zakkay, “pure”. Well, isn’t that interesting? Zacchaeus’ name means “pure”; Bartimaeus’ name means “filth”. That’s an interesting comparison. Are these two stories set against each other? Has Luke contrasted these two stories by deliberately arranging them together? Now that adds fuel to our thinking. Maybe we need to be thinking about the use, positioning and significance of these two stories on a different level. Zacchaeusis only mentioned in this one place in the Bible and only by Luke. There are some other references to the name, but they are not biblical.
- An officer of Judas Maccabeus (2 Macc 10:19).
- A Zacchaeus is mentioned in the Clementine Homilies (iii. 63) as having been a companion of Peter and appointed bishop of Caesarea.
- According to the Gospel of the Childhood, by “Thomas”, Zacchaeus was also supposedly the name of the teacher of the boy Jesus.
Another little snippet of interest, is that many refer to Zacchaeus in writings from antiquity, as a publican and not a tax collector. I am sure due to the fact that Jesus stayed a night with him. Therefore, he is seen as someone who had lodgings for people who needed them. To think in those terms, is to miss the point of the text. Yes, it is clear from the text of all three Gospels that Jesus was not planning to stay in Jericho. The text clearly indicates he was passing through. The crowd who had come out of Jericho to welcome Him must have been disappointed. There is more behind this part of the story which we will dig into tomorrow. In the meantime do some pondering of your own on the fact that He stayed and didn’t pass through.
On the matter of whether he was a publican or tax collector, let’s explore the word used – [architelones]. This is a compound word made up of [archē] meaning chief, principal, first or highest ranking in a hierarchy, and [telones] which meant one who collects taxes or public revenue, a “tax farmer”. A local person could acquire the rights to collecting revenue or taxes for the Roman governing body. Although the Roman rate was set by decree in Rome itself, in the far flung provinces, only the tax collector knew what it was.The amount was a target quota which the local area chief tax collector had to reach. Therefore, he was in the position to set the rates he desired. This resulted in the tax collector being despised because he was seen as bleeding his own countrymen dry, in order to please the ruling oppressors. The people were convinced the tax collectors were ripping them off. It was the chief tax collectors who had the responsibility for setting the local rates, which the lesser tax collectors were forced to collect. They also were the ones to ensure the lesser tax collectors collected the revenue that was required and got on their case if they were not up to quota. So it is clear from the text, that Zacchaeus was the chief tax man. He was where the buck stopped. He couldn’t blame anyone else. He is far more an IRD (Inland Revenue Department) man than publican.
Again, before I start to pull this story apart piece by piece, spend one more day looking for the following.
1. Features that have the Shock Factor (like we found when we looked at the Prodigal of the Lost – Gem 1038 and 1039).
2. Links to the Bartimaeus story (do you see that these two stories are linked together?).
We will start to analyze these features tomorrow. I love it when you interact with me. I may not always be able to respond to you but I will try. I may not always have the time to answer your questions either. I do a lot of other things apart from Gems. From time to time I will use the things you send me in subsequent Gems, as I did yesterday with Karen’s input. Credit where credit is due.
That’s all for now. Another shorter Gem today. At times, people tell me they don’t have the time to read all of the Gem because what I write is at times too long and complicated. I try to keep them short but it is necessary too, to try to cover one aspect or a number of aspects in one Gem, otherwise we will never get Luke finished. Feel free to give me feedback on what suits you the best. If you don’t comment, you will get the results in accordance with what those who do comment have to say. “The squeaky wheel gets the oil” as they say.
The Buck Stops Here.
Harry S. Truman
When there’s a single thief, it’s robbery. When there are a thousand thieves, it’s taxation.
Anon
The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax.
Albert Einstein
The income tax has made more liars out of [the American] people than golf has.
Will Rogers
“Well, then,”Jesus said,”give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God.”
Luke 20:25