Zacchaeus, A Man With A Mission
Luke Chapter 19, Verses 1-10
Today’s Sermon will focus on Zacchaeus. Other working titles for this sermon was “Zacchaeus, the original tree hugger”, “Zacchaeus, from Squirt To Salvation”, and “Zacchaeus, the Man Who Received God’s Discount!” This story is referenced in Luke Chapter 19, Verses 1-10. The verses go as the following (NIV):
Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way. When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.” But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
For that particular day, Zacchaeus was a man with a mission. He wanted to see Jesus. He has heard the stories about him. He probably heard the miracles that Jesus performed that drove out the demons of those consumed by them. Zacchaeus probably heard about the miracles that Jesus performed that caused those that were dead to be raised again. Zacchaeus could have heard about those who had terrible diseases that were cured by Jesus. These amazing miracles and his sermons in the synagogues. Zacchaeus probably heard about those that came far and wide to hear him preach by the mountainside and the villages. Zacchaeus probably heard the stories of the multitudes that contained thousands of people coming to seek him for various reasons. He wanted to see who this man is. Luckily for him, Jesus happened to be close by in the neighborhood.
Even then, this task wouldn’t be easy for a couple of reasons. One of the reasons was physical in nature. As stated in Luke, Chapter 19, Verse 3, it noted that he was short. One wouldn’t be surprised if he was called Squirt as his nickname!
The physical attribute was only part of the problem though. He happened to be the chief tax collector. This worked against him in various ways. In short, he was the tax collectors who managed the other tax collectors. Not only was he a tax collector, he wasn’t collecting them on behalf of the Israelite's, but for the Roman Empire.
Zacchaeus was very despised by many who viewed him as a traitor against his own people, as he represented the interest of Rome instead of the Israelite's.
In many ways, one can find parallels today. The IRS isn’t exactly loved. In a condescending voice, one will make the following remark: Ohh….there working for the government taking my money. At the same time though, the employees there do render a valuable service for the country. Our national infrastructure is supported by taxes.
As a result, I do have a lot of sympathy for Zacchaeus. Society still needs tax collectors in order to support those infrastructures, and people are needed to fill those positions, regardless of the social stigma. Zacchaeus still needed a job to provide food and shelter. Often times, people get dumped on unfairly just because of their occupation, especially in relation to government work. In some cases, these criticisms can be justified, but in other cases, people will insult someone just because, regardless of whether there was any perceived wrongdoing or not.
One could argue that some of the criticisms against Zacchaeus were deserved, but in most cases, people probably gave him flack just because without justification. There were valid criticism though as corruption was very common and rampant among the tax collectors. This was the Roman Empire after all.
Now, we don’t know that much about Zacchaeus personally outside of Luke. Historians tried to examine who he was based on the accounts presented. I went to Wikipedia, but there wasn’t that much about him other than what’s stated in Luke. As a result, we only know him by his job occupation. Since he was the chief tax collector, one can make the very safe assumption that he was very well off, despite not knowing that much about his personal finances in detail. In Luke, it was stated that he was wealthy, but nothing beyond that. Probably better off than most others during that time period. Since Zacchaeus was the chief tax collector, he was probably very good at his job too.
What was mentioned in the Wikipedia article was that the production and exportation of balsam, a particular type of tree sap, was a very big industry in Jericho. Balsam was highly sought after in the region, and as such, was a widely traded commodity. As a result, the exportation of Balsam would have resulted in the position of the chief tax collector being held in high importance for this local industry. Zacchaeus probably became very wealthy from the taxes collected from Balsam. At the same time, the collection of the taxes would not have made Zacchaeus a friend of the traders.
One thing to note was that tax collectors working for Rome were not supplemented with a salary. As a result, the living expenses of the tax collectors would need to be supplied from the taxes collected as well. Also, the living expenses of the chief tax collector were collected from the money from the other collectors as well. Since these tax collectors needed to collect money for Rome, their own expenses, as well as those of the chief tax collector, taxes were very high. There was rampant corruption from those that took advantage of the situation. The tax collectors could often set their own arbitrary amounts for the taxes collected. One could probably make the safe assumption that Zacchaeus at times took advantage of this situation. The main give away to this was in Luke Chapter 19, Verse 8 where it stated that Zacchaeus would give half his wealth to the poor and for the ones he cheated would be given four times the value. This implies guilt in that if he was making a declaration to give back to those traders who were cheated, he probably cheated them in the past.
Zacchaeus wouldn’t have an easy time getting to Jesus. He was despised by many. He was also short. Also, Jesus tended to attract very large crowds. Zacchaeus wouldn’t let these obstacles stop him though. He found a sycamore-fig tree that stretched over the road. He climbed it and waited for Jesus. When Jesus arrived, he commanded Zacchaeus by name to come down from the tree. This was very unusual for those attending as Jesus hadn’t met this guy prior, but yet recognized him and called him to come down by name. This is another representation of God’s power at work. It was also very unusual for the crowd as they knew that Zacchaeus was a tax collector. Why did Jesus want to dine with this sinner for? Why was Jesus acknowledging his existence? Jesus made the request to stay at his house. Those around him were thinking “Why is he doing this?”
Isn’t Jesus supposed to make mincemeat out of this guy? I thought that Jesus was supposed to consume sinners for breakfast, lunch and dinner? Why is Jesus not opening the gates of Hell to this tax collector representing Rome? In fact, when will Jesus unleash his wrath on Rome? It’s safe to assume that most of those in the crowd had different expectations of Jesus than what he had.
As noted in previous sermons, Jesus was building a ministry to seek out those in need of Salvation. Jesus was seeking those that were in need of help. Often times, Jesus would meet the needs of various people though spiritual needs. Often, he would meet there physical needs as well. Jesus was sent to provide Salvation to sinners. Who are these sinners? Essentially, all of us are sinners. Even those who like to act pious, self-righteous, and holier than thou art. It would be a safe to assume that these people would have been there back in the day. Those that saw the words in the scrolls as only that, words, and not an idea that one would have kept in there heart. Those that would recite scripture whenever convenient, but don’t know the meaning of what’s said. It’s one thing to quote scripture. Anyone can do that. It’s another to understand that scripture. He was there to demonstrate God’s power though his miracles. He was there to provide God’s Salvation through him. Jesus did these things to remind those around him that he’s God’s Son.
Jesus was not building a political movement that sought to overthrown or destroy Rome. Jesus was not out to build an Earthly Kingdom. Jesus was not trying to create a nation or re-establish Israel’s independence from Rome. He wasn’t out to enforce his will through violence. However, it’s safe to assume that most around Jesus had these expectations. They were waiting to Jesus to carry out his plans for world domination and to have the blood of sinners flowing though the rivers. As a result, many were perplexed as they were questioning why was he reaching out to this sinner representing Rome for?
The crowd was very confused and offended. The people muttered that he is going to dine with a sinner. One could be safe to assume that Zacchaeus could pick up on the vibes of the crowd, and thus responded that he would give half of his possessions to the poor and would give four times the amount to those that he might have cheated. Zacchaeus’s realized that he committed wrongdoing. He might have developed these feeling due to being in the presence of God’s son. At the point, Jesus responded that Salvation came over the house of Zacchaeus. Indeed it did. Jesus’s message of Salvation extended to everyone, and not just the tax collectors. There’s hope for the IRS! Anyone who has fallen short of the grace of God are still recipients of his love through Jesus. This is demonstrated through Zacchaeus.
It’s noted that many use Zacchaeus in opposite to the wealthy ruler who wouldn’t give up his wealth, as mentioned in Luke Chapter 18, verses 18-23. This was the ruler which asked Jesus about what he must do in order to inherit eternal life. As noted in that story, the ruler did everything that Jewish customs expected from him to do. He felt that he had done what was necessary for Salvation.
However, Jesus’s response was that it wasn’t just enough to do what’s expected from you. Salvation doesn’t come to those just going through the motions. God’s words are living reminders that one keeps in there heart. Jesus responds that the wealthy ruler must give what he had to the poor, which the ruler responded with a sigh. Zacchaeus on the other hand viewed his reaching out to those poor as a calling to what he must do in order to be right with God.
There would be Salvation for Zacchaeus. There is Salvation for those that are in need of it, even if they feel that they aren’t recipients of his love. Zacchaeus felt that he wasn’t a recipient of God’s love, because he was a tax collector hated by the general population at large. However, that didn’t stop him from seeking out that Salvation. It’s a model for what we must do to seek God’s love and his Salvation that he provides through Jesus.
Zacchaeus the Tax Collector
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Luke 18:18–18:23
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Zacchaeus
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