This one is not so bad, especially with all the mud slinging we’re seeing now in election ads. Your dealing with a big-time corrupt government official gives us hope. You literally call him out of hiding, and he’s reformed. Not only that, he pays back what he’s stolen from the people. Jesus, if you can do that with the likes of these creeps, there might be something to this movement of yours.

Don’t you wish it was so easy. Beware. Close to the center of this story is money. That’s where it gets personal. The Trouble with Jesus is what he did for one he wants from all. This isn’t one of those fix-the-other-guy and leave me alone stories. Watch what happens here.

A First Century Bernie Madoff

Zacchaeus was a tax collector, but not just a mere tax collector. In ponzi-scheme fashion, he was the overseer of the ones who did the dirty work, the tax collectors that pressured the people for the revenue that only supported the Romans. The money was then funneled into infrastructure projects like palaces, not anything that would benefit the people.

Worse yet, these tax collectors who worked for him also lined their own pockets by extorting extra cash from the people. Zacchaeus, of course, got a share of their cut, and his wealth was considerable. In short, he was a traitor and taker of people’s hard work, and he was despised by everyone.

Lacking Real Stature

Zacchaeus also was a small man, too short to see above the crowd that gathered as Jesus was entering the town of Jericho. Though wealthy, apparently he couldn’t even buy a good seat that day. People were not going to give up whatever they could hold back from this despicable collaborator with the Romans, even their place in the crowd.

Familiar with getting around whatever stood in his way, Zacchaeus beat them at their game once again. He climbed a sycamore tree to get the best vantage point to see the great teacher whom some claimed was the Messiah.

He may have thought he was safe as he sat in this tree, above the crowds that would have stepped on him given the chance. No one would see him there, and he could smugly tell himself that he had gotten the best seat in the house, one which raised this short man above all the others.

Come On Down!

In spite of that, he was not out of the line of sight of Jesus, this hero who was said to be man/God. As God sees all, Jesus looked up and once again did the unthinkable. He called out to this hated sinner by name. “Zacchaeus!...Quick, come down! For I must be a guest in your home today.”

Jesus exposed Zacchaeus to the crowd, but his purpose was different from what they expected. Jesus called to him asking for his honor and hospitality. He made Zacchaeus worthy of his company, certainly not what the people or religious leaders would have done.

For all the accumulated wealth Zacchaeus had at his disposal, there was something lacking in him that his great barns of riches could not bring. This short man, isolated from love, was selected by the Son of God for relationship. Jesus knew his name, where to find him, and the deepest need in his soul, a need to be loved even in his sin. In his excitement and joy, this little man was like a child, and Jesus stirred in him that child-like faith by which a soul enters the kingdom of heaven.

A change is evoked in Zacchaeus, a reversal of all that he is and all that he thought important to who he was and what he thought he had to have. None of that meant anything now. Instead, he lives into the true meaning of his name invoking purity and innocence.

Without being asked to do so, Zacchaeus declares, “I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have overcharged people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much.” 

His promise is one that will restore in great measure what he has taken from others. But more significantly, it will be a source of God’s provision for those in need, his true neighbors.

Real Riches

To whom much has been given, much will be required.  It took quite a sum from Zacchaeus. Even so, in the kingdom of God this little man now was truly rich, had his treasure in heaven. Thus, not only is the plight of the poor rectified, but those who do not even realize their lostness have a radical reversal of purpose.

The change in Zacchaeus brings a message that moves beyond the attitude, “you can’t take it with you.” If one is to have treasure in heaven, investment in the kingdom for one’s neighbor, the poor, has to begin now. For those who think life’s fulfillment is to eat, drink and be merry, it’s a message that can be hard to swallow.

Jesus’ message challenged the belief that if you gave, there wouldn’t be anything left for you. People sometimes fear if you give to others, you lose. Instead, he reversed it to, “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.”  Buy into God’s will and participate in this reversal where God’s blessings are immeasurable and meant for all to share.

With this unanticipated reversal and outpouring of blessing, Jesus declares, “Salvation has come to this home today….And I, the Son of Man, have come to seek and to save those like him who are lost.”

Luke 19:1-10