Transcription
It’s hard when scripture is familiar, and it’s even harder when it’s got a song attached. After all, how many of us, as soon as we heard that name Zacchaeus, started going, I mean, for Pete’s sake, the Bears have a player whose last name is Zacchaeus, and every time he catches a ball or goes onto the field, Sarah starts going, was a wee little man. So Bears games can be a little exciting for that part.
Okay, I understand. They’re playing the Giants in a few weeks. Bear with me.
Now, Zacchaeus is known for more than just being a wee little man. And that’s what we need to really look at as we see this man who’s willing to climb a tree just to see Jesus. So as we look and look at the various wrinkles that we miss out because we’re so familiar with the song and it helps us to cheat as to who he is, we kind of need to draw back and make Zacchaeus almost a blank slate as we paint the portrait of who this man is who climbs a tree to see Jesus.
Now, the wrinkle here is that what we call wee could also mean that he is wizened in age, aged like a fine wine, if you know what I mean. He’s not young, if you want to go there. That could be part of it.
But the other part is stature could be he’s a small man in terms of who he is in the world. And what I’m ham-handedly saying is he wasn’t somebody who could take correction. He was a small person in that sense.
Maybe he was, maybe he wasn’t, but wee does not begin to start where he is. Because as scripture tells us, he’s rich. He’s rich and he is the chief tax collector, not just the average tax collector in Jericho.
And Jericho is important not because of Joshua in the battle of Jericho, well it is important for that, but it’s also important because as you look at a map nowadays and you see Jericho and you see the river Jordan wind, it is right on the other side of the Jordan. It controls all of the river forts. If you want to get your goods across the river Jordan, you have to pass through Jericho.
And guess what? If you have to pass through Jericho, what do you have to do to Zacchaeus? You have to pay him the taxes. So that’s one reason why he is rich. It also might be a reason why we call him wee as well.
So he is not only a rich man who is a tax collector, but he is the tax collector. He is the top dog in that very, very lucrative trade region. Which means he is probably corrupt because of the whole tax system that has spawned in the Roman oversight.
Now, here’s the deal. Zacchaeus is going along and he notices that Jesus is coming and he knows who he is. And if you know that you have taken advantage of people and they’re all queued up trying to see Jesus, and you’re going to try and see Jesus, what is likely coming your way as you get to try and queue up? You’re going to catch a nice little elbow.
Oh, I’m sorry Zacchaeus, didn’t notice you there. You know, somebody’s going to not let them see. He is going to get blocked out from seeing Jesus if he goes where the crowd is.
So he’s forced to do two things. Try and force his way through the crowd through violent actions which will likely come his way. Or he can climb a tree, robes and all.
So he climbs a tree. But again, he’s a rich man and if you think he’s wearing like his work clothes, you’ve got another thing coming. He is wearing his nice robes, his robes of office.
He is going to climb that tree in all his finery. So imagine me in suit and robe trying to climb a tree. It’s okay, you can laugh.
It’s a funny image. And so Zacchaeus is up there in the tree watching Jesus. He is satisfied with just watching and then the beauty of this moment happens because Jesus doesn’t just pass that way.
He interacts with Jesus. He calls on him to come down because he’s going to his house. As Jesus does, he eats with tax collectors and sinners.
And guess what? Zacchaeus is both of those. Except the crowd has a problem. Now as we look at Jesus sitting with tax collectors and sinners, it’s the norm.
And people have a problem with that. But also remember that Zacchaeus isn’t just a normal tax collector. He is the top tax collector, the top of the pyramid.
He is the guy who is taxing the other tax collectors. So if he’s corrupt and they’re corrupt, he is taking the proceeds of the other corrupt tax collectors and so he is making money hand over fist. This is the average crowd that doesn’t like Zacchaeus.
This is not about him being a tax collector and a sinner. This is about him being Zacchaeus. He has a name.
He’s an identity and the crowd is not happy about him meeting with Jesus. So what does Zacchaeus do in this moment? There’s this almost transformational moment for Zacchaeus because he acknowledges that he has done wrong. He acknowledges that Jesus’ grace of his invitation has shown him his own need to make right and restore the brokenness.
So what does he do? He responds. He’s going to take all of his wealth and cut it in half and give half to the poor. And then from the other half of his money, he is going to make restitution to all those who he cheated.
And if you don’t think people are going to have a queued up line a mile long trying to get the money out back from Zacchaeus, well, fourfold? Four times what you paid in in taxes? Who wouldn’t go up and try and get their money back? But there’s something else in that fourfold restoration that Zacchaeus does. Because he is not just restoring what was stolen or taken. He is taking an extreme step in response.
Normally, if you cheated people, you only had to repay double what was taken. Not bad. But he’s going fourfold, which was only reserved for when you violently stole and took funds.
But there’s more to this as well. Because Zacchaeus can’t farm this out. He can’t set up a pay account or designate a lawyer to distribute the funds.
He can’t send out a mailer to all of the people in Jericho saying, have you been defrauded by Zacchaeus? Would you like to join this class action lawsuit? He’s restoring four times what is given back. No, no. Zacchaeus literally is going to have to sit there at his table and face his accusers every moment they come.
Zacchaeus, you hurt me. You harmed me. You took more than what was owed.
Please restore four times. And it’s going to be again and again and again. And he isn’t told to do this.
He willingly takes this on. Such is his response to Jesus. All because of an invitation to dinner.
He embraces this. And this is not an easy thing. Now, there are modern commentators who say this moment is about Jesus telling the crowd to quiet down.
And there’s a part to that. But it’s more about Zacchaeus’s response. His willingness to take on pain.
Not necessarily his own pain, but hearing others’ pain towards him. He is making an act of extreme restitution. He is doing more than just saying, hey, I’m sorry I cheated all of you.
Later. And going off. He is doing far more than what the law commands.
What the law says he should. He is making the extreme steps to restore what has been broken. And that gives us a view of how hard real grace can be.
Because real grace is not easy. Real grace means swallowing pain and hurt. But also, not just swallowing it, but making it known.
When you extend grace, you must also listen to the pain. Both your pain, vocalize your pain, but hear the pain of the one who you wronged or was wronged by you. Grace is in no way an easy thing.
When grace is easy, it’s not grace. We talk with the kids about how I’m sorry is a first step. But you need to do more.
You need to do something that shows transformation, that shows change when you say I’m sorry. When we come before God and take on grace, we must also make extreme action of responding. I’m not saying go out and repay four times what you have cheated somebody.
I’m guessing we’re all on the up and up. If we’re not, we’ll talk. But the reality is extreme measures of grace, extreme embracing of grace.
That’s what Christianity is about. Extreme grace. God’s extreme grace to us.
Our response to God from that grace, like Zacchaeus’s response, but also our need to extend a radical extreme grace to one another, but also accept it within ourselves. So brothers and sisters, let’s take a page from Zacchaeus and our response, but also let’s also take a page from the crowd that hopefully, hopefully finds a moment in their hearts to restore what has been broken, to accept Zacchaeus and give him grace as well. Brothers and sisters, let us have grace for ourselves, for one another, as the grace of God has been with us.
Amen.