Zacchaeus the (unlikely?) Giver

Join me on a journey.  Jesus is walking through Jericho on his way to Jerusalem (Luke 19). Imagine thousands of people waiting for him to teach and asking for healing.

He does have a destination. He is on a schedule.  The friends traveling with him are desperately attempting to move him along. But Jesus, as always, eyes clear and searching, is looking to the margins. He’s looking to the edges.

Jesus is looking up.

He saw Zacchaeus sitting above the crowd in a fig tree.

Zacchaeus climbed up the tree because, as we know and sing about, he’s a short man who wanted to see Jesus.  He also wanted to be seen. And true to form, Jesus saw him.

Let’s freeze frame the moment when Jesus looked up in the tree. I wonder if a snap decision was made to forget about his busy schedule, knowing today was the day he needed to be with Zacchaeus.

So Jesus called to him, “Zacchaeus, come down out of the tree”.  In the scriptural account from Luke there are only one or two sentences about their interaction. Supposing a larger conversation occurred, maybe it went something like this:

Jesus looked into Zacchaeus’ eyes and said, “You are a hospitable man. You love people. And yet you spend your days increasing personal wealth by cheating and deceiving people. And they despise you. Then at night you fall asleep fantasizing about throwing parties in your home, blessing people who come, and delighting in their presence. I see your longing for delight, your desire to create space for communal delight to blossom. Instead, your house is empty and you feel endlessly alone. Even your own family doesn’t really know you, nor do you know them. This is a travesty.  I want you to be seen and known.”

Jesus glances at his close friend and traveling companion, Andrew, and says: “Andrew, clear the schedule.  Today Zacchaeus is going to throw us a party we will not soon forget.”

Luke’s accounting of the story tells us Zacchaeus did indeed throw an epic party. It was considered a scandal among the people who were confused by Jesus’ actions. They did not understand that Jesus was squarely in the center of his mission, to seek and save the lost.

Scripture goes on to report that Zacchaeus made a “major gift”, giving away half of his wealth to the poor. To those he cheated Zacchaeus vowed to pay back four times the amount originally collected…well above and beyond what was required by Law for restitution from stealing.

Some historians suggest that eventually Zacchaeus went on to replace Judas as the treasurer of Jesus’ Apostles, managing the finances and the distribution of resources on hand. This isn’t hard to imagine – in fact, I can imagine that once Zacchaeus repaid the community around him, the remainder of his wealth was given to bless and care for those in need.

What strikes you most about Zacchaeus' story? Imagine if you had the chance to sit down face to face and ask him some questions. What would you ask? How do you think he would answer?

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