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It wasn’t until I’d read this passage at least a dozen times and went for a long walk that I picked up on this motif of urgency. Luke 19:4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way. He’s what church growth gurus in the 1980s and 90s referred to as “a seeker.” The Motif of Urgency He seems to have these three strikes against him, but maybe this is a bit of character development here? Another translation says, “He wanted to see Jesus, who he was.” These people are waiting to see Jesus! This is even more exciting than watching Big Papi and the Red Sox get on a duck boat! No way they’re going to make room for Zacchaeus.
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Source: Adrienne Lavidor-Berman (Boston Globe) Luke 19:3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd. Sure, he’s short–probably not even 5 feet tall–but even if he were 6 feet tall, I’ll bet the crowd wouldn’t have made way for a guy like him. So it’s no surprise in verse 3 when Zacchaeus can’t see Jesus. Think: Ebenezer Scrooge.Īs with the tax collector last week, the listeners expect this chief tax collector to be the antagonist. Zacchaeus got rich off of other people’s money. There’s nothing wrong with being rich, of course, but generally in Luke’s Gospel, the rich people Jesus meets have a hard time loving God on account of all their money. He was a tax collector, he was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. And who knows what non-kosher godlessness that money is going to!
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And not only are they getting rich from people’s hard-earned cash, they’re even giving some of it to an imperial power–Rome. Only it’s worse, because Zacchaeus as chief tax collector has a lot of other tax collectors doing the dirty work for him. This is sort of like pre-2008 subprime mortgage lending. Strike two: He was a chief tax collector.Ī chief tax collector oversaw other tax collectors. As long as the tax collectors paid the Romans a certain amount, they could charge whatever commission they wanted. They contracted with the Roman state to collect taxes from their fellow Jews. Tax collectors made out pretty well in Jesus’ day. He was “a chief tax collector” and he “was wealthy.” Those two things are actually three strikes against Zacchaeus. Luke 19:1-2 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. Even though Zacchaeus was “a wee little man”–he was not “wee” or “little” in terms of his financial standing.