Irenic Road

Grace and Politics: Jesus and Zacchaeus

A couple weeks ago the message at Gateway was on politics in the church, which was a great message. (You can read my pastor’s synopsis of it on his blog, or listen to the podcast.) I’ll just point you there rather than blather about politics in general, since it fits my views pretty closely. I’m actually embarrassed to admit that. I like to believe I’m an original thinker, not someone who just accepts what authority says. Anyway, it made me reflect on other places in the gospels where Jesus deals with politics, not just the famous “render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”

One such passage is in Luke chapter 19, where the tax collector Zacchaeus encounters Jesus.

1 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through.2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy.3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd.4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.”6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”8 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.”9 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham.10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

Earlier, as Jesus was approaching Jericho, he healed a blind man outside the city who heard the crowd rushing past. This is significant for what occurs later with Zacchaeus, because it shows the people had gone out to meet Jesus as a honored guest to the city. In the Middle East, important guests are welcomed outside the city walls. The more important and honorable the guest, the father out the people come to meet him. Thus when 19:1 states Jesus was passing through, it’s possible the people were miffed that he apparently wasn’t staying overnight.

Though Zacchaeus is wealthy, he has no respect or standing in the community because he is a tax collector. Ordinarily a wealthy citizen would have been able to move to the front of the crowd, but Zacchaeus is one of the worst people in the world, in the eyes of a first-century Jew. Tax collectors were parasites, thieves, oppressors, collaborators, utterly unclean and dishonest. In modern terms, he would be like a combination of IRS agent, spy for North Korea, and sex offender. It would be dangerous for him to even enter the crowd, as someone could easily kill him without fear of being caught.

Zacchaeus runs ahead and climbs a tree. Adults in the Middle East don’t run; it’s undignified. They certainly don’t climb trees. As a outcast he has no dignity anyway, so he might as well. It’s possible he also climbed the tree in order to avoid being seen by the crowd, which was now outside the city walls. Instead of inviting himself to Zacchaeus’s house, Jesus was expected to excoriate him, perhaps tell him to leave his evil occupation, make restitution and copious sin offerings in the temple. Instead of doing what the crowd wants, Jesus honors him with his offer. The people, who already thought Jesus wasn’t going to do them the honor of staying overnight, are shocked and angry: “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.” This isn’t bringing honor to the community in any traditional sense. Jesus has taken the dishonor and opprobrium assigned to Zacchaeus upon himself, and in so doing brought Zacchaeus to repentance and salvation. It’s costly grace, a preview of the Cross.

Politically, Jesus has brought freedom to the oppressed (the people of Jericho) by also bringing freedom to the oppressor (Zacchaeus). The pursuit of justice in the name of Jesus, whether or not it’s labeled “social,” often seems to devolve into a class warfare mentality. We pray for God to help us defeat the oppressors, maybe even to “destroy the wicked,” as some of the Psalms say. As followers of Christ, we should remember sin oppresses us all, and it’s Christ’s deliverance from sin which ultimately saves. It’s easy to be cynical about the rich and powerful, thinking they’ll never listen, they’ll never change, but cynicism is cheap. Grace is free, but costly.