Up a Tree

Read Luke 19:1-27.

Jericho, 2017 - Traditional tree of Zacchaeus 

Many of us sang the song in Sunday School when we were younger:

Zacchaeus was a wee little man,

And a wee little man was he.

He climbed up in a sycamore tree

For the Lord he wanted to see!

And as the Savior passed that way,

He looked up in the tree

And he said, "Zacchaeus, you come down!

For I'm going to your house today,

For I'm going to your house today!"

Well, it may not be a treasure of deep and profound lyrics (or even great music), but it did teach me the story found in Luke 19. (And I still remember it all these years later!)

What the song doesn't tell us is how much Zacchaeus was hated in Jericho (sort of hard to work that into a children's song). This time, it's not the Pharisees and religious leaders (or not "only" them) who are muttering when Jesus welcomes and dines with Zacchaeus. Did you notice who it is? It's "all the people." Everyone! You see, Zacchaeus had, at one point or another, ripped all of them off. He was a tax collector, an employee of the Roman Empire, who made his money by adding extra charges to the taxes Rome charged. He would pass on the required tax to Rome and keep the overage.

He also had to live among these people who saw him as a traitor to their nation. He was not well liked. I imagine him trying to see Jesus and people pushing him back, openly showing their disgust for "his kind." And when Jesus goes home with him for lunch (falafel? shawarma? Ooh, I get hungry just thinking about it!), the people are upset. Jesus is supposed to be for them, not for people like Zacchaeus.

The parable that follows this famous story is told "while they were listening." In other words, Jesus tells it right there around the lunch table (I'm tasting cucumbers and tahini sauce...mmm!). It's a story about using what you've been given, using your gifts rather than hiding them. It's a thinly-veiled story about what has just happened in Zacchaeus' house. "All the people" (who think they are better than Zacchaeus) have been standing around muttering, while Zacchaeus, who has had his heart touched by Jesus' act of kindness, has determined he will make the world a better place by giving of what he has. Which action is more pleasing to God? Standing around pointing fingers or using what we have to bless others?

Which one do we seem to do more often?

Maybe we need to climb a tree, get a better view of Jesus, and respond in a way consistent with his life and message.