Zaccheus: A Tale of Pointless Jealousy
The Zaccheus story is found in Luke 19:1-10. If you don't know the story, you should probably read it now. You might know the song with the line "Zaccheus was a wee little man..." Here's my take on the Z-man: When I was a kid, I thought the story was about a short man who tried hard, and Jesus rewarded him. So I should try hard too, even if I'm short or slow or whatever. So, yeah, trying hard is good, but I'm not sure that's what this story is about. When I was older, I thought the story was about a rich man who gave lots of money away, and Jesus rewarded him. And, yeah, giving money away is good too, but I'm not sure that's the point of the story either. I think now that it's a story about jealousy. I got there by focusing, for a moment, on the crowd. So, here's the set up. Z is rolling in it, yet he goes to see "who Jesus was." (verse 3) That seems to me to be pretty big clue about what this story is about. It's a...