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 about who Jesus is.
OK, so the Bible's Billy Barty climbs a tree to get a look at Jesus. Z climbs so high, he's not only above the crowd, he's above Jesus! (see verse 5: "he [Jesus] looked up")
Now, I'm not sure if Jesus felt a kind of affinity for a man who has everything hanging from a tree, or if he thought it was funny to see a man dressed in Armani shooing away squirrels, or if he wanted to needle all the folks who kept flocking around him, but Jesus notices Z, and invites himself to dinner at Z's house. We don't know why. Maybe there is no why, but it's certainly not because Z is trying hard or giving money away. The story doesn't even hint that Jesus knows any of this when he says he's coming over.
Well, the crowd turns so green that Superman would have been afraid of them. (Kryptonite is green, you see....) Or, maybe the crowd turns so green the Wizard of Oz would have been at home. Or, maybe... I should just say that they were all really jealous.
All this talk about eating with a sinner seems to me to be nothing but very thinly veiled jealousy. They were jealous that Jesus was eating with Z, and not them, and they were, I think, jealous that Z was eating with Jesus, and not them. I imagine Z must have hired a pretty good chef.
Z reacts to the crowd's jealous outburst, but he's not any better than they are. He has all the money he needs and more, but he is jealous of the crowd's tall stature. (Remember how Z climbed the tree to ridiculous heights, looking down even on Jesus.) Z is also jealous of what he thinks is the crowd's righteousness.
Z protests that he gives (or maybe will give) tons of money to the poor, and if anyone can prove he did anything wrong, he'll make it right, again with his money.
Notice something about the story: If you completely leave out verses 6-8 (Z coming down joyfully, the crowd murmurring, and Z protesting), the story still makes perfect sense. In a way, Jesus's closing words to Z might be seen to completely ignore both the crowd's objections and Z's proclamations. It's almost like Jesus refuses to let any of that distract him.
But if you look at it again, in the light of all this jealousy, Jesus's words say something really amazing. Jesus says that salvation has come to Z's house, because Z is a son of Abraham. (verse 9) Z's salvation came not because of his wealth, or because of his charity. Z's salvation did not depend on whether anyone judged him rigtheous. Z was saved because Z is a son of Abraham, and that has weight because of the promises God made to his great-great-great-great-great-...-great-grandfather.
Then Jesus helps us figure out who he is. "The Son of Man came to seek out and save the lost." (verse 10) These are both active verbs ("seek" and "save"). Jesus does not react, he acts. It doesn't matter what Z does, or doesn't do, or what "everyone thinks". Jesus seeks and saves, all Z has to be is lost. And short. And sinful. And in a tree. All Z has to be is Z.
Nobody has anything to be jealous of, because Jesus gives to all. It doesn't matter what you do or don't do or what "everyone thinks". Jesus seeks you out and saves you. All you have to be is you.
Praise God.
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 about who Jesus is.
OK, so the Bible's Billy Barty climbs a tree to get a look at Jesus. Z climbs so high, he's not only above the crowd, he's above Jesus! (see verse 5: "he [Jesus] looked up")
Now, I'm not sure if Jesus felt a kind of affinity for a man who has everything hanging from a tree, or if he thought it was funny to see a man dressed in Armani shooing away squirrels, or if he wanted to needle all the folks who kept flocking around him, but Jesus notices Z, and invites himself to dinner at Z's house. We don't know why. Maybe there is no why, but it's certainly not because Z is trying hard or giving money away. The story doesn't even hint that Jesus knows any of this when he says he's coming over.
Well, the crowd turns so green that Superman would have been afraid of them. (Kryptonite is green, you see....) Or, maybe the crowd turns so green the Wizard of Oz would have been at home. Or, maybe... I should just say that they were all really jealous.
All this talk about eating with a sinner seems to me to be nothing but very thinly veiled jealousy. They were jealous that Jesus was eating with Z, and not them, and they were, I think, jealous that Z was eating with Jesus, and not them. I imagine Z must have hired a pretty good chef.
Z reacts to the crowd's jealous outburst, but he's not any better than they are. He has all the money he needs and more, but he is jealous of the crowd's tall stature. (Remember how Z climbed the tree to ridiculous heights, looking down even on Jesus.) Z is also jealous of what he thinks is the crowd's righteousness.
Z protests that he gives (or maybe will give) tons of money to the poor, and if anyone can prove he did anything wrong, he'll make it right, again with his money.
Notice something about the story: If you completely leave out verses 6-8 (Z coming down joyfully, the crowd murmurring, and Z protesting), the story still makes perfect sense. In a way, Jesus's closing words to Z might be seen to completely ignore both the crowd's objections and Z's proclamations. It's almost like Jesus refuses to let any of that distract him.
But if you look at it again, in the light of all this jealousy, Jesus's words say something really amazing. Jesus says that salvation has come to Z's house, because Z is a son of Abraham. (verse 9) Z's salvation came not because of his wealth, or because of his charity. Z's salvation did not depend on whether anyone judged him rigtheous. Z was saved because Z is a son of Abraham, and that has weight because of the promises God made to his great-great-great-great-great-...-great-grandfather.
Then Jesus helps us figure out who he is. "The Son of Man came to seek out and save the lost." (verse 10) These are both active verbs ("seek" and "save"). Jesus does not react, he acts. It doesn't matter what Z does, or doesn't do, or what "everyone thinks". Jesus seeks and saves, all Z has to be is lost. And short. And sinful. And in a tree. All Z has to be is Z.
Nobody has anything to be jealous of, because Jesus gives to all. It doesn't matter what you do or don't do or what "everyone thinks". Jesus seeks you out and saves you. All you have to be is you.
Praise God.
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