Zacchaeus

What was that wee little man Zacchaeus looking for when he climbed up into the sycamore tree? And why was he so anxious to see the ‘One’ who was coming?

John was immersing people in the Jordan river, the sealing of a contract of commitment, and warning whoever would listen, that the One everybody’s been waiting for is finally on his way. This One will straighten things, he will make all things equal, even, and smooth – He’s just around the corner. Get ready, you’d better be ready. Come and join the ones who are changing their ways in preparation. Crowds of people journeyed down to the river to hear this prophet, and his thrilling words.

“Tell us what to do! How do we get ready?!”

This is it! I mean, for the Christian faith, this is it! It’s here! This is the announcement of the imminent arrival of Jesus and all the work he will do. All of the next 2,000 years’ worth of the Christian faith, (for good or bad) is set into motion on the heels of this announcement. And if I were to redact current Christian priorities back these 2,000 years and onto the lips of this guy, I would’ve expected him to say something like, “You need to attend synagogue more regularly, observe Torah more stringently, pray more, and with more fervor, give more to our Temple fund, (manifest and codify into law your hate for those who aren’t like you), etc.” I mean, the religious condition of this peasantry who was harassed and oppressed at every turn, (including by their religious leaders, especially by their religious leaders), couldn’t have been in the best of shape.

Wait! What??!!

But he says nothing at all like that. What John tells this spellbound audience is, “Whoever has two coats must share with the person who doesn’t have one, and those of you who have food must do the same.” Wait! What??!! The ‘One’, whom we now know as Jesus, is coming. He’s right around the corner. And what do we do to get ready? Share our stuff? (what little we have). That’s it??? You’re not gonna give us anything more theologically challenging than that?

Nope.

Looks like the tax collectors got the day off. When they asked what it was that they should do in order to get ready, (this was an easy one), John told them to stop collecting “more than the amount prescribed for you.” In other words, stop contributing to the systems of oppression and injustice – no more extortion of the poor! He told the soldiers on watch, their partners in crime, essentially the same thing. Now it stands to reason that if the tax collectors got the afternoon off to hike down to the river, their supervisor would’ve taken the trip with them. And one of these guys would be Zacchaeus, our wee little man of the children’s song. So back to the question. Why was this supervisor of tax collectors so eager to see this Jesus? Eager enough to climb a tree in anticipation?

I will give to the poor

The small squad on the distant horizon that contained Jesus finally arrives. Jesus tells Zacchaeus to come down, he wants to come in, presumably to rest up and have a word. Maybe to ask him how this extortion thing’s goin’ ‘cause Luke tells us that “Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, ‘Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.’”

I think Zacchaeus was anxious to see Jesus because he had heard John and had changed his ways. He was eager to answer that question in the affirmative, and anyone who could prove otherwise would collect four times the amount taken. I’d like to think that the supervisor’s change in ways had a ripple effect across those who reported to him. I think I’m hoping for too much.

a silly character in a nursery rhyme

This story is profoundly telling. Because 2,000 years later, the theological complexities and institutional sophistication of the Christian faith and its influence across the world, and particularly in legislative halls across our country, has all but drowned out this simple message that is sung from the hearts of children. This man who exemplified the good news that Jesus was bringing with him, that these acts of mercy and the pursuit of justice would change the world, has become nothing more than a silly character in a nursery rhyme.

Children grow up and lose interest in climbing trees.