43 STATUS WITHOUT RICHES And, behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich. And he sought to see Jesus who he was; and could not for the press, because he was little of stature. And he ran before, and climbed up into a sycomore tree to see him: for he was to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at thy house. And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, That he was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner. And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold. And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost (Luke 19:2-10).
When Jesus called Levi/Matthew into full-time service, Levi responded by inviting his colleagues to a feast which Jesus attended. "And Levi made him a great feast in his own house: and there was a great company of publicans and of others that sat down with them. But their scribes and Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying, Why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners?" (Luke 5:29-30). Publicans and sinners were equated. Tax collectors in Israel had low social status. They were placed in the same category as prostitutes. They might be very wealthy, but their wealth could not buy them social acceptance among Israelites. They were outcasts.
When Jesus invited Himself into the home of Zacchaeus, He was making a statement. He was saying that He was ready to accept Zacchaeus as a disciple, should Zacchaeus decide to subordinate himself to God. By feasting among tax collectors once again, Jesus was saying that repentant tax collectors could achieve acceptance in His social circle. The Jewish leaders again responded by implying that Jesus' social status was none too good.
Extortioners Zacchaeus was a publican: a tax collector. He was chief of the tax collectors. The flow of funds from the other tax collectors moved upward into his hands. He, in turn, would have remitted a portion of these funds to his superiors, perhaps the owners of the regional tax farming investment organization.
The tax system in imperial Rome's subject provinces was based on purchase of the right of collection. An investment group would buy the right to collect regional taxes, mainly taxes on trade in this era. Then the company would send out tax collectors, backed by Rome's military might, to collect the money. The system was not bureaucratic. It was not based on fixed, predictable taxes owed by specific people. It was based on the principle of extraction above the quota imposed. At each level of tax collection, the person in charge tried to collect more than he was required to remit to the next higher level. In this sense, tax collection was a profit-seeking venture. But it was backed by force: Rome's legions.
The system lent itself to extortion. This is why John the Baptist told tax collectors to collect no more than what was owed. "Then came also publicans to be baptized, and said unto him, Master, what shall we do? And he said unto them, Exact no more than that which is appointed you" (Luke 3:12-13).
Consuming the Sheep
Zacchaeus promised to pay four-fold restitution to anyone whom he had defrauded. It is not clear that he had defrauded anyone. But if he had, he was willing to repay four-fold. Why four-fold? The Mosaic law established two-fold restitution in cases of secret theft. "If the theft be certainly found in his hand alive, whether it be ox, or ass, or sheep; he shall restore double" (Ex. 22:4). But the rule was different in the case of violence. "If a man shall steal an ox, or a sheep, and kill it, or sell it; he shall restore five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep" (Ex. 22:1). These laws applied to the criminal whose crime was discovered. He paid less if he admitted it on his own: twenty percent.(1)
Tax collecting involves coercion and the threat of coercion. The State enforces the tax laws. Its agents collect wealth from those under the State's jurisdiction. Those who refuse to pay are threatened with violence. Zacchaeus was a tax collector. His occupation depended on Rome's ability to impose violence on all those who resisted Zacchaeus' authority to extract wealth from them. The element of violence is what differentiated tax fraud by the authorities from private fraud. This is what escalated the required restitution payment from two-fold to four-fold. Zacchaeus understood this. He seems to have had considerable knowledge of the Mosaic law and its implications.
Remarkable Charity Zacchaeus promised to give half of his goods to the poor. He said this in public. Half of a rich man's goods constitutes an abnormally high commitment to righteousness. Luke's Gospel emphasizes the close relationship between a man's religious commitment and his treasure. Zacchaeus understood what Jesus had been preaching about money. By turning loose of half of his goods, he was announcing publicly his conversion to Christ. Jesus confirmed this: "And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham" (v. 9).
This money was not for restitution purposes. This was in addition to any restitution payments. This money would go to the poor. The poor represented God. Regarding the final judgment, Jesus warned in a prophecy: "And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me" (Matt. 25:40). Zacchaeus did not offer his money to Jesus. He knew that he could not purchase his salvation for money. He also knew that the righteous poor -- the least of Christ's brethren -- represented God. Jesus had no need of his money. The righteous poor did.
He was declaring his trust in Christ rather than in his tangible wealth. This attitude is basic to every comprehensive conversion. The convert is told by God to abandon reliance on tangible wealth. His wealth cannot autonomously protect him from adversity in either history or eternity. Job's experience testifies to this covenantal truth. But rich men rarely understand this. "The rich man's wealth is his strong city, and as an high wall in his own conceit" (Prov. 18:11). This is why so few of them enter the kingdom of God.
Altered Status Jesus called Zacchaeus out of the tree and into the kingdom of God. The test of his transformation was two-fold: public subordination to Jesus through providing a meal in his home and then his financial restructuring.
This meal was not a sacred meal. It was not eaten within the boundaries of the temple's sacred space. It was a meal of hospitality. To offer such a meal, the provider had to open his home. Zacchaeus joyfully received Jesus into his home. Jesus had singled him out in full public view. Jesus had treated him as if he had been a righteous man. Jesus honored Zacchaeus publicly by requesting and then accepting a meal from him. In response, Zacchaeus honored Jesus by abandoning reliance on his wealth.
The covenantal issue here was subordination. Zacchaeus had been in a position of authority over Israel because he was under Rome's authority. This hierarchy was political. The economic mark of this political subordination was the upward flow of tax money. Zacchaeus had possessed both the legal authority to collect taxes and the power to defraud taxpayers. He renounced his power to defraud when he offered four-fold restitution to any victims.
His announcement of the transfer of half his goods to the poor was an announcement of a shift in his subordination. His subordination to Rome had filled his house with treasures. Now he publicly switched allegiance. This shift was not political. It did not involve an oath to a rival civil government. It did involve an oath to a rival kingdom.
When Jesus invited Himself to dinner, He moved from celebrity status to redeemer status in Zacchaeus' eyes. Jesus' public request for a meal announced that Zacchaeus' status was no longer that of an outcast in His eyes. Jesus raised Zacchaeus' status in His eyes; Zacchaeus then responded by raising Jesus' status in his eyes. They became a mutual admiration society.
Once again, Jesus fell in status in the Jews' eyes. "And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, That he was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner" (Luke 19:7). They kept on lowering His status until they finally persuaded Pilate to hang Him on a cross in the company of thieves. One of these thieves acknowledged that Jesus possessed superior status to his: innocence. "And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss" (Luke 23:39-41). He then acknowledged Jesus' supreme status as divine. "And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom" (v. 42). He recognized what the Jews did not. He therefore gained what the Jews did not. "And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise" (v. 43).
Conclusion Zacchaeus possessed great tangible wealth but low social status in the eyes of the Jews. He was an economic agent of Rome. Jesus possessed no tangible wealth and low social status in the eyes of the Jewish leaders. The public was divided on this question, however, just as the two thieves were. But the nation's respectable spokesmen who conferred social status were generally in agreement: Jesus was in the low end of the social hierarchy. Pilate fully understood their attitude. This provided an opportunity for him to have a little fun at the Jews' expense. "And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS. This title then read many of the Jews: for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city: and it was written in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin. Then said the chief priests of the Jews to Pilate, Write not, The King of the Jews; but that he said, I am King of the Jews. Pilate answered, What I have written I have written" (John 19:19-22).
Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus so much that he climbed a tree to get a better view. Why did he bother? He knew something about Jesus' teachings, as his subsequent financial restructuring revealed. Why would someone like this want to see Jesus?
Someone like Zacchaeus would not normally want to see Jesus, except insofar as Jesus was a celebrity. Jesus had made it clear that very few rich men have any permanent interest in His teachings. His message of complete dependence on God was and is an affront to the rich. The message is too closely tied to economics: the economics of self-sacrifice in history for the sake of treasure in eternity.
Zacchaeus was ready to repent when he climbed the tree. His initial interest in Jesus and his immediate response to Jesus' request for a meal indicate that he was ready to listen. He understood Jesus' message about the deceitfulness of riches even before he climbed the tree, for at the feast, he publicly surrendered half of his wealth. Yet today, almost two millennia later, most of Jesus' followers appear not to understand His economic message this clearly. If they do understand it, they do not believe it. They do not act in terms of it. Zacchaeus was ready to give half of his wealth to the poor. Modern Christians do not give ten percent of their income to the church, as required,(2) let alone half of their goods to the poor.
Footnotes:
1. Gary North, Tools of Dominion: The Case Laws of Exodus (Tyler, Texas: Institute for Christian Economics, 1990), pp. 620-22.
2. Gary North, Tithing and the Church (Tyler, Texas: Institute for Christian Economics, 1994).
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