Zacchaeus: Repentance and Restoration
A couple of weeks ago, I preached a message about the story of Zacchaeus’ encounter with Jesus. How many times have I read the story of Zacchaeus? How many times have I been taught about Zacchaeus and his encounter with Jesus? Probably too many to count. But, this was the first time I realized that the story of Zacchaeus is a story about restoration. It is a story about Jesus stepping into the mess, the oppression, the harm caused by the powerful and restoring a man, restoring broken relationships, and restoring a community.
The story of Zacchaeus is a favorite one of Sunday school teachers and any of us who grew up attending church probably already have that Sunday school rhyme in our heads while we read these words (I refuse to write it down or it will never escape my brain!)! But the beauty of God’s scripture is that it is alive in the sense that the Holy Spirit reveals to us fresh revelations. The Holy Spirit is in the business of uncovering layers to the scriptures that feel new and correspond with aligning our hearts and perspectives with the person of Jesus – and this is what happened to me while preparing this message. God revealed fresh new insights that alerted me to the continued themes of justice and restoration in His word.
Zacchaeus’ story is recorded in Luke Chapter 19. Jesus is traveling to Jerusalem and on his way he passes through the town of Jericho. In Jericho was a man named Zacchaeus – the chief tax collector. At this time in history, Israel was occupied by the Roman Empire and the Roman Empire employed tax collectors to collect taxes from the occupied people. This was problematic for many reasons, but notably for this story, tax collectors were notorious for cheating the system and getting rich from taking advantage of the vulnerable. In addition, the Roman Empire hired locals – other Jewish people to be tax collectors which created conflict within the Jewish communities. The tax collectors were despised by their own people because they were viewed as traitors because they participated in the continued systemic oppression of their own people. Tax collectors were barred from the synagogue – the center of Jewish life. Their choice to become a tax collector may have led them into enormous wealth, but it came with incredible spiritual and relational negative consequences.
It is into this tension that Jesus walks into the town of Jericho. Zacchaeus heard of Jesus’ arrival and he wanted to see Jesus. The text tells us that Zacchaeus really wanted to catch of glimpse of Jesus – of this man who had created a movement and loved the poor and marginalized. But because Zacchaeus was shorter than the people in the crowd and also probably not well liked by them so he couldn’t gain a spot to see Jesus. So, Zacchaeus does the unexpected and climbs a sycamore fig tree to see Jesus. Zacchaeus’ urgency and excitement to see Jesus shows us that there was something happening in Zacchaeus’ heart. Maybe a softening? Maybe his heart was becoming fertile soil to encounter Jesus? Jesus noticed the softening in Zacchaeus’ heart because when Jesus comes upon Zacchaeus in the tree, He tells him to come down because Jesus wanted to stay at Zacchaeus’ house that day. The crowd gathered around is shocked and does not understand why Jesus would want to visit the home of a sinner; the home of a man who had perpetuated the harm caused to them by the Roman Empire.
What’s happening in this moment is more than just an unexpected house guest. It’s more than just a social call. What is happening here is Jesus – the Son of God – entering into the mess of Zacchaeus’ life and the tension in the community caused by greed and corruption – entering into this space to create room for repentance and restoration.
As I prepared the message about the story of Zacchaeus – I felt myself focused closely on the crowd’s refusal to provide grace to Zacchaeus. They didn’t let him to the front of the crowd to see Jesus, they don’t see that Zacchaeus’ heart is softening and they don’t seem to follow Jesus’ lead when He engages with Zacchaeus. I felt frustrated with the crowd and didn’t understand how they couldn’t just forgive Zacchaeus – why were they being so judgmental?
And then it hit me – it hit me in that way when you know it’s not you making the realization, but the Holy Spirit waking you up from your slumber – it wasn’t the crowd’s responsibility to extend grace at that moment in the story. The people in the crowd that day were still experiencing the present harm caused by the Roman Empire’s oppression – an oppression that Zacchaeus had not only participated in but benefited from. The crowd was in the position of harm and they were vulnerable – not understanding what was happening in this moment between Zacchaeus and Jesus.
But, on the other side – there was Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus who had caused harm. Zacchaeus who had accumulated wealth at the cost of other’s safety and wellbeing. Zacchaeus who had experienced the consequences of his decisions but continued to benefit from the system that hurt His people. But also Zacchaeus whose heart was softening. The curiosity that bubbled inside Zacchaeus’ heart to simply see Jesus – to catch a glimpse of him – is the readers’ clue that there was change happening inside Zacchaeus.
Between the crowd and Zacchaeus was a wide gulf filled with hurt, greed, harm, violence, and oppression. A gulf that to any of us would have seemed too great to cross; too great to bridge. A gulf that we would probably look and say this is a lost cause – these people will never find restoration or repentance or forgiveness.
But Jesus stepped into the gulf between Zacchaeus and the crowd. Jesus waded into this tension and provided the first glimmer of hope for grace and restoration. Jesus stood in this space between the oppressed and the oppressor to extend grace to both. In this moment – when Jesus steps into the tension, we do not know the crowd’s reaction, but we know Zacchaeus’. Zacchaeus repents and begins to make reparations for the harm he had caused. He repents that he accumulated his wealth from the oppression of others and admits that he has stolen. He makes plans to return what is not his and to try to repair the harm he caused. Zacchaeus’ experience with the grace that Jesus provided in that moment was so profound and impactful that Zacchaeus’ repentance was almost immediate.
You see in the town of Jericho on that day, Jesus knew the tension before he walked into it. He knew the harm before he walked into it. He also knew that Zacchaeus’ heart was beginning to soften, but there was no way that the crowd that day could see it yet. And so, Jesus stood in the gulf between Zacchaeus’ softening heart and those in the crowd who were hurt and saw Zacchaeus as the representation of their oppression – He stood between these people and extended grace to both. He extended Grace to Zacchaeus that the crowd was not ready to extend and the Grace and interaction with Jesus was so profound that Zacchaeus’ reaction leads to repentance and reparation. Jesus, through his presence in that town on that day and his empathetic, self-sacrificing love towards Zacchaeus created space for healing and restoration within a single man, the crowd and the community as a whole.
The lessons we gleaN from the story of Zacchaeus are so much more than just Zacchaeus eager to see Jesus and climbing a tree. The lessons are not about judging the crowd for judging Zacchaeus or placing priority over who deserved grace more than the other. The lesson we take from the story of Zacchaeus is that God is the Ultimate Restorer. God is in the business of restoring people, relationships, and community – and when there is a wide gulf between the oppressed and the oppressor our Hope is in the truth that Jesus stands between the two offering His grace, love and a path towards restoration and healing.
In all the times that I have read the story of Zacchaeus – I repent that I had not seen this important guidepost towards God’s heart for justice and restoration. I repent that I was too quick to judge the crowd that were experiencing the present harms of oppression. I also repent that in today’s world I see the people who embody the spirit of Zacchaeus the tax collector and think they are without hope for change or repentance. I repent these thoughts, these blind spots, these prejudices, and I choose to turn towards God’s grace with hope and expectation.
This story is not included in the Gospels as a simple Sunday School bible story that we can sing a song about and move on to the next. This story is for us to know and fully embody the truth that even when all hope seems lost and there is darkness and harm, Jesus steps into the dark to shine his light of truth and grace. That Jesus’ love is so powerful and strong that it can cause the oppressors to repent. That Jesus’ love is so powerful and strong it can withstand the forces of tension and anger between the harmed and the harmers.
That Jesus’ love is so powerful and strong – we as the church – as a culture – as a people can believe that Jesus is still in the business of walking into our lives, our towns, our churches, and our communities stretching his arms between the gulfs of conflict and harm and extending powerful grace that changes hearts, minds, perspectives, and actions.
Today’s reminder to us is to expect God to show up in the hurt, in the pain and in the tension. The reminder is to remember that God is always moving, but we have to make the choice to see His power, grace and love and to respond to it.