What are your preconceived notions about certain people? Are there people you know about that you have judged just through what you have heard about them in the news or through gossip? Maybe there are people who you have met or encountered that you think you have figured out.

It is pretty normal for us to settle on opinions about people known and unknown to us with very little information about who they are. Today’s society, through all kinds of sharing platforms, seems to have given everyone the ability and even the right to say whatever they think and have it stick. However, this is not really something new, it is just more readily available and at our finger tips.

Zacchaeus was a man who surprises us as he does the crowd. Luke sets up the story wonderfully giving us and the crowd at the time all we need to judge Zacchaeus. If you look at the scripture you see all the descriptors needed to form an opinion based solely on looks and his position in the community. He is described as the head tax man and quite rich. Now in that time to be a head tax man and rich meant a few things not the least of which is that you worked with and for the Roman government. The government was not known to be kind or good, but rather using the people for their gain, ruling over them with power and authority. They expected to be respected and obeyed regardless because of that power.

And Zach is rich. It was common knowledge that tax collectors extorted more money than was expected by the Roman Empire. Tax collectors could get rich just by taxing people over and above, lining their own pockets. On top of this Zach is a head tax man which meant that others worked for him and he could rake off the top of many collectors. This made him despicable in the eyes of the people.

Lastly, Zacchaeus was short. In that time, it would have been a reason to laugh and ridicule him on top of everything else. Think about it, even now there are those who ridicule little people, just like society is apt to do to anyone who doesn’t fit into the molds that we have been groomed to think make people more acceptable than others. Zacchaeus is so short that he has to climb a tree to see Jesus.

So, this is the set up to the story…that along with the part about Zacchaeus wanting, for whatever reason, to see Jesus. We have no idea what has spurned on this desire to catch a glimpse of Jesus. We are not given any background on that. Nor do we have any idea how Jesus knew his name. Whatever back story there is there, those details are lost to us.

That means whatever is there is more important. What we do know is that Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus and Jesus did see him, called him by name and then Jesus invited himself to dinner at Zach’s home. Now to sit at the same table with someone at that time meant that you accepted them, you say them as at par with oneself. Which is why the crowd that witnessed this exchange is indignant and grumped, “What business does he have getting cozy with this crook?” They had all come to see Jesus and they were not impressed that of anyone Jesus could have chosen to have dinner with that day it was Zacchaeus who won the lottery.

In their eyes he was the most underserving. They had judged him by the way he looked, the work he did, and how they perceived him without knowing him. How surprised they must have been when Zacchaeus, upon hearing the crowd’s disdain stammered out, not in anger or in power but apologetically, “Master, I give away half my income to the poor—and if I’m caught cheating, I pay four times the damages.”[1]

I have to say, he only admits to paying four time the damages if he gets caught, but the point is, Zacchaeus is not quite the cheat and scum of the earth that the people thought he was. He is actually pretty generous for a tax man. It makes me think of one of the news stories of the past week. The headline was, “Grammy-winning pop artist Billie Eilish called billionaires out on Wednesday, seemingly to their faces.”[2] Quoting a CBC article, Eilish had said,

If you’re a billionaire, why are you a billionaire? No hate, but, yeah, give your money away, shorties,” the 23-year-old said during a speech. 

Eilish was speaking at the WSJ. Magazine Innovator Awards where she accepted the music innovator award. Shortly before walking on stage at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, comedian Stephen Colbert introduced her by announcing that Eilish will be donating $11.5 million of the proceeds from her Hit Me Hard and Soft tour. The money will go toward programs for food equity, climate justice, reducing carbon pollution and combatting the climate crisis, Colbert said.

Eilish then took the opportunity while on stage to encourage others to do the same.

“We’re in a time right now where the world is really, really bad and really dark and people need empathy and help more than kind of ever, especially in our country,” Eilish said. “I'd say if you have money, it would be great to use it for good things and maybe give it to some people that need it.”

“Love you all, but there’s a few people in here that have a lot more money than me.”[3]

Sitting in the audience were people like Mark Zuckerbuerg who is worth much more than Eilish. It would be interesting to consider how Jesus may have responded to those in the building that night, because, depending on which story you read in Luke, Jesus responds differently each time money is part of the story. Sometimes he tells the main character to give their money away, like in the story of the rich official who asked Jesus, “Good teacher, what must I do to deserve eternal life?” and Jesus responds, “…there’s only one thing left to do: Sell everything you own and give it away to the poor. You will have riches in heaven. Then come, follow me.” (Luke 18: 18, 20)

In this particular story Zacchaeus is not told that he has to quit his job or give away more money. There is no demand whatsoever on Zacchaeus other than to host Jesus for dinner. And the crowd notices big time. This is not what they expected. They had judge Zacchaeus and they expected Jesus to do the same, probably so that they would feel justified in their vindication of the man.

So, if this is not about money, what is the point of the story? Maybe it is about Jesus seeing people and people responding. Could it also be a story about how we judge and have preconceived notions about who is in and who is out, who is worthy and who is unworthy? The thing about the stories that Jesus tells, and the stories that are witnessed and shared with the reader is that they are never just about one thing or another. There are always layers. There are the surface readings and then there is digging deeper.

This story is told for numerous reasons one of which is that people were seeking. The crowd was seeking Jesus, Zacchaeus was seeking Jesus, wanting to see Jesus, and Jesus sought out Zacchaeus. Jesus called him by name. I find this so hopeful. There is both the opportunity to look to and for Jesus in our lives and the promise that at the same time and maybe even before we realize it, Jesus is looking for us. Jesus wants to invite himself into our lives and is just waiting for you to see him too, regardless of our stature in life.

It is also the realization that who we think is acceptable or not is not the way Jesus looks at people. It is not about us. This story is about Jesus and that Jesus sees people, responds to them, restores them to themselves, the community, and to God. This is what happens in the most poignant verses of the whole story when Jesus says, “Today is salvation day in this home! Here he is: Zacchaeus, son of Abraham! For the Son of Man came to find and restore the lost.”

To be named the son of Abraham was to say that Zaccheaus was a child of God. Jesus, knowing who Zacchaeus was perceived to be in the community, knowing that Zaccheaus was imperfect but wanting to be in relationship with Jesus, meant that first he would be restored as a child of God.

We know from reading the fullness of the Gospel of Luke, when Jesus comes there is always a response that turns people from what they were doing and becoming, responding with changing the way they live so that it is congruent with the relationship with God and their faith.

This story doesn’t give us all that, but it is part of the whole story. This story is one that makes all of us stop and think about who we deem worthy of love and acceptance. Allows us to believe that all people, including ourselves, are worthy of God’s love and grace. And helps us to see that inside of us we bear the image of God and that is recognized by Jesus. This is a story of redemption, acceptance, and hope. It is a story of rejoicing and celebrating. If there is a place for someone like Zacchaeus then all people have a place in the family of God as son or daughter, as a beloved child.

Thanks be to God for divine extravagance in love, forgiveness, and grace, in Christ, with Christ and through Christ. Amen.

[1] Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture quotations are taken from The Message (MSG) Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson

[2] Billie Eilish calls out billionaires with Mark Zuckerberg in the audience | CBC News. Accessed Nov. 2, 25

[3] Ibid.

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