Feeling Uncomfortable with Zacchaeus
Gate Pa –31st Sunday in Ordinary Time- Year C - 2022
Readings:
Psalm - Ps 119:137-144First Reading - Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4
Second Reading - 2 Thessalonians 1:1-4,11-12
Gospel - Luke 19: 1-10
What I want to say:
Using Amy-Jill Levine I want to retell the story of Jesus and Zacchaeus a couple of different ways to open up the option of more than one way of reading a parable.- How do we feel when we read this story?
- Do we read verse 8 in the future tense, as something he will do in response to Jesus wanting to come to dinner, or in the present tense as a defence of against the grumbling. Or both? The Greek goes either way.
- What echoes of other stories in Luke do we hear?
- What uncomfortable questions does it ask of us?
What I want to happen:
Where is the challenge in this story for us?The Sermon
1. Introduction
Another pretty easy to understand parable. Luke is full of these.
A couple of weeks ago we had the story of the widow who nags the unjust judge – a story Luke says is about persistent praying. If we pray for justice God will deliver. Easy!
Except at the moment there is so much injustice. So much suffering. Wars, climate change, racism, people being paid so poorly they can’t afford housing and food. It feels like God is sometimes more like the unjust judge. Maybe that story isn’t so easy to understand.
Last week we had the story about the self-righteous pharisee who gives thanks he is not like other less devout people, especially scum bag tax collectors like that one over there. And the tax collector who simply says “God have mercy on me.” Simple motto - don’t be like the Pharisee. That seems easy enough. Thank God I am not like that pharisee!
Then there is a story about a rich man who asks Jesus a question, and Jesus invites to go sell all that he has and give to the poor. Which most of us are hoping he is not asking us to do. But that is not a parable so it’s ok we are not sure what to do with it
A couple of weeks ago we had the story of the widow who nags the unjust judge – a story Luke says is about persistent praying. If we pray for justice God will deliver. Easy!
Except at the moment there is so much injustice. So much suffering. Wars, climate change, racism, people being paid so poorly they can’t afford housing and food. It feels like God is sometimes more like the unjust judge. Maybe that story isn’t so easy to understand.
Last week we had the story about the self-righteous pharisee who gives thanks he is not like other less devout people, especially scum bag tax collectors like that one over there. And the tax collector who simply says “God have mercy on me.” Simple motto - don’t be like the Pharisee. That seems easy enough. Thank God I am not like that pharisee!
Then there is a story about a rich man who asks Jesus a question, and Jesus invites to go sell all that he has and give to the poor. Which most of us are hoping he is not asking us to do. But that is not a parable so it’s ok we are not sure what to do with it
2. Zacchaeus
And now we have another little easy story about Zacchaeus the rich chief tax collector. Not a parable but an interesting story
Surely, he is bad to the core – that is how he got rich. No- one likes him. He has to climb a tree to see the famed itinerant rabbi as he walks through Jericho. How humiliating. But Jesus sees him. That is a surprise. Or maybe not such a surprise. Jesus was good at seeing the invisible.
And Jesus says to Zacchaeus that he must hurry down as he is to join him for a meal that day. But people grumble their discontent and anger at Zacchaeus, and maybe at Jesus for honouring Zacchaeus in this way. In response Zacchaeus the rich chief tax collector promises to change his ways. Yes he will still work for the Romans, but he will “give half of my possessions to the poor. And if I cheat anyone, I will repay them four times as much.” Jesus responds, “Today, salvation has come to this household because he too is a son of Abraham. The Son of Man came to seek and save the lost.” (Luke 19:9 and 10)
Thank God we are never like Zacchaeus. I hope that maths stacks up though.
So, what is that story about?
Common understanding is that Zacchaeus was lost, but his encounter with Jesus has changed him and he repents. As a result, he is saved, restored as a son of Abraham.
So, it is about what repentance looks like and what needs to be done in response to forgiveness.
Or maybe it is about more than that
Is Zacchaeus the only one lost in this story?
Talk to your neighbour.
And Jesus says to Zacchaeus that he must hurry down as he is to join him for a meal that day. But people grumble their discontent and anger at Zacchaeus, and maybe at Jesus for honouring Zacchaeus in this way. In response Zacchaeus the rich chief tax collector promises to change his ways. Yes he will still work for the Romans, but he will “give half of my possessions to the poor. And if I cheat anyone, I will repay them four times as much.” Jesus responds, “Today, salvation has come to this household because he too is a son of Abraham. The Son of Man came to seek and save the lost.” (Luke 19:9 and 10)
Thank God we are never like Zacchaeus. I hope that maths stacks up though.
So, what is that story about?
Common understanding is that Zacchaeus was lost, but his encounter with Jesus has changed him and he repents. As a result, he is saved, restored as a son of Abraham.
So, it is about what repentance looks like and what needs to be done in response to forgiveness.
Or maybe it is about more than that
Is Zacchaeus the only one lost in this story?
Talk to your neighbour.
3. A. J. Levine
I am beginning to read “Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi”, by Amy-Jill Levine, a distinguished Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies. She is a Jew. She comes to the New Testament as a Jew, without all our theological hang-ups, and with her Jewish perspective. Given all the New Testament was written by Jews, she offers some really interesting insights.
When she reads Jesus’ parables, she reads them as part of the long tradition of parables within Hebrew scripture (think Nathan and David) and their use within rabbinical writing at the time of Jesus and on to this day. She reads them as someone used to hearing them as part of conversations around the dinner table. For her these are not special stories told by Jesus to get over one simple moral point. These are stories with echoes of other stories, both told by Jesus and within the Hebrew scripture, which offer multiple meanings. And they are always mysterious and difficult. She writes that “what makes a parable mysterious or difficult is that they challenge us to look into the hidden aspects of our own values, our own lives. They bring to the surface unasked questions, and they reveal the answers we have always known but refuse to acknowledge.” She cautions against our tendency to find the right meaning of the parable and instead invites us to be open to multiple interpretations. “When we hear a parable and think, “I really like that”, or, worse, find no challenge, she warns that we are not listening well enough.” She suggests we might ask what other ways we could hear this story.
All of which makes me wonder how else we can read all those parables we might have thought were pretty straight forward.
I am beginning to read “Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi”, by Amy-Jill Levine, a distinguished Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies. She is a Jew. She comes to the New Testament as a Jew, without all our theological hang-ups, and with her Jewish perspective. Given all the New Testament was written by Jews, she offers some really interesting insights.
When she reads Jesus’ parables, she reads them as part of the long tradition of parables within Hebrew scripture (think Nathan and David) and their use within rabbinical writing at the time of Jesus and on to this day. She reads them as someone used to hearing them as part of conversations around the dinner table. For her these are not special stories told by Jesus to get over one simple moral point. These are stories with echoes of other stories, both told by Jesus and within the Hebrew scripture, which offer multiple meanings. And they are always mysterious and difficult. She writes that “what makes a parable mysterious or difficult is that they challenge us to look into the hidden aspects of our own values, our own lives. They bring to the surface unasked questions, and they reveal the answers we have always known but refuse to acknowledge.” She cautions against our tendency to find the right meaning of the parable and instead invites us to be open to multiple interpretations. “When we hear a parable and think, “I really like that”, or, worse, find no challenge, she warns that we are not listening well enough.” She suggests we might ask what other ways we could hear this story.
All of which makes me wonder how else we can read all those parables we might have thought were pretty straight forward.
4. Zacchaeus again
So let’s have another look at our friend Zacchaeus.
This is not a parable that Jesus tells. But it acts in the same way in Luke’s gospel. It is a story that unsettles and disturbs and asks questions of us.
And to look at this story we need to go back all the way to Luke 9:51 where Jesus set his face to go to Jerusalem.
On the way he healed people, made invisible people visible, and told stories/parables to answer people’s questions, just as had been done within Hebrew scripture, and was being done and would continue to be done by other rabbis asking questions of their scriptures. Those stories made people uncomfortable. As did his choice of meal mates. In Luke’s gospel it is this that leads to his death.
As he came near the end of this journey he goes through Jericho, and sees and heals a desperate blind man. He is about to walk up the hill and enter Jerusalem on his donkey.
But there was another there in Jericho. A wealthy chief tax collector
So he runs down the road and climbs a tree. How humiliating. He sees Jesus, and Jesus sees him. That is a surprise, and not a surprise, all at once. And Jesus says he must hurry down as he is to join him for a meal that day.
But people grumble their discontent and anger at Zacchaeus, and maybe at Jesus for honouring him in this way.
In response Zacchaeus the rich chief tax collector defends himself against their accusations. “Look, Lord, I give half of my possessions to the poor. And if I have cheated anyone, I repay them four times as much.” (Luke 19:9 and 10) The greek can be read either way. And is translated both ways.
In this reading there is no repentance here. Not as we traditionally understand that. Yes, he works for the Romans. But he tries to do it honestly, honourably. Better he than some unscrupulous thief. There are enough of those.
And Jesus responds, “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.”
This is not a parable that Jesus tells. But it acts in the same way in Luke’s gospel. It is a story that unsettles and disturbs and asks questions of us.
And to look at this story we need to go back all the way to Luke 9:51 where Jesus set his face to go to Jerusalem.
On the way he healed people, made invisible people visible, and told stories/parables to answer people’s questions, just as had been done within Hebrew scripture, and was being done and would continue to be done by other rabbis asking questions of their scriptures. Those stories made people uncomfortable. As did his choice of meal mates. In Luke’s gospel it is this that leads to his death.
As he came near the end of this journey he goes through Jericho, and sees and heals a desperate blind man. He is about to walk up the hill and enter Jerusalem on his donkey.
But there was another there in Jericho. A wealthy chief tax collector
- so rich he had to be corrupt
- A collaborator with imperial Rome
- Unclean
- Loathed
- Belittled
So he runs down the road and climbs a tree. How humiliating. He sees Jesus, and Jesus sees him. That is a surprise, and not a surprise, all at once. And Jesus says he must hurry down as he is to join him for a meal that day.
But people grumble their discontent and anger at Zacchaeus, and maybe at Jesus for honouring him in this way.
In response Zacchaeus the rich chief tax collector defends himself against their accusations. “Look, Lord, I give half of my possessions to the poor. And if I have cheated anyone, I repay them four times as much.” (Luke 19:9 and 10) The greek can be read either way. And is translated both ways.
In this reading there is no repentance here. Not as we traditionally understand that. Yes, he works for the Romans. But he tries to do it honestly, honourably. Better he than some unscrupulous thief. There are enough of those.
And Jesus responds, “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.”
5. What do we hear?
- What does salvation mean in this story?
- Who are the lost?
- Who is restored?
- Where are we?
- What questions does it ask of us
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