The incident with Zacchaeus the chief tax collector was surprising to many people because they were hoping that Jesus had come to judge evildoers and to usher in the eternal Kingdom of God. This meant, in the first place, driving out the Romans and their evil tax collectors. Jesus was supposed to destroy people like Zacchaeus! Jesus therefore wasn’t the kind of king that the Jews wanted. He anticipates his impending rejection in a parable based on recent events relating to Herod Archelaus. Archelaus had gone to Caesar in Rome to be confirmed as king of Judea but was followed by a delegation of Judaeans who opposed his claim. He was made their ruler despite their protestations. It’s a serious enough thing to reject a bad ruler (like Archelaus), but it is catastrophic to reject a good one. In his parable, Jesus anticipates his future return when he will call all people to account for their response to him. Ironically, Zacchaeus stands here as a model of the kind of faithfulness that this parable calls for: he accepted Jesus as his king and he acted accordingly. His life bore the fruit of repentance. If even a hardened tyrant will reward such faithfulness, how much more will a good and loving saviour. And again, if failure to serve a hardened tyrant brings serious consequences, how much worse will it be for those who will not serve a good and loving saviour. Don’t take the grace of Jesus as license for disobedience. His grace makes it possible for anyone who is willing to repent, but it also magnifies the culpability of those who do not.
Seek mercy from Jesus and recommit yourself to his purpose for your life.
Read Luke 19:11-27
