Reflective Bible Study

As we continue in our journey through prophecies that Jesus fulfilled, we turn our attention back onto a portion of a longer prophecy about the Messiah’s life, death, and mission. While we have touched briefly on this prophecy a number of times earlier during our year podcasting through Jesus’ life, this prophecy includes a fascinating detail about the company Jesus would keep while He was buried.

Let’s read this excerpt from Isaiah’s prophecy, and discover what we can about Jesus’ time in the grave. Our prophecy and passage are found in the book of Isaiah, chapter 53, and we will read from the New American Standard Bible translation. In verse 9, Isaiah writes:

⁹ His grave was assigned with wicked men,
Yet He was with a rich man in His death,
Because He had done no violence,
Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.

In this verse, Isaiah, draws our attention to two interesting details. First, the grave of the Messiah would be assigned with wicked men. On one hand, this is not surprising, because, aside from Jesus who lived a perfect life, everyone else who could have been buried with Jesus or assigning a grave to Him would be sin-stained – or perhaps described using the word wicked.

However, it is interesting that even with this designation, Isaiah, draws attention to Jesus being with a rich man, and the reason for this is because He had done no violence and no deceit was in His mouth.

Before diving in to how amazing these lines are in this verse, let’s move forward and read what happened to Jesus’ body after He had given His last breath.

Reading from Matthew, chapter 27, and starting in verse 57, we learn that:

⁵⁷ When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus. ⁵⁸ This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. ⁵⁹ And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, ⁶⁰ and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the entrance of the tomb and went away.

One thing I find amazing in this short description of Joseph from Arimathea is that we know almost nothing about Him from Matthew’s gospel. However, even with the minimal knowledge that we do have, we can see some amazing details framing how God stepped into the picture in what many might call the darkest part of history.

First off, if we imagine for a minute that Joseph had not shown up, or that he had not requested Jesus’ body, the likely outcome for Jesus’ corpse was that He would be tossed with all the other criminals into a common ditch grave with many other corpses. It is also possible, though I don’t recall how common it was at the time for the corpses of political enemies to have been tossed into a fire to be cremated. Either way, without Joseph from Arimathea stepping in to request Jesus’ body, the first line of Isaiah’s prophecy would have been the end of his description: “His grave was assigned with wicked men”. Because of the death Jesus faced, His body did not warrant any special treatment from those who were wicked.

However, because Joseph stepped in requesting Jesus’ body, we see a direct fulfillment of the second statement in Isaiah’s prophecy: “Yet He was with a rich man in His death”. I find it amazing that no details are given about the rich man Jesus would be with in His death, but it is amazing that every description of Joseph from Arimathea we read describes him as a rich man. Either Joseph was ridiculously wealthy, or all the gospels want to draw our attention to how his presence in Jesus’ burial directly fulfills Isaiah’s prophecy.

Moving to the last two lines of Isaiah’s prophecy, we discover something amazing when looking closely at these details. Isaiah frames the last idea in this prophetic verse by saying: “He was with a rich man in His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.”

In the last two phrases of this verse, we see a powerful idea hinted at regarding Jesus’ sacrifice. With the way this prophecy is written, the simple fact that Joseph stepped in with the gift of a tomb, validated Jesus’ sacrifice as being accepted by God. Isaiah writes that because the Messiah had done no violence, and because He had never said anything deceitful, He would be buried with the rich. In a subtle way, God the Father validates Jesus’ sacrifice immediately following His death by directing the details of this event to allow for a rich man to ultimately bury Jesus and fulfill this prophecy. By bringing Joseph into the picture, God the Father validated Jesus’ ministry as one that did no violence, and as one that was not deceitful in any way.

This is incredible to think about. While the disciples were hiding for their lives, and while the religious leaders were plotting what to do next, God the Father was validating Jesus’ sacrifice leading into the opening of that year’s Passover celebration.

While many people didn’t realize it at the time, Joseph from Arimathea also stepped in with the perfect gift at the perfect time. Through Joseph’s gift of a tomb, the stage was set for the resurrection, and everyone who was interested in paying attention would have a clear place to look. While the religious leaders were interested because they wanted to keep the disciples from stealing the body, and while Satan was interested because he wanted to keep Jesus in the tomb, everything about crucifixion weekend pointed forward to Jesus’ sacrifice being accepted, and an impossible-to-stop resurrection on the third day.

Joseph from Arimathea shows up at exactly the right time with the perfect gift for the occasion. This detail tells us that God knows the future, and with whatever happens in this life, we can know that God has orchestrated all the details towards saving you and me for eternity.

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always open by challenging you, intentionally seek God first in your life and purposefully trust God with whatever the future holds. Know and believe that God knows the future and that with whatever tomorrow holds, God has prepared the best possible outcome. God’s ultimate goal is saving you, me, and as many people as possible for eternity.

Also, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself to grow your personal relationship with God. While pastors, speakers, authors, or even podcasters have ideas to share, take everything you read, hear, and see and compare it with the truth found in the Bible. The Bible has stood the test of time, and it has tucked within it everything we need to know to grow a personal relationship with God.

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or ignore where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

While one of Jesus’ twelve disciples had formerly been a tax collector, when we think of stories involving Jesus and tax collectors, the event we will be looking at in our passage for this episode is likely the one that first comes to mind. While Matthew got years of face-to-face time with Jesus and while Matthew ultimately writes an entire gospel dedicated to Jesus’ life, Zacchaeus get’s the top spot in most peoples’ minds when we think of Jesus’ encounters with tax collectors.

However, when we look closely at Zacchaeus’ story, we discover some amazing details that are easily overlooked. In the culture, certain groups of people were stereotypically assumed to be a certain way, and one such group was tax collectors. These groups were simply judged based upon the stereotype, regardless of whether they fit into the stereotype.

Which brings us to a question I want to ask us before reading our passage for this episode: Was Zacchaeus a corrupt tax collector, fitting perfectly into the stereotype, or was Zacchaeus an honest man in a hated occupation?

Let’s read the passage and see if we can find some clues leading to an answer for this question. Our passage is found in Luke’s gospel, chapter 19, and we will read from the New Century Version. Starting in verse 1, Luke tells us that:

¹ Jesus was going through the city of Jericho. ² A man was there named Zacchaeus, who was a very important tax collector, and he was wealthy. ³ He wanted to see who Jesus was, but he was not able because he was too short to see above the crowd. ⁴ He ran ahead to a place where Jesus would come, and he climbed a sycamore tree so he could see him. ⁵ When Jesus came to that place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down! I must stay at your house today.”

⁶ Zacchaeus came down quickly and welcomed him gladly. ⁷ All the people saw this and began to complain, “Jesus is staying with a sinner!”

⁸ But Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “I will give half of my possessions to the poor. And if I have cheated anyone, I will pay back four times more.”

⁹ Jesus said to him, “Salvation has come to this house today, because this man also belongs to the family of Abraham. ¹⁰ The Son of Man came to find lost people and save them.”

As we were reading this passage just now, the statement the crowd made stood out to me. After Zacchaeus has been seen by Jesus and after Jesus basically invites Himself over to Zacchaeus’ home, the crowd grumbles the statement in verse 7, “Jesus is staying with a sinner!”

I’m not sure exactly why this phrase sounds funny in my mind, but perhaps it has something to do with the small detail that if Jesus stayed with anyone, regardless of who they were, He could be accused of staying with a sinner.

This statement is funny and profound at the same time. It is funny because the people who were grumbling and complaining in the crowd about what they saw happening could have had the exact same complaint and accusation tossed their way if Jesus had chosen one of them. This statement is profound because it tells us that God doesn’t mind associating with sinners – especially sinners whose hearts are ripe for redemption.

So then let’s return to our question: Was Zacchaeus a sinner? Yes.

Was Zacchaeus a corrupt tax collector who fit the stereotype? Let’s look at the evidence.

If we were to build a case for Zacchaeus being corrupt, three details are present that could support this claim. First, we have the detail that Zacchaeus was wealthy. If Zacchaeus was one of the wealthiest tax collectors in the region, then that could be because he acquired his wealth in a dishonest way.

Next, we have the detail that the people’s perception of Zacchaeus was that he was a sinner. If Zacchaeus was honest, or in any way atypical of the norm, we would likely see the crowd sharing a different response.

Thirdly, after having met with Jesus, Zacchaeus determines to give his wealth away. It stands to reason that having this wealth wouldn’t be an issue if it was acquired honestly, but if it was acquired dishonestly, then Zacchaeus would morally need to get rid of it as part of his repenting and turning to God. Since Jesus validates Zacchaeus’ decision to give up his wealth, we could logically conclude it was because Zacchaeus acquired it dishonestly.

For those three reasons, we could conclude that Zacchaeus was dishonest and fit perfectly into the stereotypical tax collector.

However, what are some counter reasons to suggest that Zacchaeus was atypical.

To our first point, wealth is simply wealth. While it can be acquired dishonestly, nothing says that it is only ever acquired this way. Zacchaeus may have inherited a good percentage of his wealth, or he may have simply been an excellent saver. As an important or chief tax collector, he may have had a higher government salary for the position he held, which could account for the extra income and/or wealth.

The second point stands to reason that many people likely knew of Zacchaeus but didn’t know him personally. If Zacchaeus was a manager of other tax collectors, people could project their dislike of the whole profession onto Zacchaeus without knowing him personally. It is easy to judge people without knowing their situation. In the same way, it is easy to judge Zacchaeus simply because of the stereotype, and not because of anything specific to Zacchaeus himself.

The third point speaks to generosity more than dishonesty. After meeting Jesus, it is perfectly possible for Zacchaeus to have a change of heart from being a hoarder or a saver, which is something that can be done honestly, to being a generous giver. Zacchaeus may have had an unhealthy focus on acquiring wealth, and while he acquired wealth honestly, he had let that wealth become an idol in his life.

Now that we have three alternate points to the points that Zacchaeus was dishonest, there is one big point that doesn’t add up if Zacchaeus fits the dishonest stereotype. The way Zacchaeus handles his gift doesn’t allow for much dishonesty. Verse 8 tells us Zacchaeus’ response while He was with Jesus: “I will give half of my possessions to the poor. And if I have cheated anyone, I will pay back four times more.”

If I’ve done the math correctly, Zacchaeus could have cheated no more than 12% of those who he collected from before bankrupting himself. The stereotypical tax collector would have cheated much more than this. I arrive at this number because Zacchaeus first pledges half of his wealth away, leaving him with only 50%, and he promises to pay 4 times any amount that was cheated. Fifty divided by four equals 12.5%.

However, Zacchaeus also challenges those present by saying “if I have cheated anyone”. This is a challenge and an invitation for all those who were cheated to come forward. It’s possible there were some who did, but it is also very possible that Zacchaeus just broke out of the stereotype. If Zacchaeus’ pledge and promise were not doable, I doubt Jesus would have praised him.

From reading the details of this event, I fully suspect that Zacchaeus was honest in his position, and that Jesus’ praise for Zacchaeus was based on Zacchaeus’ change of focus from hoarding wealth to being generous.

Following this event, nothing is mentioned about Zacchaeus leaving his occupation of tax collecting. Jesus doesn’t give Zacchaeus an invitation like He gave Matthew. After meeting Jesus, at the very least, if Zacchaeus had not been honest before, he would be honest from that point forward.

Before ending our episode, I have one more observation to share with you. Early on in our year podcasting through Luke’s gospel, we read about John the Baptist preaching along the Jordan River. Jericho was a city that was near the Jordan River. In Luke chapter 3, when Luke is sharing a summary of John the Baptist’s teaching and the impact it had, we learned that corrupt tax collectors asked John what to do. This can be found specifically in verses 12 and 13.

It wouldn’t surprise me if Zacchaeus had heard John’s message many years before. It wouldn’t surprise me if Zacchaeus had been corrupt before and had turned his actions and attitude around at that point. It also wouldn’t surprise me if Zacchaeus was honest before that point, and that it was other tax collectors Zacchaeus knew who were most affected by John’s message.

More than the wealth we have, God is interested in our focus. If our focus is on building our wealth, then it doesn’t matter whether the wealth is being built honestly or dishonestly, we have a bad focus. However, if our focus is on helping others and on using what God blesses us to be a blessing to others, than we have a better focus. I see Zacchaeus shift from a poor focus on his wealth to a better focus, and Jesus applauds this decision of an atypical, honest, tax collector.

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As always, intentionally seek God first in your life. Choose to live your live with a spirit of generosity and use the wealth God has blessed you with to help others.

Also, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself to grow personally closer to God each day. Don’t let anyone get between you and God and filter the messages you hear through the lens of the Bible!

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or walk away from where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!