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.”
Read Luke 19:1-10 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!
Have you ever had an impression of someone, simply from what other people have said about them, but then found out later that they were not what you had thought? In some cases, the person you meet came as a high recommendation from someone you trust, but you find out after meeting them that they are not as great as you imagined.
In other cases, the rumor mill has run wild and someone has a horrible reputation – whether it is because of their occupation, their friends, or simply because they are in the spotlight – when in reality, they are a much better person than their reputation suggests.
When I read this story of Zacchaeus, I am presented with two sides of a coin. On one side, we have the traditional view, which Zacchaeus being the stereotypical cheat – the reputation that tax collectors had in those parts of the Roman empire. Looking at Zacchaeus from this view is easy and it is what people have done for years.
On the other side of the coin, I am presented with a different picture – one that will take a little bit of math to explain. One morning, as I was reading and studying this passage, this other view changed how I saw Zacchaeus from that point forward.
To begin this shift in thinking, I began with the logical assumption that Zacchaeus was good at math. As someone who was the head tax collector in the region, he would have had ample experience crunching the numbers – whether it was “creatively” doing the math or accurately doing the math.
Next, I looked at Jesus’ positive response, which affirmed Zacchaeus’ response and generosity, and concluded that in Zacchaeus was being genuine and honest in his promise to give his money away. Jesus would not have reacted positively if Zacchaeus did not mean what he was saying, or if the promise was empty.
Then, I crunched the numbers of what Zacchaeus promised. First he starts by allocating half his wealth to go straight to the poor, and then secondly, he promises to repay anyone he cheated four times the amount that was cheated. Let’s do the math:
We start at 100% and give 50% away to the poor. We now have 50% left. That is the easy part.
With the 50% left, Zacchaeus then promises to repay 4x the amount anyone was cheated by him. Leaving investments and other ways of growing money aside, we must divide the remaining 50% by 4 which leaves us with 12.5%.
The conclusion is that no greater than 12.5% of Zacchaeus’ money was gained through cheating – otherwise he would have bankrupted himself in this request. If Zacchaeus was exaggerating and over-promising in this declaration, I don’t believe Jesus would have responded positively. If Zacchaeus was bad at math, he probably wouldn’t have acquired/kept the money in the first place.
So what does this mean? Where was Zacchaeus spiritually before this encounter – since Jesus’ response implies that salvation was not a part of Zacchaeus’ life before that night?
What I came to realize after doing the math, and analyzing what happened, is that this event is less about the numbers, or even about the generosity, and more about the focus and the heart. The Zacchaeus event was not recorded as a statement that warrants all “rich” people must give away their money, or that all “rich” people obtained their riches dishonestly.
The Zacchaeus event was recorded because it amplifies a temptation we all face: Do we place accumulating (i.e. saving) ahead of giving when it comes to our resources?
Zacchaeus was an excellent saver and investor, but a horrible giver. When his heart changed, his focus changed, and salvation came to his house that very day.
When we let Jesus change our heart, and when we change our focus from what we can get to what we can give, salvation knocks at the door of our hearts as well. Zacchaeus is a model of where we are before Jesus and how our lives and focus change after encountering Him as our Savior.
This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!
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