Curiosity, It Is Said, Killed the Cat. What Draws Us to Turn on Some New Fall Program

Up a Tree

Luke 19:1-10

March 16, 2014

Curiosity, it is said, killed the cat. What draws us to turn on some new Fall program ? Curiosity. What drives me to get to the next skill level in my computer game? Curiosity to see what is there. Have you ever been walking through town and seen a long line formed? Though you may not get in the line, you are curious, so you follow it to the beginning to see what is happening. I have read several stories of the long lines formed in Moscow, lines that go clear around several blocks. When people see such a line, they just get in it, with their expandable shopping bags ready. It doesn't matter what merchandise came into the store, any merchandise is worth waiting for. But they do ask, " What I am I waiting for?" Curiosity got the better of them.

Ruth was the first white woman into this remote village. Only the men and a few of the women who had canoed downstream two days to the city market had ever seen a white person at all. When we finally straggled into the village, they gave us chairs, then the whole village ringed us, observing with running animated commentary everything we did. Sometime later we were inside the hut, when a messenger came. He said to Ruth that the elders from the next village wanted to see her. So she dutifully came out and met them. They were all sitting under the shaded thatched roof. They didn't speak to her at all, they just stared. So Ruth pirouetted to give a 360 degree view, then left. They had literally come to see her. Not much out of the ordinary happens in a small jungle village.

And for the inhabitants of Jericho, most days were filled with the ordinary routines of life. But news of Jesus had spread far and wide, and as he came to Jericho, a crowd gathered. Most simply wanted to get a glimpse of this man who had reportedly healed the blind, the lame and the leprous, who had fed 5,000 people with virtually nothing, who calmed the seas, and who continually seemed to bait the Pharisees.

We visited Jericho a few years ago now. There is a beautiful spring call the Ain es-Sultan right there. It was around this copiously flowing spring that the ancient city was built and if we read the account of Joshua, rebuilt. It was Herod's winter capital, complete with baths and reflecting pools. It was a rich and fertile area, and was a government center, tax collecting there would be lucrative. In fact one of the rooms there has been found to have sycamore timbers. It controlled the road from the Jordan Valley to Jerusalem.

Zacchaeus, which means "Righteous One", was the chief tax collector of this important site. Tax collectors throughout Palestine were known to be corrupt officials on the take, though there were undoubtedly exceptions. They would assess taxes above the Roman standard and pocket the rest. The people had no recourse, except to the chief tax collector. The chief tax collector received good will payments from all the others, sort of a pyramiding scheme, like Amway. He would be wealthy, very wealthy, no question about it.

This story is of particular interest because it follows hard on the heals of the story about the Rich Young Ruler, who in finding Jesus, was not willing to follow him and turned away from Jesus, grieved, because he was very Rich. You remember that Jesus commented that it was easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God. But now we have an example of a rich person who did in fact enter the kingdom of God. How did he do that? How did he do the impossible?

I. Up a Tree, vs. 3-

The story opens with Jesus entering the town. Incidentally, the verses just before this in chapter l8 tell us that a blind beggar was healed right outside the gate. That created no small stir. It says in l8:43 that he began following him, glorifying God and when all the people saw it, they gave praise to God. The news spreads, the crowd grows. Who is this Jesus anyway?

We know three things about Zacchaeus: he was rich, and he was small. We also know that he was unpopular; the Romans despised the collaborators whom they used; the Jewish zealots hated them and occasionally knifed them in a crowd. Zacchaeus would not casually enter a crowd like this. But the pull of curiosity brought him out.

But maybe it was more than just curiosity. We often do not admit even to ourselves our true motives for doing something. We can say, " I was just looking," or "just curious" and toss it off, but underneath we were not just looking, we were longing for something, or our curiosity is a guise for a deeper search. I have heard people say about coming to Church, "I was just curious about what goes on in there." Verse 3 says he was trying to see who Jesus was. Who he was? Was it important to see what he looked like? Who am I...is the question that Jesus' asks his disciples. Who do you say that I am? He, like the rich young ruler, is drawn to Jesus in some way, who is this man? It is also entirely possible that Matthew, one of Jesus' disciples who was also formerly a tax collector himself, knew Zacchaeus and Zacchaeus already had heard about Matthew's conversion. Who is this man who can cause one of my colleagues to turn his back on the money? Who is this Jewish rabbi that loves even tax collectors? Could he love me, the chief tax collector?

Often we have to overcome obstacles to get to Christ. It is not always easy for everyone. Zacchaeus was short and had to be rather aggressive and bold, to fight through the crowd, to swallow his pride - no dignified Jew would climb a tree to watch- and overcome his size. What keeps others of us from seeing Jesus? Perhaps an abusive father, we can't imagine God as father much less want to be called his son or daughter; perhaps either a sterile or too strict religious enforcement in the home that did not match the promises of new life in Christ, and so you are turned off and this hypocrisy is what you have to surmount to get a clear view of Christ; perhaps you have always thought the church was irrelevant to life and so by extension , Jesus- it prevents you from seeing him clearly; Or perhaps you have prayed and prayed about something extremely important to you, but it never happened the way you wanted, it now becomes hard to see Jesus through the disappointment in God. But to find out who he is means we have to get a clear shot at him, to get above the obscuring view of the crowd.

During the NBA playoffs, there are no free layups Back in the day of the Seattle Supersonics, I watched Gary Paton fast break down court, the ball was tossed to him. He beat his defender, it is a clear, easy layup, but the defender was right behind him, Payton could hear his steps, and knew that a foul was inevitable, he would be hit, probably from behind, it is called intimidation. He knew the hit was coming from somewhere, and flinched and missed the easy lay up and also the foul shot. Our adversary will try to never give us a clear look at Christ. There will be something to overcome to get to him. Bank on it.

A. Called him by name, vs. 5

Jesus comes along under the tree and looks up. No doubt people were pointing and laughing, jeering at this man dressed in the equivalent of a Brooks Brothers three-piece suit perched on a branch. Quite a spectacle. But Jesus didn't jeer. He calls him by name. Perhaps he divinely knew the name, like for Nathaniel, or people were shouting at him and he heard it, it doesn't really matter. But he gives the outcast a name. There is something personal and intimate about using a name. How do you feel when a salesperson or a bank teller looks on your card and says, "Have a good day Ruth"?- They don't know you, why use your name? It is one thing to call people names: jerk, stupid, fool, leper, or in our day, homeless, gay, redneck, nigger, airhead...but once we give a name the category becomes a person to us, an invitation is extended for personal encounter. Let's not talk about missionaries, let's talk about Kerls. Let's not talk about Korean orphans, let's talk about Karlee. Categories are impersonal, the name is invitational. And in fact Jesus knows our names, they are written in the book of life (Phil 4:3).

He calls to him, "Zacchaeus, hurry up, come down. Today I must stay at your house". This is the only incident in all of scripture where Jesus invites himself over for dinner. "Behold I stand at the door and knock, If any one opens to me, I will enter and sup with him and he with me. (Rev. 3:20). " It says that Zacchaeus complied and received him gladly.

Zacchaeus must be amazed. No good Jew would ever come into his house, but here is Jesus the center of the crowd's attention, offering, no, requesting, entrance. That this is true is revealed in the next verse: they grumbled. ”He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner."

How often this happens to Jesus! Prostitutes come and wipe his feet with their tears. He dines with whoever invites him. He is always in trouble with the establishment because of who he associates with. Yet as for Jesus, the Church is also the church of the outcasts. In many societies, such as in India, the first converts and even today the great majority of all Indian Christians are from the lower casts, the untouchable casts being the majority. The Body of Christ, his church, is for them, especially for them. He sends to the highways and the byways to compel them to come in. A church whose doors are closed to the outcasts is no church of Jesus Christ.

B. "I will give back"....

Some time must have passed. In verse 8 it says ,"he stood and said to the Lord...". Stood, obviously from sitting or reclining, as they would around the table. Food has been prepared, and that took some time. No easy micro wave lamb and lentil stew available. So we can imagine that Zacchaeus and Jesus and probably the disciples were there at table, and he stands to deliver this speech. And here is how a rich person gets into the kingdom of God.

"Half my possession I will give to the poor." If he had stopped there, that would be laudable. Charity and generosity are the hallmarks of the believer. Generosity to the poor is an Old Testament theme. Giving away half would be tremendous. That alone would indicate that he had relinquished inwardly his hold on his possessions, or conversely, they had relinquished their hold on him. But it would not be an admission of guilt or culpability, no confession of wrongdoing. He still may not have been converted. But look at what he offers to do.

Half his possession plus to all those he has defrauded, four times what he took.

He knows the Hebrew scriptures. Ex. 22 and Lev. 6 tell us that if a man steals something, then voluntarily confesses it and returns it, he should add l/5 of the value. If he is caught but can return it, then he should give double amount above the merchandise itself. If he is caught, but has already fenced it and it is no longer available, then four times the value. Zacchaeus doesn't quibble about which category he is in. He has been caught out by God, convicted by the words of Jesus, and so gives the maximum voluntarily, even cheerfully.

Now if you give away half to start with, then four times as much as you stole, how much does that leave you? I have to be careful of my math here. Not much anyway. It was more important for him to be right with God than to retain his assets.

C. Today Salvation has come....

It came not because he gave it away, but something happened to Zacchaeus himself. He gave himself away. He was not the same person. He is a new creature. And the proof was in the pudding.

What the Hebrew Scriptures taught was restitution in the case of material crime. The focus is on the victim first: the person has lost an ox or property or money due to fraudulent activity. The perpetrators must do more than just confess, or just take a few lashes, they must restore and beyond what they took. In our present day judicial system, this is often forgotten. When the verdict is guilty, there needs to be restitution and not just rehabilitation. In fact, true rehabilitation cannot take place without restitution. In fact, repentance without restitution is no true repentance.

The Hebrew scriptures also taught that the guilty persons themselves and for their sakes needed to restore what they had stolen. They need to earn right standing in the community again, they need to clear the debt, even if it meant selling oneself into servitude until the debt was paid off, they needed to this in order to regain their respect and credibility and honor once again. That is why retribution is certainly needed, but restitution is needed for the sake of both parties. The wrong must be corrected and the perpetrator must correct it.

Salvation has come, said Jesus, because he, Jesus, had some. He is Salvation. Zacchaeus is born again, he is changed by the power of the Spirit brought to him by the word of God which Jesus spoke. He desires the Kingdom more than riches, and so he may enter. That is how a rich person enters, when the kingdom of God, eternal life becomes the unquestioned highest priority in life. Jesus has brought to him a revolution of the soul.

The rich young ruler could have done the same, but did not. He should be grieved.

Jesus comes to seek the lost, certainly, but not just seek, his intent, his purpose, is to save those who are lost, who are outside the kingdom of God. He found Zacchaeus perched in a tree and called him by name, he came with joy, was redeemed and made a new person, proved it by the fruit he bore, and so has a place with Abraham in heaven.

For us too, that is the case. We are on precarious perches, many obstacles between us and Jesus, but he doesn't see you as a nameless face, a category, but as Paul, as Susan, or Jeff, and calls to you too, hurry up, come, I really have to live in you too.