Reign: Repentance
God’s Grace Precedes Repentance
Luke 19:1-10
Rev. Tim Callow
Preached Sun. Oct. 30th, 2022
Jesus says the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost. We may like to think of the lost as the people who fall through the cracks. Good, decent, people who fall on hard times and are forgotten by society. But for Jesus the lost are very visible, indeed. He counts among the ranks of the lost prostitutes. He seeks out Samaritans, and marvels at the faith of powerful gentiles. He also regards tax collectors as among the ranks of the lost. Even the chief tax collectors, those who benefit most from their unseemly dealings.
When we think of tax collectors in Jesus’ day we shouldn’t think of the IRS. These aren’t government bureaucrats. Ancient states, like Herod’s Judea or Tiberius’ Rome, relied on tax revenue (and tribute) to keep afloat as any state does. But they lacked the power of modern states. The IRS can do audits because the records at least ought to exist. Zacchaeus was never going to threaten someone with an audit, though he could call the soldiers in. Instead ancient states would farm out their tax collection to individuals whose job was to go door to door, homestead to homestead, village to village, and demand taxes in the name of the sovereign.
Zacchaeus would have been loathed for three reasons. First, no one likes to pay taxes. I’d say that’s a constant throughout history. Second, tax collectors were believed to skim off the top. King Herod might demand so much money from the tax collector, but the average peasant has no idea what is required. So the tax collector would defraud the peasant by asking for more money than was required and living well off of the surplus. But third, finally, and perhaps most importantly, tax collectors like Zacchaeus were thought to be collaborators with their imperial oppressors. They benefit from working for King Herod, who himself benefited from being a friend to Caesar. And money collected in taxes was also money given in tribute to Rome.
No wonder, then, tax collectors like Zacchaeus were regarded as sinners. Literal outcasts. Despised. Hated. But Jesus regards Zacchaeus as simply lost. And makes it his mission to seek him out, and save him.
We’re told Jesus was passing through Jericho, the hometown of Zacchaeus. A man who was not merely a tax collector, but chief of the tax collectors! And rich. Zacchaeus heard about Jesus, a charismatic preacher able to produce miracles, and wanted to see him. But someone was too short. Traditionally we think Zacchaeus was too short, a wee little man was he. But in truth the story is vague. Jesus might have been the short one! In either case Zacchaeus can’t see through the crowds and climbs up a sycamore tree.
While Zacchaeus is hanging out in the tree like some child Jesus looks up and notices him. “Zacchaeus,” Jesus says, “hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.” I’ve read some people suspect Jesus knew who Zacchaeus was because of his supernatural knowledge. But I prefer to believe Jesus knows who Zacchaeus is because he’s the chief tax collector, and Jesus is known to hang out with his underlings.
Zacchaeus is overjoyed by Jesus’ overture, and hurries down the tree to invite him into his home. At this point the crowds grumble. Why is Jesus going to a sinner’s house? Doesn’t Jesus know what kind of a despicable man Zacchaeus is? How he defrauds the people of Jericho, how he benefits from the unjust and cruel rule of Herod, how he’s a collaborator with Rome?
But here’s the astonishing thing, while everyone outside is grumbling about how much of a sinner Zacchaeus is, inside Zacchaeus is joyfully repenting. "Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.” In giving to the poor he is following the command Jesus gave to the rich young ruler, the command the ruler couldn’t follow because he was too much in love with his possessions. In saying he will pay back four times as much to anyone he has defrauded he is saying he will follow the mosaic law on the matter, which does indeed demand that four times the amount be paid back.
What an astonishing reversal! The man who was widely regarded to be a miserable sinner, the sort no one of good taste should ever hang out with, is now showing himself to be a man of righteousness. In the joyful presence of Jesus he is joyfully repenting of all wrongdoing, and showing himself to be, indeed, “a son of Abraham.” And so Jesus says, “salvation has come to this house.”
This account tells us something about the nature of repentance. We tend to think of repentance being a matter of remorse, of tears, something that only comes about by great suffering. And while Zacchaeus is certainly pledging to give up a lot of money, at great cost to his own livelihood, he does not repent through tears. Though, perhaps, tears of joy. There is a repentance that is born out of suffering, but there is also a repentance that is born out of joy. Zacchaeus is an example of the latter.
Jesus seeks Zacchaeus out. He invites himself to dinner. Zacchaeus stands in the presence of the Lord, in the presence of God almighty. He perceives, there, in that moment, the awesome glory of God. The glory for which we are created. He knows his soul filled. He knows the grace of God’s presence. Being given such a gift, knowing such grace, what can he do but repent? Must such meager things as money just melt away in such an awesome presence?
Zacchaeus reminds us that before repentance, at all times, comes the grace of God that calls us joyfully into the presence of God. That presence for which we were created, the presence which alone satiates the hunger of our soul. And when we know that presence, sin itself is seen as the shadow, the emptiness, the nothingness that it really is. The lost Zacchaeus, known as a sinner for miles around, repents by the grace of God. He puts away all he thought mattered, for the sake of what truly matters.