Jesus consistently blows my mind. His responses to poor, sick, disabled and abused challenge me to my core and make me examine my heart daily; but today it’s His interactions with the rich and powerful that are astounding.
In Luke 10, Jesus is walking with His usual entourage of hundreds and He encounters the chief tax collector Zaccheaus.
Now, Jesus was a real guy. He grew up under the occupation of Roman soldiers who used torture, abuse, violence and other forms of oppression to regularly terrorize those they conquered. They kept control through public displays of violence and aggression including the crucifixion of hundreds of people at a time. They invented new ways to kill, slowly. We even have words that describe the anguish experienced during crucifixion like excruciating. On top of this the Romans collected revolution-worthy taxes by getting representatives of the oppressed to take the money from their own people.
Jesus probably saw men and women crucified. He most likely heard of children left as orphans as villages were burned by Romans expanding their kingdoms. He may have even seen Mary and Joseph counting out their meager income and giving most of it to greedy tax collectors. The Jesus of scripture knew what it was like to be one of “those people” from “that neighborhood” and feel powerless because those were His earthly family members and neighbors.
Zacchaeus
Now, enter Luke 10. Jesus doesn’t just come up to any tax collector but it’s a chief tax collector. He is a black american walking up with a crowd to someone directing and leading the Klu Klux Klan. He is a holocaust survivor walking up to an SS General. He is a Chinese father in Nanjing seeing a decorated Japanese General.
I believe He had every right to be angry. I believe He deserved to let Zacchaeus have it in front of EVERYONE. I believe Jesus could have gotten that crowd to string Zacchaeus up and take everything that he had.
But I am not Jesus.
Our God is a God of Love, Mercy and Grace – even in the darkest of offenses. Jesus did not slap Zacchaeus. He invited Himself over for dinner and probably told Zacchaeus about how much God loves him and just how much good he could do with all the money and power he had. He must have explained that the Kingdom of God had different rules and invited Zacchaeus to follow Him instead of Caesar as Lord and Savior. And Zacchaeus said “yes”.
Jesus did not try to jump Ciaphas when he left the temple late at night. Jesus didn’t put a hit out on Judas when He found out about the plot against Him. Jesus didn’t join Peter when he took up a sword and cut off the soldier’s ear. Jesus picked up the guy’s ear and put it back on his head.
Wait, did you read that? Peter tried to fight the soldiers that came to get Jesus. He struck one of them and cut his ear off. Jesus then, picked up the guy’s ear and put it back on his head. The guy’s name was Mathias.
And if that’s not enough – Jesus in front of Pontius Pilate doesn’t spit in his face and go Jack Bauer and kill him. He doesn’t have His crew swoop in at the last minute and He rides off on a donkey with Mary Magdalene until the next time duty calls.
Jesus forgives Zacchaeus, heals the soldier, has mercy on Judas, and holds His tongue with Pilate. Then as if that is not enough, He asks God to forgive ALL OF THEM as He is on the Cross because they didn’t know what they were doing.
Jesus didn’t just love the powerless, He loved the powerful. He didn’t just serve the poor, He served the rich. He didn’t just sit with the underprivileged, He sat among the privileged. Why? Because as the Son of God He was as rich, powerful and privileged as anyone could ever be! He could cross bridges from poverty to abundance and back because He had done it Himself.
I am in awe again at the love, grace and mercy of Jesus.
Father in Heaven, help us to love and serve those whom society places in the margins and in the middle. To seek and see those left out and those always picked first. Help me to love those who do and those who don’t love me. Amen!
How does the way Jesus treats Zacchaeus challenge you today in our culture? Leave a comment here
[This post was first published on Jonathan’s blog in June 2014]
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