Short King in a tree
Jesus was invited to a lot of parties but one of my favorite party stories comes in Luke 19, where Jesus unceremoniously invites himself to a party.
As the story goes, Jesus has just arrived at the town of Jericho where a man named Zacchaeus lived. Zacchaeus was a tax collector, in charge of other tax collectors, which meant he was very wealthy. Luke also tells us that Zacchaeus was a bit of a short king and needed to climb a tree to see Jesus on the road (I’m not sure why Luke includes this detail, but I’m so glad he did). While walking on the road, Jesus saw Zacchaeus and said, “Zacchaeus, come down at once. I must stay in your home today.” Zacchaeus was happy to oblige (Luke 19:6) but the crowd, upon witnessing these events, “grumbled, saying, ‘He has gone to be the guest of a sinner’” (Luke 19:7).
Tax Collectors
Tax collectors worked for Rome and oversaw the taxation of occupied peoples. They were considered traitors and conspirators who had turned against their neighbors for profit. It was a rough job, but it had benefits because tax collectors could siphon a percentage of revenue for themselves. This was how tax collectors were paid. It was a little nefarious but technically legal which is why people hated them. Zacchaeus however wasn’t an ordinary tax collector; he was over other tax collectors making him the little point of a very profitable pyramid scheme.
Tax collectors were reviled by their Jewish neighbors, but I want to add a little nuance to our understanding. When we talk about tax collectors, we often envision scummy, greasy, underworld characters. But tax collectors operated within the law and were government employees. Their income seems strange but isn’t much different than being paid on commission or receiving a bonus if you saved the company money. Tax collectors probably believed they were preforming an important service. Taxes paid for things like roads and waters and their small percentage enabled them to continue their work of enabling those services. That's why I love tax collectors in the Biblical story, they are relatable. Which is also what makes Zacchaeus transformation so challenging.
Luke doesn’t include many details about Zacchaeus’s party. It’s a hastily thrown together event in response to Jesus’ abrupt self-invite. But something happens around Zacchaeus’s table that leads him to stand up and say,
“Look, Lord! Here and now, I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount” (Luke 19:8 NIV).
At the party, Zacchaeus encountered a kind of abundance that challenged his wealth, privilege, and power. At the table with Jesus, Zacchaeus was transformed.
Transformative Parties
The gospel is a party that transforms us. We experience the generosity of Jesus, his gift of himself, and we become generous. We encounter his love and learn to love ourselves and others. Jesus confronts the ways we exclude, hide, and isolate from others. He challenges our privilege, power, and fear of others. But then, and always, he offers us a home. In fact, the challenge and the invitation are one in the same. As Paul once wrote, it is the kindness of God that leads us to repentance (Rom 2:4). Repentance means to “turn,” to think differently, to come home. Like the younger brother on the road or the older in the field, it is the father’s goodness and abundance that leads to homecomings.
Zacchaeus experienced the goodness of Jesus’ table and was transformed by it. He laid down his privilege and wealth, acknowledged unjust business practices, and sought repair. Zacchaeus chose to give away half of his possessions and pay back to all he had taken from “four times the amount” he stole. That is no small feat. As the head of tax collectors, Zacchaeus could of been talking about thousands of people. He is like a one-man government issuing reparations to the occupied peoples of Jericho. What a transformation. Zacchaeus sees and acknowledges his sin, the ways he’s exploited and horded and the ways his wealth and privilege have excluded others from the table, and in response throws a party of repair and restitution.
The gospel confronts us and transforms us and like Zacchaeus, invites us to participate in the ongoing transformative, healing work of Jesus. Henri Nouwen, in his book about the prodigal son wrote,
“I now see that the hands that forgive, console, heal, and offer a festive meal must become my own.”[1]
Jesus is inviting each one of us to become like him; party hosts, party goers, and party crashers who extend his healing, consoling, forgiving meal to others. In our transformation we become participants in his transforming work.
This blog is an excerpt from my forthcoming book, Prodigal Gospel: Getting Lost and Found Again in the Good News.
