Long Night's Journey into Day Pt. 1-Luke 19:1-10

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth; 
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day! 
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference. 

This famous poem by the great Robert Frost makes the case that to experience the best that life has to offer, one must be willingly to courageously traverse previously uncharted territory. This theme is accentuated in life experience and permeates the Scripture in phrases like “narrow is the way to life and few who find it.” Jesus Himself also seems to play upon this theme in the unusual way that He provided salvation. By taking the road less traveled in His own ministry, Jesus set’s Himself apart from every other presumed deity, carved idol, and false god. This new series will journey with Christ in His last days, following His every turn on the road to Calvary, the grave, and beyond, demonstrating that His unusual trek into previously unchartered territory makes all the difference for those who believe in Him.

The first leg of our long night's journey into day involves Jesus’ interaction with a chief tax collector. At the end of His ministry, Jesus, unlike anyone before Him, travels on the much avoided street to Zaccheus’ house in order to demonstrate His purpose for coming to the world in the first place. Join us as we pass three checkpoints on Zaccheus’ street from Luke 19:1-10.

I. CHECKPOINT #1: A SMALL MAN IN A LARGE CROWD-19:1-4

The story of Zaccheus together with the parable of the ten minas bring Jesus’ final journey to Jerusalem to a close in the gospel of Luke. Jesus has been making His way to Jerusalem for some time now for the Passover Festival. As a good Jew, Jesus made His pilgrimage to the holy city to participate in the celebration as he had twice before; however, this time would be His last. The sun is setting on His earthly ministry, rendering His personal ministerial choices highly suspect for large amounts of foreshadowing. Making His way to Jerusalem, Jesus is now passing through Jericho, 13miles to the northeast of His destination.

With the setting established, Luke introduces the readers to a unique character, Zaccheus. He is the first checkpoint on this particular leg of our journey to Calvary and beyond. The text describes this man in two ways, “and there was a man called by the name Zaccheus, he was a chief tax collector and he was rich” (19:2). Luke more than any other gospel  is interested in those who were normally outcasts in Jewish society. This includes gentiles (2:32), moral outcasts (7:36-50), social outcasts (19:1-10), and the economically deprived (14:12-14)(perhaps this is why this account is only given in this gospel). Therefore, this short introduction establishes Zaccheus as the ultimate of Israel’s outcasts as he is not just a hated tax collector (and outcast himself), but a chief tax collector, who made outcast of others by robbing them of their own fortunes.

Both the Romans and Jewish local authorities required taxes of first century Jews. These taxes required the employment of individuals that managed the collectors who retrieved the funds from individual residing in Rome. Jewish tax collectors were viewed as traitors because they took the money from the Jews and handed it over to their perceived oppressors (Rome). Zaccheus was one of these managers, and a fairly significant one at that. His unique title “chief tax collector” suggests that Zaccheus may have been given charge over a greater region than normal or that he was a director over other tax collectors.

This is the first strike against Zaccheus. The second is his financial standing. Zaccheus is “rich.” This is especially damning in the context of the first century as many people were not well off and in desperate need. Many of the rich during this time were perceived as being crooked or deceptive—especially tax collectors (one perceived cause of poverty).

All of these contributing factors would have made Zaccheus one of the most unpopular individuals in his region. The road leading to his home was never frequented by guests, friends, or even family. Aside from messengers and servants, no one turned on Zaccheus’ street!

To complete the image of this unique character, Luke describes his physical stature, “Zaccheus was trying to see who Jesus was, and was unable because of the crowd, for he was small in stature” (19:3). Though a powerful man would have enjoyed a commanding presence before others, to his embarrassment, Zaccheus was a little man in a big crowd.

Jesus had gained a large following up to this point in His ministry. His growing popularity along with the upcoming Passover celebration would have made the crowd that now surrounded Him massive. No doubt, no one would have been sympathetic to his requests to stand in front so that he could catch a glimpse of Jesus. 

Taking matters into his own hands, Zaccheus runs ahead of the crowd and scales a tree to improve his perspective, “so he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree in order to see Him, for He was about to pass through that way” (19:4). In so doing, Zaccheus breaks convention and participates in two activities you never would have seen a rich man perform in the first century—running and tree climbing. It is clear that Zaccheus really wants to see this man that has become the talk of Jericho and every other neighboring township and the low-lying branches of this oak-like tree would have provided Zaccheus with the easy access he wanted to catch his glimpse of Jesus. 

Regardless of his motivation at this point, Zaccheus was seeking Jesus and there could be only one result.

II. CHECKPOINT#2: A REQUEST FOR UNUSUAL LODGING-19:5-7

With Zaccheus now precariously perched in the branches of the sycamore, Luke proceeds to take the reader to the next checkpoint. This checkpoint is not so much seen as it is heard. “When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, ‘Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house’” (19:5). Literally, Jesus’ unusual request would have been more forceful, “come down in a hurry!” the implication being, “there is no time to lose.” Truly, the situation as Luke describes it implies, whether Zaccheus realized it or not, that Jesus knew this interaction would have taken place way before Zaccheus decided to make his attempt to see Jesus that morning.  Jesus comes right up to the very tree upon which Zaccheus is perched and calls Him of all people down, requesting him as a host.

When everyone else ignored him, Jesus not only speaks to Zaccheus, He chooses to make the house of this unclean man his rest stop!

Two things happen as a result of Jesus’ unusual request. First, Zaccheus responds with immediate and exact obedience. Even further, he obeys with a grin on his face, “…And he hurried and came down and received Him gladly…” (19:6). This eager and joyful response to the totally unexpected events is understandable when one remembers how much company Zaccheus had been enjoying up to this point,…um…none! No self-respecting Jew would have anything to do with him. None would greet him or extend the basic courtesies, much less offer warmth and friendship. Then along comes the man he hoped to see, declaring in front of everyone that He is going to spend time with him! This grace extended to Zaccheus, undeserved and far beyond anyone’s comprehension, is received with joy and excitement.

The second response to Jesus’ request is from the crowd. The unfolding events surrounding Jesus’ question for unusual lodging sent shockwaves through the masses around Him and caused a negative stirring. “When they saw it, they all began to grumble, saying, ‘He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner’…” (19:7).

Simply speaking to such a hated figure in this region would have been anathema. However, participating in table fellowship with a notorious sinner like Zaccheus would have been beyond belief. Eating and lodging with someone in the ancient world carried great social significance. In fact, for a religious-minded Jew to eat with someone like this chief tax collector would have brought ceremonial defilement as well as social ostracism. But, let’s face it, when has that ever stopped Jesus?

III. CHECKPOINT#3: A GIFT FOR AN UNWORTHY RECIPIENT-19:8-10

Having passed checkpoints 1 and 2, Luke ushers the reader to the final checkpoint in this leg of Jesus’ journey. At this checkpoint, we witness a gift for an unworthy recipient. However, Luke does not disclose at which point the gift is actually bestowed on our small sinner. Instead, we are immediately thrust into the effects of the gift.  Once at Zaccheus house, the chief tax collector states, “Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much…” (19:8). What a transformation from his former practices of corruption, greed, and selfishness! Zaccheus, it would seem, is a changed man as demonstrated by his resolution.

Almsgiving was a sign of piety in ancient Judaism. However, even in charity, rabbis considered it unwise to give away more than twenty percent of one’s goods, lest one become a burden themselves. Here, Zaccheus takes the overwhelming step of giving away half of everything he owns! Also, Zaccheus takes the unprecedented step of promising restitution for his wrongful apprehension of funds fourfold! Normal restitution according to the Old Testament for a wrong committed was to add one-fifth or 20 percent to the value of the goods lost.

What has Zaccheus so charitable all of a sudden? What has he hit his head on to make these promises? What has so affected his life that he would be transformed so radically? The answer is simple, a gift called salvation.

Jesus says “Today salvation has come to this house, because he too, is a son of Abraham” (19:9). Grace has made the difference in Zaccheus’ life, the grace of a Savior who freely gives salvation to those who do not deserve it. Nowhere is this witnessed so acutely than here (at least in Luke). Many commentators consider this passage to be the most epitomizing episode in all of Luke’s writing. The most hated, most crooked, most neglected character in all of Luke’s gospel is given the greatest possible gift. He who was an outcast and a traitor, Jesus Himself says is now a son of Abraham (that is, in the truest spiritual sense).

But why? “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost” (19:10). It is Jesus’ expressed purpose for coming to the world in the first place to seek out the lost and provide them with salvation (undeserved, and unmerited). Where better to demonstrate this purpose on His way to the cross than on Zaccheus’ street in the estate of one of the most infamous sinners described in the New Testament?

So What?

In Luke 19:1-10, Jesus took the road less traveled, Zaccheus’ street, and it made all of the difference for this chief tax collector. The checkpoints along the way, the small man in the large crowd, the request for unusual lodging, and the gift to an undeserving recipient work to demonstrate that Jesus’ purpose for coming to the earth was so that He might seek and save the lost through grace. This radical notion in and of itself is a road less traveled as all other deities and worldly religious fabrications demand works of some kind in exchange for rescuing.

Truly, Zaccheus’ story is emblematic of all who enjoy salvation. We all are wicked sinners in the large crowd of this world that for the most part ignores our needs and gets in the way of the truth of Jesus Christ. Praise be to God that Jesus took the road less traveled for you and for me. The Bible promises that those who seek the Lord, much as Zaccheus did by running ahead and scaling a tree, will find Him and the grace that He wants to bring, regardless of how much sense it makes.

Matthew 7:7-8-“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you”

Matthew 6:33 – “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

However, for those who have already been given so much, what evidence is there for your radical transformation? Hitting your head: A confrontation with God’s overwhelming grace renders someone eternally changed into a new creature. Hitting your heart: A confrontation with God’s overwhelming grace leads to a change of heart toward others. Hitting your walk: A confrontation with God’s overwhelming grace leads to demonstrations of godliness that involve your hands, move your feet, open your wallet, share your belongings, change your perspective, and put words in your mouth that need to be spoken. Quit living alone and let God take up residence in you.