Doing the Math
I love this story because it makes me think. But what I think about isn't the point of the story.
He entered Jericho and was passing through it. A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax-collector and was rich. He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, ‘Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.’ So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. All who saw it began to grumble and said, ‘He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.’ Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, ‘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.’ Then Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.’ - Luke 19:1-10
Zachaeus is a tax collector. Tax collectors are known to be thieves, demanding more from people than they owe in taxes.
Zachaeus is rich, so he does a really good job collecting taxes. Now when Jesus chooses to stay at his house, Zachaeus offers to give half of his possessions to the poor and repay four times what he defrauded or extorted from people.
How could he have anything left?
Either he couldn't have made all his money dishonestly, or he can't possibly pay back all he says he will pay.
Do you see why I have a problem with this story? I know what the point is. Jesus is here to save the lost, and though Zachaeus is lost, he is doing quite well for himself.
This may be the only rich man Jesus converts. He may be the one who represents the camel going through the eye of the needle.
Yet, I focus on the math. Maybe that is our problem sometimes. We let our minds take us off course because something doesn't play well with us.
If all I do is the math, I miss the message.
That's why we read these stories again and again.
More to come...