Ash Wednesday and the Story of Zacchaeus

Scripture — Luke 19:5-17 (NRSV)

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.”

Devotion

Today is Ash Wednesday, the first day of the Christian season of Lent. I’d like to begin our Lenten devotions by focusing on one of my favorite stories in the gospels, the story of the tax collector, Zacchaeus. (Or as some of us once knew him, the “wee little man.”)

The story of Zacchaeus is a favorite of mine for many reasons. Perhaps of yours, too. When I was a boy, I loved it that Zacchaeus was short, like I was, and that he climbed trees, which was one of my favorite pastimes. (Only once did I fall out of a tree, thus requiring many stitches in my head.) Of course, when I was young, I wasn’t a tax collector, and I wasn’t rich. But I could relate to Zacchaeus in a way because I was like him. Yes, I was short and a tree climber. But I was also very curious about Jesus.

If you’re familiar with the account of Zacchaeus, you’ll remember that he lived in Jericho, where he collected taxes from folks who lived nearby. The fact that he was wealthy meant he had charged ample handling fees in addition to the basic taxes. This meant Zacchaeus was despised by his neighbors as a sell-out to the Roman government and someone who had taken advantage of them.

But, for some reason, Jesus was interested in Jesus. Since Zacchaeus was short, he couldn’t see Jesus pass by because a crowd was in the way. So, Zacchaeus climbed a tree to catch a peek at Jesus. When Jesus walked by, he spied Zacchaeus in the tree and called to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today” (19:5). Zacchaeus was thrilled to welcome Jesus. But his neighbors did not share Zacchaeus’s enthusiasm. They started to grumble, saying, “[Jesus] has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner” (19:7).

We don’t know exactly the nature of Zacchaeus’s sins, though it’s likely that they included “defrauding” people from whom he was collecting taxes (see 19:8). But the Jewish label “sinner” wasn’t used simply to identify people who did things contrary to the law. It was also a cultural slur, a way of saying that somebody was an outsider, someone who didn’t belong to the community of God’s holy people. Even though Zacchaeus was Jewish, his status as a sinner meant he was effectively cut off from his neighbors. Sinners like Zacchaeus didn’t belong. They weren’t welcome.

Though the rest of the story includes the good news of Zacchaeus’s repentance and Jesus’s announcement that “salvation” came to Zacchaeus’s house that day, I want to reflect a little longer on what it means to be a sinner. This reflection is particularly relevant on Ash Wednesday, since on this day of the year we focus in a particular way on our sinfulness. We remember that, because of sin, we who were created out of dust will return to dust. On Ash Wednesday, millions of Christians receive the imposition of ashes on their forehead, a stark visual reminder of their sinfulness and mortality . . . and therefore also their need for a Savior. Ashes are imposed in the form of a cross to signify that the curses of sin and death will be rectified through the crucifixion of Jesus. Thus, though we begin Lent with the bad news of our fallen human condition, even that news points ahead to the good news that is to come on Good Friday and Easter.

One of the things I love most about Ash Wednesday services is joining with other Christians to acknowledge publicly that we are sinful people worthy of death. After the ashes have been imposed, churches are full of people bearing visual witness to the fact that we are sinners. In this context, nobody accuses anyone else of being a sinner, as they once did to Zacchaeus. Why? Because we are all sinners.

Moreover, being a sinner doesn’t mean exclusion from the community of Christ. Rather, it’s a prerequisite to membership. As Jesus said after his encounter with Zacchaeus, “For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost” (19:10). You can replace “lost” with “sinners,” if you wish. Jesus came for sinners. Jesus came to save folks like Zacchaeus, me, and you.

We begin Lent with a recognition of our sinfulness and, therefore, our need for a Savior. And, with cross-shaped ashes to remind us, Jesus has come to save us from our sin, to bear our sin on the cross. Thus, as we take the bad news of our sin and mortality seriously, we anticipate the good news that is to come.

Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: Taxing Issues (Luke 19:1-10; 20:20-26).