Zacchaeus, Work, and Receiving Jesus

Scripture — Luke 19:1–10 (NRSV)

[Jesus] 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.”

Devotion

Many of you know the story of Zacchaeus; perhaps like me, you grew up singing about him. (Zacchaeus was a wee little man, and a wee little man was he.) It is often read as a story of conversion because the crowd identifies Zacchaeus as a sinner (19:7) and many English translations use the future tense for Zacchaeus’s response to Jesus. For example, the NRSV says, “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.” (19:8, emphasis mine).

There are many lessons that can be learned by reading the story this way, such as the truth that we are all sinners in need of God’s grace. But a case can be made to read this story, not as the conversion of Zacchaeus, but as his vindication as someone who already engaged in business practices that aligned with God’s kingdom.

First, it is important to remember that Zacchaeus is identified as a sinner by the crowd and not by Jesus or Luke. In contrast, Luke says that the crowd grumbles in response to Jesus’s decision to stay with Zacchaeus, echoing the actions of certain Pharisees, legal experts, and unfaithful Israel in the wilderness (Luke 15:2; Exod 15:24). Moreover, the crowds in Luke’s Gospel have not proven themselves to be reliable judges of character or identity (e. g., 3:7; 4:42; 5:19; 7:24; 9:18-19). Second, the language of repentance, turning, or conversion does not appear in the story. And third, in Greek, the verbs that Zacchaeus uses are in the present tense and not the future tense. In light of this evidence, the CEB offers a good translation: “Look, Lord, I give half of my possessions to the poor. And if I have cheated anyone, I repay them four times as much.”

Zacchaeus’ words, instead of indicating a change in practice, are pointing out his current business practices to Jesus, and suggesting that the crowd misunderstands his life and identity. In turn, Jesus’s declaration that Zacchaeus is a son of Abraham and that salvation has come to his house reveals that Zacchaeus has in fact oriented his life of work around the economy of the kingdom and seeks to heal the crowd of their blindness.

Reading the story in this way has big implications for our lives of work and leadership. Luke reminds us again that a key way we prepare to receive God’s salvation, that we prepare to receive Jesus into our lives and homes, is by orienting our work and leadership around practices of generosity, hospitality, and justice. Zacchaeus’s acts of almsgiving and economic restitution align him with the message of John the Baptist who warned the crowds not to trust in their Abrahamic lineage, but to practice generosity and restraint in their work lives (Luke 3:7-14). The story of Zacchaeus is one example of a leader who has resisted the temptation to build his future success and prosperity on the back of others, but instead seeks the best for those entrusted to his care.

Equally important is Zacchaeus’s role as a chief tax collector, placing him as someone who manages and leads other tax collectors in the area. His practice of restoring fourfold to any customer who was defrauded extends not only to him, but also to those who work for him. This would require creating organizational systems and structures that are open to criticism and responsive to the needs of constituents. Building teams, cultures, and systems that respond to mistakes with grace and restoration is the work of discipleship and prepares us to receive Jesus.

This story also shows that working according to the values of God’s kingdom will not always be apparent to those around us. Often, our practices will be hidden behind job titles or people’s negative assumptions against certain positions and jobs. But even if our communities misinterpret our work and motivations, we can be confident in the hope that Jesus sees our work, desires to call us children of Abraham, and will stay with us forever.

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).