THE GOSPEL OF LUKE: - Vital Christianity

208THE DISAPPROVAL OF THE CROWD (19:7)The crowd disapproved. All the people who saw this began to “mutter, “He has gone tobe the guest of a sinner” (v. 7). They condemned Zacchaeus out of hand as a sinner and criticizedJesus for being the guest of such a man.To finance their great world empire, the Romans levied heavy taxes on all nations undertheir control. The Jews opposed these taxes because they supported a secular government and itspagan gods, but they were still forced to pay. Tax collectors were among the most unpopularpeople in Israel. Jews by birth, they chose to work for Rome and were considered traitors.Besides, it was common knowledge that tax collectors were making themselves rich by gougingtheir fellow Jews.No wonder the people muttered when Jesus went home with the “sinner” Zacchaeus. It isnot unlikely that this person was a Jew by birth (v. 9), but because he had engaged in a businessconsidered infamous, in the eyes of the Jews, he was considered as a mere sinner or heathen (v.7). But despite the fact that Zacchaeus was both a cheater and a turncoat, Jesus loved him; andin response, the little tax collector was converted.RESTITUTION (19:8)Once at the house, Zacchaeus says to Jesus, “Lord, Lord! Here and now I give half of mypossessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back fourtimes the amount” (v. 8). A fourfold restitution to any he had defrauded. This is almost theextreme repayment required under the law in case of theft (Ex 22:1; 2 Sa 12:4-6; Pr 6:30-31).SALVATION (19:9-10)Then Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too,is a son of Abraham” (v. 9). Jesus assured Zacchaeus, the crook, that he was a true Jew–notonly of the lineage of Abraham but one who also walks “in the footsteps” of Abraham’s faith.Paul explained to the Christians in Rome:“And he [Abraham] is also the father of the circumcision who not only arecircumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our fatherAbraham had before he was circumcised” (Ro 4:12).