Zacchaeus

Zacchaeus was an outcast. He was a tax collector, (the chief tax collector), which meant that he was hated by the Jews. Though a fellow Jew himself, his job was to extract the oppressive taxes demanded by the Roman government from his own people. Tax collectors were notorious for taking more than what was owed an d pocketing the difference. He would have been seen as a thief and a sell-out, thus his designation as an outcast. Outcasts typically responded well to Jesus, but rich people did not. Zacchaeus was very wealthy. But he responded with genuine repentance, offering to restore four times what he had taken from others. The Old Testament law required restitution of only an additional 20%, so this was radical repentance!

While Zacchaeus listened amongst the crowd, Jesus told the parable of the ten servants, also known as the ten minas in some translations. This illustration reminds me of the parable of the shrewd manager who commended the dishonest servant, in that jesus uses a very flawed character to illustrate His point. The objective of the story was to communicate that Jesus' kingdom would not appear immediately, as most assumed. The Jews, Even His disciples were expecting an immediate, earthly kingdom, as evidenced by the request of the sons of Zebedee to occupy the thrones at His right and left.

Since the "master" was going away for a while, his servants were asked to "put his money to work" in his absence. Each was given the same amount, unlike the parable of the talents wherein each servant was given a different amount of money to invest. The parallel is that we, as Jesus' servants, are each given one life to invest on His behalf. When He returns, we'll have to give an account for what we did with our opportunity. Did we use our time, talents, and resources wisely? The servant who did nothing with his mina (an increment of money) displeased the master, who took away his mina and gave it to the servant who had gained the greatest return on his investment. When this logic was criticized, it was explained that to those who have been good stewards, more will be given, and to those who have not, what they have will be taken away. The master is described as a "hard man, taking in what he did not reap or sow". He is meant to be the parallel to Jesus in the story, and though we would not characterize Him as such, the point is that the servants should have feared His reaction and behaved accordingly. Do we fear God really? Do we fear His reaction when we stand before Him to give an account for our time spent on earth? We are here to work for Him in His absence...

Tomorrow's reading: Mark 14:3-9, 11:1-11; Matt. 26:6-13, 21:1-11; Luke 19:28-44; John 12:12-36