Like with every other situation, this is not a new problem. Go all the way back to Jesus’ ministry and you’ll observe that He dealt with people who had made it. One in particular was a guy named Zacchaeus. His story is told here inLuke 19:1-10.
Most of us are familiar with this story, having learned it in Sunday School when we were but children. Remember the little ditty we sang?
Zacchaeus was a wee little man; a wee little man was he.
He climbed up in a sycamore tree, For the Lord he wanted to see, for the Lord he wanted to see.Advertisement
Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem and passed through the city of Jericho. It was, and still is, a resort town located slightly to the northwest of the Dead Sea, a few miles west of the Jordan River, and about 20 miles east of Jerusalem. It served as the winter capital for King Herod. A very important city, Jericho was the gateway for Judea’s eastern trade. It was also the hub of an extraordinarily bountiful agricultural region, well-known for its palm and balsam groves. All of this imparted plentiful opportunities for whomever the “chief tax collector” was to enrich himself.
Enter a “wee little man” who lived there. Zacchaeus, whose name meant the “righteous one” or “pure one,” wasn’t so righteous and pure. He had sold out to the Romans by becoming a tax collector – tax collecting being the most despised profession of the day, making tax collectors the most unloved people. And Zacchaeus was that “chief tax collector,” supervising the other IRS agents in the district. And he certainly enriched himself as the text indicates. In all likelihood he owned the finest home in the city.
Here’s a guy in the first century who had made it. He had money, position, and power. He might have been included in Herod’s list of “The 400 Richest and Most Influential People in Judea.” So why was this not so righteous and not so pure one up in a tree? I realize those who’ve made it can do whatever they want to do – even be weird if they so choose. If you don’t believe that then watch the Academy Awards on March 5.
It’s obvious in reading this text that Zacchaeus was shut out and lonely. Being a short fellow, he had to climb up in a tree to see anything of significance – especially a parade. Like everybody else, he had heard of Jesus and certainly he wanted to see Him. But why? Why would a guy who’s made it – Luke emphatically points out that he “was rich” (v. 2b) – want to see Jesus, a guy who hadn’t made it in the eyes of the world? Maybe Zacchaeus was up in that tree so he could glance at salvation because he knew deep down that he was going through life with nothing – absolutely nothing. He knew that even though he had made it, he really hadn’t made it.