“Little man. Big tree. Jesus came to town. Zacchaeus came down. Everyone grumbled. The end.”
This opening line caught my attention when I came across this story written by Diane Ferreira, a Jewish believer in Yeshua, author, speaker, wife, mother, seminary student where she is currently pursuing her graduate degree in Jewish Studies. Diane writes and teaches from a unique perspective, bridging her Jewish heritage with vibrant faith in the Messiah to bring clarity, depth, and devotion to everyday believers. This story is always a favorite with children in Sunday School. Diane likes to set the records straight on who Zacchaeus really was to the Jews of his day. I will turn my blog over to her wonderful insight. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Diane continues:
It’s on of the most beloved stories in the Gospels, it has its own song, and it has been so thoroughly stripped of its original original scandal that most of us ave no idea what we’re actually reading.
So let’s fix that.
First, you need to understand who Zacchaeus Actually Was.
Luke introduces him in two sentences, and both of them would have made a first-century Jewish audience’s blood pressure spike.
“Yeshua entered Jericho and was passing through. And here was a man by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector, and he was rich; (Luke 19:1-2, TLV).
Chief tax collector. Rich.
In first-century Judea, those two facts together told you everything you needed to know about a person, and none of it was good.
Tax collectors in this era were Jews who had purchased the right to collect taxes on behalf of Rome. They were not government employees with a salary and a benefits package. They were contractors who paid Rome a fixed amount and then collected whatever they could squeeze out of their neighbors above that amount, keeping the difference as personal profit.
The system had no fixed rate, no oversight, and no accountability. It was institutionalized extortion with Roman soldiers available as backup if anyone got difficult about it.
And Zacchaeus was not just a tax collector… he was the chief tax collector. He ran the whole operation in Jericho, one of the wealthiest cities in the region, sitting on major trade routes where goods moved constantly, and every cart, every merchant, every transaction was an opportunity to take a cut.
His neighbors knew exactly how he had gotten rich. He had gotten rich by bleeding them.
The Jewish community considered tax collectors so compromised, so ceremonially and morally unclean, that they were grouped in religious literature alongside prostitutes. They were barred from giving testimony in court. They could not hold religious office.
In the eyes of their own community, they had forfeited their place among the people of God. They were traitors, collaborators, and thieves, all three at once, and Zacchaeus was the most successful one in town.
His name, incidentally, means pure or innocent. The irony was not lost on anyone.
What Yeshua Did Was Not “Wholesome”
Now read the passage again with all of that in your head.
“When Yeshua came to the place, He looked up and said to him, ‘Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today’” (Luke 19:5 TLV).
Yeshua didn’t stop and have a nice chat with Zacchaeus. He didn’t invite him to Sabbath services to hear more about repentance. He invited Himself to dinner.
In first-century Jewish culture, sharing a meal was not a casual social gesture. Table fellowship meant covenant relationship. It meant you were declaring this person acceptable, worthy of your company, someone with whom you were willing to be publicly associated with.
When you sat down to eat with someone, you were saying something to everyone watching about who that person was and what they were worth.
Yeshua looked at the most hated man in Jericho, the chief tax collector who has spent his career robbing his own people for Rome, and said publicly, in front of a crowd of people who had been waiting to see a miracle: I’m going to his house. Today.
The crowd’s reaction tells you everything. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To be continued in Part II next week. You won’t want to miss it!