Why Zacchaeus isn't just for children

An impromptu retelling of the story of Zacchaeus to our mums and toddlers group sent me back to my Bible to check whether my version (with cuddly toy chief tax- collector) was anything like Luke’s. As I re-read the passage I was reminded of what a truly great story it is – and not just for the kids.

Too small to see
Children of course can identify with Zacchaeus; they know what it’s like to be too little to see what’s going on, to have to stand on tip-toe; to wriggle to the front of the crowd. But we adults also know that feeling of being at the edge of the party, of being an outsider, of not being able to get a clear view. Zacchaeus wants to see Jesus but, as verse three tells us, he can’t - partly because of the crowd but also ‘because he was short in stature’. If we think about what obscures our own vision of Jesus we might usefully reflect on the tendency most of us have to ‘blame’ external factors rather than to look within to those things, such as embarrassment or pride, which limit or blinker our sight.

But not too timid to act
Zacchaeus, as a chief tax-collector, wasn’t just on the edge of the crowd because he was small; he was also hated. It’s hard for us to get the full impact of just how despised he would have been. Luke is emphasising in this story, as he has throughout his Gospel, that Jesus brings a radical new deal for the ‘lost’; outsiders are shown to be inside God’s community. We don’t know why the loathed tax collector wanted to see Jesus, but we must assume that it was more than curiosity that took him into the midst of the hostile crowd. His determination is striking, but even more striking is the indignity he is prepared to suffer to catch a glimpse of Jesus (he exposes himself to ridicule by running ahead of the crowd and then of course climbs the tree).  There’s something to be said for this kind of fool-hardiness – so often our fear of exposure, our anxiety about what others might think, stops us from acting on our instincts and we just live politely with the status-quo. But Zacchaeus wasn’t too scared to act - and up the tree he went.

And not lost in the crowd
 So Zacchaeus has made his move and waits for Jesus. But the heart of the story, its punch-line, if you like, is that Jesus is on the look out for him (we can imagine Jesus scanning the edge of the crowd, eyes peeled for outsiders) and when he spots Zacchaeus he calls to him by name and invites himself to this sinner’s house. Jesus’ extravagant gesture of welcome and inclusion is met by the little man’s extravagant repentance (Danny DeVito would surely get the film part) and in the background the disapproving crowd grumbles and tuts.

Finally…
It’s worth thinking about who we identify with in this story. Its message for those in the crowd is as poignant as it is for those on the edge. There is also an urgency about the way the story is told (‘hurry and come down’) – the offer of new life in Jesus is a call to action.

Becky Bevan is curate at St Mary’s, Thatcham