A Vow Under A Bough

(The following is what I shared with our local congregation.)

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This is Labor Day weekend, for Labor Day is this coming Monday. This holiday celebrates the work force in our nation. Are you happy in your work? Or are you happy that you don’t have to work on Monday?

There is a man in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, that his job is to replace light bulbs. He only has to do it twice a year. But he is paid $20,000 every time he replaced a light bulb. Do like that job? The light bulbs that he replaces are on top of 1500 feet tower (as tall as Willis Tower in Chicago), that he has to climb manually with minimal safety harness (photo below). It usually takes him 2 and a half hours just to climb to the top of the tower, and sometimes with 60 miles/hour wind howling at him while he make his ascent. Do you still like that job?

Our Bible story for today is about a man who has a job that people hates, and he also did some climbing, but not in a tower. Let’s open to Luke 19: 1-10.

Then Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. ² Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. ³ And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature. ⁴ So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was going to pass that way. ⁵ And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to him, “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” ⁶ So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully. ⁷ But when they saw it, they all complained, saying, “He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner.”

⁸ Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.”

⁹ And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; ¹⁰ for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

Small Man, Huge Yearning

Jesus was passing through Jericho which is one of the oldest inhabited city in the world. There is a spring there, called “Elisha’s Spring” up to this day, which makes this city an oasis in the middle of Judean dessert. It is considered a winter resort city as Herod the Great built a vacation palace there. This was the last time Jesus would pass through Jericho as he travels to Jerusalem where he would be arrested and crucified.

We are introduced to this man whose name was Zaccheus. Zaccheus is a Greek version of a Hebrew name that is derived from 2 words: zakah and Yah. Zakah in Hebrew means “pure” or “innocent.” Yah is shortened for Yahweh. So his name means “pure like God.” Remember the beatitude: “Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.”

But this man Zaccheus was not living up to his name. In fact, he was the exact opposite of his name.

Zaccheus is a tax collector. Tax collectors, also called publicans, are Jews who are employed by the Romans to collect money from their own people. They don’t get a fix salary, but instead they get a commission from how much taxes they collected. This system is open for blatant corruption. What the tax collector say you owe in taxes is the final verdict. There is no arbitration. And these publicans have the Roman soldiers at their disposal for those who refuse to pay or those who will argue with them.

The reason the tax collectors are so hated is because they collect money for an oppressive Roman government, so they are deemed as traitors. Plus, they are dishonest and use the tax system to fatten their own pockets. That is why tax collectors and sinners, most of the time are mentioned in the same breath.

But Zaccheus is not an ordinary tax collector. He is the chief tax collector in Jericho. This is a very lucrative position. Jericho is a city at the crossroad of ancient Middle Eastern trade routes. Merchant travelers from Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Mediterranean coastal region pass through Jericho. A lot of money flows through Jericho. A tax collector in Jericho makes a ton of money. Much more if you are the chief of all the tax collectors in Jericho. So even before Zaccheus climbed the sycamore tree, he already climbed up to the top of the social ladder.

The Bible describes Zaccheus as rich. He was filthy rich. He got rich from other people’s money.

Yet despite of his high position, and despite of his wealth, Zaccheus was lonely. He has no friends. No one wants to hang around with him. No body really cares for him. Because of his feelings of emptiness, Zaccheus was searching.

Then he heard about Jesus. He heard about this Rabbi from Galilee who has this revolutionary teachings and drawing people to him. He heard on how he was performing miracles, making blind men see, deaf people hear, lame people walk, and leprous people clean. He also heard that he made one tax collector like him, named Matthew, as one of his disciples.

He has heard that Jesus told a parable about the Pharisee and the Publican who both went to the temple. The Pharisee prayed proudly that he gives tithe faithfully and fasts regularly, and thank God that he was not like the Publican, while the Publican silently beat his chest and asked God to be merciful to him as he was a sinner. And Jesus said that God heard the Publican’s prayer more than that of the Pharisee. Zaccheus thought, maybe God would hear his prayers too.

Zaccheus also heard that this Jesus mingles with the outcasts, the prostitutes, the tax collectors, and sinners like him. Maybe there is hope for him too.

And he heard that this Jesus is passing through Jericho. Today. He need to see this Jesus. He must see this Jesus.

But there is one problem. He is short.

According to anthropologist, based on skeletal records, the average height of males in Judea during Jesus’ time is estimated to be around 5’1″ to 5’5″. That is relatively short if we think about it, right?

I considered myself tall when I was in the Philippines, as the average height for a Filipino male is 5’4″, and I’m 5’8″. However when I migrated to the US, I am considered short, as the average height of American male is 5’9″. One time I was rounding in the hospital and my medical resident was 6’10” and my medical student was 6’3”. I have to crank my neck to talk to them. But the nurses and the patients knew who was in-charge and giving orders to these tall doctors-in-training: this short Filipino guy.

For Zaccheus to be described as short by Luke, who by the way is a physician, he must be at least 2 standard deviation below normal. I believe Zaccheus is way under 5 feet. Yet it is not our height that is important, for all are equal when we are standing at the foot of the cross.

Maybe Zaccheus was not too small. Maybe it was the crowd who were too tall. The crowd was preventing Zaccheus to see Jesus.

There’s always a crowd around Jesus preventing people to get to him. Remember the paralyzed man carried by his four friends, that they have to go through the roof. The woman who was bleeding, that she had to fight and claw her way through the crowd to touch just even the edge of Jesus’ robe. And Bartimaeus who was also in Jericho, he had to shout and call above the noise of the crowd for Jesus to hear him.

Are we the crowd around Jesus preventing other people to come to Him? If we look deeply, individuals in our churches will leave the church not because of Jesus, nor due our teachings or doctrines, nor because our church pews are ugly or our church buildings are awful. People are turned away because of hurtful people inside the church who professed to be followers of Jesus. God have mercy!

Meetup At the Tree

In order for Zaccheus to see Jesus, he had to get to a good vantage point, and the sycamore tree provided that opportunity. The tree is actually a sycamore fig tree, scientific name: Ficus sycomorus. A sycamore fig tree is a very sturdy tree that grows to 30-40 feet. It had short trunk and spreading branches. It bore a fig-like fruit and was good for timber. Amos, the prophet, tended sycamore fig trees (read Amos 7:14).

If you visit Jericho today, there is a sycamore tree in the center of the city, that is called Tree of Zaccheus. It towers 60 feet high with giant trunk and bough, and our tour guide pointed out this tree to us when we visited Jericho a few years ago. Though It cannot be ascertained if this was really the tree Zaccheus climbed, but this tree was dated more than 2000 years old (photo below). If only that tree can talk, it must have a compelling story, don’t you think?

In my home church in the Philippines, there was a Plumeria tree, called Kalachuchi in our language, whose flowers they say are flowers for the dead. It was in front of the church, and it was easy to climb, so we kids were always climbing that tree, and it did not matter if we were in our church clothes. One afternoon after church service, me and my 2 friends were on top of that tree and were laughing and having fun. A man passed by underneath the tree and called us and wanted us to come down. But he was not happy. He was angry. Why? Because we naughty boys teased her daughter so bad that she ended up crying. No, I did not come down that tree and told the man that whatever wrong I did I will make it right 4 times. I was too proud to do that.

Back to Zaccheus. As Jesus and the crowd approaches, thinking ahead, Zaccheus scanned the surrounding, and did some calculations in his brain. No, not mathematical calculations about tax rate and interest, but rather trajectory projection. He determined that Jesus and the crowd will continue on this street and will pass right under that sycamore tree. Though unbeknownst to him, the real target of Jesus path was him.

Zaccheus got to work. It did not matter that he was too old to climb the tree. It did not matter that he was dressed in expensive clothes, maybe like an Armani suit. It did not matter that he was short and probably plump too. Remember he was rich and had a lot of food to eat. Perhaps he struggled to get up in that tree. He did not mind whatever other people might think of him, saying: “Oh look, crazy little Zaccheus is up on a tree.” All of that did not matter, for all he wanted was to see Jesus.

Are you that desperate to seek Jesus? Are you that desperate to know God? Under the tree my friend, yes under the tree of Calvary. Meet him at the cross, like an old hymn says:

At the cross, at the cross where I first saw the light
And the burden of my heart rolled away
It was there by faith I received my sight
And now I am happy all the day.

Restoration Project

When Jesus and the crowd finally reached the sycamore tree, Jesus looked up and saw Zaccheus. And not only did Jesus acknowledged the presence of Zaccheus, he called him by his name. Zaccheus must have been very surprised, for Jesus knows his name!

Friends, Jesus knows our name. He even knows the very number of our hair in our head. Not very many for me, but he knows the exact number of my hair. He knitted us inside our mother’s womb. Even before we are born, he already knows what will be our name.

But there is more for Zaccheus. Not only did Jesus knows his name, Jesus wants him to hurry down for he wants to come to his house. He wants to dine with him. He wants to talk to him. He wants to spend time with him.

Actually Jesus invited himself to Zaccheus house. For American culture, this may sound odd or even rude to invite yourself. But in the middle eastern culture this is very common. Plus if the person is of high stature or of a celebrity status, then it would be considered an honor to have them come into you home.

If you would tell me, I want to come to your house, I would whip out my phone, and check my schedule, and tell you, ah, maybe Wednesday evening, around 7 PM, I’ll be free. But in Zaccheus case, Jesus said to him, I’m coming to your house today. Zaccheus did not hesitate, he accepted Jesus joyfully.

But not every body was happy. In fact, maybe only Zaccheus was happy. The rest of the crowd murmured when Jesus said he’ll be coming to Zaccheus house. The crowd did not rejoice with Zaccheus because they were too busy judging him. They murmured, why would Jesus associate himself with a sinner? During those times, faithful Jews would not come to a home or share a meal with people considered sinners or unclean for they would become unclean.

Remember the story of Peter when he had a vision of unclean animals in a net. He was called to come to Cornelius house, who is a Gentile, who was considered unclean. Here’s Acts 10:28:

He (Peter) said to them: “You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile. But God has shown me that I should not call anyone impure or unclean.

But Zaccheus is a Jew, not a Gentile. Jesus said that he is also a son of Abraham. Yet even though his name means pure, Zaccheus was impure. Jesus made him pure by coming to his house. Jesus restored Zaccheus status.

Zaccheus then made a restitution. He made a vow under the bough where he came down from. He said he will give half of his wealth to the poor. Why only half? Because the other half he will use to repay those he wronged.

According to the law of Moses which is found in Leviticus 6:1-5, if you cheat your neighbor you shall return the amount plus a fifth of its value. That is 120%. So if I cheated you $100, I should repay you $120. But Zaccheus is doing more than what the law required. How much was he repaying? Four-fold, meaning 400%!

The word for restitution in Hebrew is shalem, which is derived from the word shalom, which means peace. But shalom does not only means peace, it also connotes a total restoration of wholeness in every aspect of a person’s life. Zaccheus is making peace, and making a total restoration with those people he wronged.

Zaccheus made a decision to make a restitution or restoration, because Jesus restored him first. That’s the order of salvation my friends. Jesus comes to us. We accept Him. Then our lives are changed. We cannot change our lives by ourselves. Jesus needs to come to our lives first. We need to accept Jesus in our lives first and He will change our lives.

Maybe you are saying to yourself I have too many sins. I have too many bad habits that I cannot give up. I cannot kick out my addictions. I have so many skeletons hiding inside my closet. Receive Jesus into your heart and He will be the one who will take those sins away from you.

Jesus came looking for Zaccheus who is a lost son of Abraham. He is also looking for you and me.

All Is Forgiven

I would like to end with a story.

It begins in Madrid, Spain with a young man named Paco. One day, for some reason unknown to the rest of us, Paco had a fight with his father and stormed out of their home. His father grew anxious by nightfall when there was no sign of his son returning home. He began to roam the streets and knock on neighbors’ doors in a desperate attempt to find his son. As hours turned into days, the father realized that no amount of wandering the streets alone would solve the problem. He needed to reach out to his son in a bigger way, so he put an ad in the paper El Liberal: (of course this was before the era of cellphones and text messages)

“Paco,
meet me at the Hotel Montana at noon on Tuesday.
All is forgiven!
Love, Papa.”

 But Paco was such a common name in Spain (a nickname for Francisco).

The day came, the anxious father walked into the Hotel Montana on Tuesday at noon. What he saw surprised him. He found 800 men of different ages, all named Paco, all were hoping for forgiveness from their father.

We are all Paco at some point or another. We have sinned and wandered away, and are now living with regret. Yet, in spite of the pain, we cling to the hope that we can some day be forgiven for our mistakes. God is looking for us. We are the lost sons and daughters of Abraham. All is forgiven.

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(*photos taken from the web)