Is salvation really as simple as ditching half of your stuff?
by Jake Bouma
Gospel Reading: Luke 19:1-10
For Sunday, October 31, 2010: Year C - Ordinary 31
Ah, Zaccheus. The famous little man of the Bible, whose story is excitedly taught in Sunday school classes around the country. I suppose Zaccheus' story is expected to resonate with children, who are always struggling to get a good view of the action wherever they are. My interest, however, lies elsewhere.
Open To Speculation
Part of my struggle with this passage stems from the fact that Luke leaves so much open to speculation. Because the story of Zaccheus is not a parable but rather an account of Jesus' ministry, we're not given implicit permission to read into the text. In the case of a parable, we know that we're supposed to look for meaning beyond the story for a deeper, spiritual meaning. Such is not the case with Zaccheus. We're given what we've got, and it isn't much.
Here’s what we do know: Luke goes to great lengths to communicate the extent of Zaccheus’ despicable sinfulness; it’s mentioned in the beginning, middle, and end of the story. We learn immediately that he’s the chief tax collector of Jericho and therefore he’s loaded. After Jesus chooses Zaccheus’ house for lodging, the crowd reminds us that Zaccheus is, in fact a sinner. And finally at the end of the story, Jesus proclaims that “the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost,” the lost one(s) being Zaccheus and sinners like him.
A Change of Heart?
If “the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost,” is the punch line, I certainly don’t get the joke. Luke makes his point clear: Zaccheus was utterly lost, and now he’s found. Christian commentators and expositors have lauded Zaccheus for many things, including his change of heart, his spiritual awakening, his repentance, etc. But Luke gives us nothing to assume that Zaccheus has indeed had a change of heart. Taken at face value, I see a man who ditches half of his stuff and is rewarded with salvation.
Zaccheus’ first words to Jesus, that he’s giving half of his stuff to the poor and over-repaying debts, are apparently without provocation from Jesus – Jesus doesn’t ask Zaccheus to do anything. But immediately after Zaccheus makes his statement (if not temporally, textually), Jesus pronounces that salvation has come to the house of Zaccheus.
The Hardest Question
So is that really all there is to it? Luke places this story near the climax of the gospel narrative, so are we really to take to heart that salvation really as simple as ditching half of your stuff? Without inserting my own speculation into Luke’s gaps, it’s sure hard not to see it that way.
Jake Bouma is the Director of Youth Ministries at Faith Lutheran Church, an ELCA congregation in Clive, Iowa. His quest to be an autodidact recently ended with enrollment in a distance learning Master’s program at Luther Seminary. He’s a proud ENFP (Google it) who unashamedly named his cat after a dead theologian. He can be found
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