Zechariah 12:1-10

Jerusalem's Victory

12:1 An Oracle.

The word of the LORD concerning Israel: Thus says the LORD, who stretched out the heavens and founded the earth and formed the human spirit within: 2 See, I am about to make Jerusalem a cup of reeling for all the surrounding peoples; it will be against Judah also in the siege against Jerusalem. 3 On that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who lift it shall grievously hurt themselves. And all the nations of the earth shall come together against it. 4 On that day, says the LORD, I will strike every horse with panic, and its rider with madness. But on the house of Judah I will keep a watchful eye, when I strike every horse of the peoples with blindness. 5 Then the clans of Judah shall say to themselves, “The inhabitants of Jerusalem have strength through the LORD of hosts, their God.”

6 On that day I will make the clans of Judah like a blazing pot on a pile of wood, like a flaming torch among sheaves; and they shall devour to the right and to the left all the surrounding peoples, while Jerusalem shall again be inhabited in its place, in Jerusalem.

7 And the LORD will give victory to the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem may not be exalted over that of Judah. 8 On that day the LORD will shield the inhabitants of Jerusalem so that the feeblest among them on that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the angel of the LORD, at their head. 9 And on that day I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.

Mourning for the Pierced One

10 And I will pour out a spirit of compassion and supplication on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that, when they look on the one whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn. (Zechariah 12:1-10, NRSV)

On November 29, 2006 (Wednesday in the week of the Sunday closest to November 23, Year Two), comments were repeated with revision and supplement from November 24, 2004, (Wednesday in the week of the Sunday closest to November 23, Year Two); the comments are repeated here with editing and supplement:

The title “An Oracle (xW0!m1, maśśā’)” appears in Zechariah 9:1 and again here (12:1), and also in Malachi 1:1. In each case it is followed immediately by “the word of the LORD” (hv!hy4-rb1d4, d^evar-YHWH). The term xW0!m1 (maśśā’), which means “pronouncement,” is distinguished from the homonym which means “burden,” as of an ass, mule, etc., or metaphorically “hardship” (William L. Holladay, A Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, 1971, 10^th corrected impression 1988, s.v. xW0!m1, maśśā’ I and II). Holladay suggests that “burden” is used with a play on the meaning “pronouncement” in Jeremiah 23:33-38. The noun xW0!m (maśśā’) is related to the verb xW!n! (nāśā’), which means “to lift up” in a variety of senses, including “carry,” “bear” (ibid., s.v. xW!n!, nāśā’). In Jeremiah’s case, the LORD’s command to deliver his “pronouncement,” was often a severe “burden” in the metaphorical sense. Gregory Mobley takes the term as a label for two major sections of Zechariah, “the first burden” (Zech. 9:1-11:17, which he calls “a collection of poetic speeches about the Day of the LORD,” and “the second burden” (12:1-14:21) (NOAB, 3^rd ed., on these two sections respectively).

In today’s reading Zechariah presents “the word of the LORD (hv!hy4-rb1d4, d^evar-YHWH) concerning Israel: Thus says the LORD, who stretched out the heavens and founded the earth and formed the human spirit within” (Zech. 12:1). Ehud Ben Zvi says this verse “reaffirms the authority and legitimacy of the following text three times: (prophetic) pronouncement [‘oracle’ NRSV], the word of the LORD, and the utterance of the LORD [‘thus says the LORD’ NRSV]. This v. asks the readers to interpret the ensuing text (12:2-14:21) as a divine pronouncement concerning Israel, even if the nations play a major role in it” (The Jewish Study Bible, 2004, on Zech. 12:1 NJPS 1985, 1999). The cosmic setting emphasizes both the majesty of the LORD and the need to take him seriously in this matter. Zechariah seems to describe a certain tension between Jerusalem and Judah, but the LORD will give victory to Judah (v. 7a), and also to Jerusalem (vv. 8, 9), but not so that Jerusalem may “be exalted over [the glory] of Judah” (v. 7b). “See,” says the LORD, “I am about to make Jerusalem a cup of reeling for all the surrounding peoples; it will be against Judah also in the siege against Jerusalem” (v. 2). Gregory Mobley says, “References to conflict between Jerusalem and Judah probably reflect tensions in the postexilic community” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., 2001, on Zech. 12:2-3). Ben Zvi comments on “bowl of reeling” (NJPS for ‘cup of reeling’ NRSV): “The metaphor of a divinely induced, incapacitating drunkenness under judgment occurs elsewhere in the prophets. The classical examples are Jer. 25:15-29 and Isa. 51:17-23. In the present text, however, the nations, rather than Jerusalem, are incapacitated” (op. cit., on v. 2). “On that day,” says the LORD, “I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who lift it shall grievously hurt themselves. And all the nations of the earth shall come together against it” (v. 3). According to W. Sibley Towner, “Like the stone not cut by human hands of Dan. 2:34-45, God’s elect city becomes a heavy stone for all the peoples on the ‘day of the LORD.’ The older motifs of the election of Jerusalem (3:2; cf. Isa. 31:4-5) and of the house of David (2 Sam. 7:16; Ps. 132:11-18; Isa. 9:1-7; 11:1-10) recur in the thinking of Second Zechariah” (HarperCollins Study Bible, rev. ed., 2006, on Zech. 12:3).

The prophet continues as the voice of the LORD. “On that day, says the LORD, I will strike every horse with panic, and its rider with madness. But on the house of Judah I will keep a watchful eye, when I strike every horse of the peoples with blindness” (v. 4). The LORD’s “watchful eye” over Judah is put in contrast to the blindness with which the LORD strikes the horses of the enemy forces. No longer are Judah and Jerusalem to be the victims of oppressive superpower neighbors. “Then the clans of Judah shall say to themselves, ‘The inhabitants of Jerusalem have strength through the LORD of hosts, their God’ ” (v. 5). The LORD will turn the once defeated and humiliated “clans of Judah” into a fearsome power. “On that day I will make the clans of Judah like a blazing pot on a pile of wood, like a flaming torch among sheaves; and they shall devour to the right and to the left all the surrounding peoples, while Jerusalem shall again be inhabited in its place, in Jerusalem” (v. 6). As already noted, there will be victory for Judah: “And the LORD will give victory to the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem may not be exalted over that of Judah (v. 7). But Jerusalem itself will also be victorious. “On that day the LORD will shield the inhabitants of Jerusalem so that the feeblest among them on that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the angel of the LORD, at their head” (v. 8). The city will be protected by the LORD, who says, “And on that day I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem” (v. 9). According to Towner,

The motif of the great battle against the nations gathered before Jerusalem is a favorite one in late prophetic eschatology (Isa. 63:1-6; Ezek. 38:14-23) and is taken up again in apocalyptic texts (see Joel 3:11-14; Rev. 14:14-20). As he envisions the future status of Jerusalem and Judah, the prophet’s enthusiasm peaks: the house of David shall be like God (v. 8). Presumably this reflects the leading role to be played by the Jews in God’s victory over all the nations (v. 9). (ibid., on v. 9)

As the reading concludes, we hear the LORD say, “And I will pour out a spirit of compassion and supplication on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that, when they look on the one whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn” (v. 10). According to Mobley,

The identification of the one whom they have pierced is uncertain. According to the Hebrew (see textual note a), it is apparently the putative speaker of the oracle, the LORD, but the text is difficult. Other proposals include some historical figure, such as a member of the Davidic line, a prophet (see 13:3), or a group; for the New Testament identification with Jesus, see Jn. 19:37” (op. cit., on v. 10)

In the Old Testament setting, “The land shall mourn, each family by itself; the family of the house of David by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Nathan by itself, and their wives by themselves” (v. 13). Other families will mourn as well, including “the family of the house of Levi,” and “the family of the Shimeites” (v. 13), as well as “all the families that are left (v. 14). When John applies his quotation to Jesus’ crucifixion, “They will look on the one whom they have pierced” (Jn. 19:37, citing Zech. 12:10), he aptly understands what some have called, in relating Old Testament passages to the New Testament, “the fuller sense [sensus plenior] of scripture.

Ephesians 1:3-14

Spiritual Blessings in Christ

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. 5 He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace 8 that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and insight 9 he has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ, 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. 11 In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, 12 so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory. 13 In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; 14 this is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s own people, to the praise of his glory. (Ephesians 1:3-14, NRSV)

On April 30, 2008 (Wednesday in the week of the Sixth Sunday of Easter, Year Two), comments on Ephesians 1:1-10 were based on comments of January 13, 2008 (the First Sunday after the Epiphany, Year Two), when comments were repeated from January 8, 2007 (Monday in the week of the First Sunday after the Epiphany, Year One), comments that had been repeated from November 29, 2006, (Wednesday of the week of the Sunday closest to November 23, Year Two). On that date comments were combined with revision and supplement from earlier dates (noted there). The combined comments are repeated again here with some editing and supplement:

The salutation for the Epistle to the Ephesians is brief, and fits the pattern of other Epistles (cf. Phil. 1:1-2). According to Jennifer K. Berenson, the greeting is “a common Pauline greeting drawing upon and transforming conventional Greek (grace [cavriV, charis]) and Hebrew (peace [eijrhvnh, eirēnē for MOlw!, šālôm]) salutations” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., 2001, on Eph. 1:2). But there is an unusual feature. In the words, “To the saints who are in Ephesus and are faithful in Christ Jesus” (v. 1b), the words “in Ephesus” (ejn =Efevsw/, en Ephesō(i) ) are lacking in a few of the oldest manuscripts: p⁴⁶ (dated about A.D. 200), x* (i.e. the original scribe of Codex Sinaiticus; a later “corrector” added the words “in Ephesus”), B* (i.e. the original scribe of Codex Vaticanus; where a later “corrector” also added the words “in Ephesus”), and a few others (Kurt Aland and others, The Greek New Testament, UBS 3^rd ed., 1975, apparatus notes on Eph. 1:1; cf. NRSV text note a). For various reasons, some scholars believe that the letter is not specifically addressed to the Christians at Ephesus, but, in the words of Paul J. Achtemeier, Joel B. Green and Marianne Meye Thompson, it was “originally a letter to more than one church, but that, unlike 1 Peter, a designation was not included, so that the churches that received it would know it was a general letter also intended for them”, (Introducing the New Testament; Its Literature and Theology, 2001, p. 378). These authors admit that this explanation is speculative but suggest that “the phrase ‘in Ephesus’ may then be due to an early scribe combining the information that Tychicus delivered the letter (Eph. 6:21) with the note in 2 Tim. 4:12 that Paul had sent Tychicus to Ephesus” (ibid.).

Paul usually begins with a “thanksgiving” that expresses gratitude for the faith and lives of his addressees, and indicates something of the contents of the letter to follow, for example, Romans 1:8-15; 1 Corinthians 1:4-9; Philippians 1:3-11. Sometimes, as here in Ephesians, the “thanksgiving” takes the form of a “blessing” (cf. 2 Cor. 1:3-7). In Ephesians, the thanksgiving (Eph. 1:15-23) follows the blessing (vv. 3-15). This benediction reviews God’s plan of salvation, in which “he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world” (v. 4) for adoption (v. 5), redemption, which is “the forgiveness of our trespasses” (v. 7), and our inheritance (vv. 11, 13). Eventually, Paul will emphasize the fact that his gentile readers are included, not excluded (2:11-22), but in chapter 1 he provides a detailed description of God’s plan of redemption and how it applies to Christian believers.

In the Epistle to the Ephesians, Paul does not address a series of specific local problems as he does in 1 Corinthians, nor a single specific problem such as the “Colossian Heresy” (Col. 2:8-23). Ephesus, a city of some 250,000 people and capital of the Roman Province of Asia (in the western part of Asia Minor, now Turkey), undoubtedly had many problems. Paul “did extraordinary miracles” there (Acts 19:11), exorcizing evil spirits (v. 12), making “some itinerant Jewish exorcists” jealous (vv. 13-16), and supervising a public burning of magic books valued at “fifty thousand silver coins” (v. 19). But these problems were within the surrounding culture, not within the Christian community. So in Ephesians, more than in most of his other epistles, Paul waxes eloquently about spiritual blessings. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” (v. 3). God, says Paul, “chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love” (v. 4). We have become a part of God’s family, for Paul continues saying, “he destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved” (vv. 5-6). Jennifer K. Berenson Maclean says, for “adoption, see Rom. 8:15; Gal. 4:5), and she adds that “Beloved [is] a title for Christ; cf. ‘beloved son,’ Mk. 1:11; Col. 1:13” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., 2001, on Eph. 1:5-6). “In him [Christ],” says Paul, “we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace that he lavished on us” (vv. 7, 8a). “Redemption,” says J. Paul Sampley, means “the buying back of a slave or the freeing of a prisoner by ransom. See also v. 14; 4:30; Col. 1:14” (HarperCollins Study Bible, rev. ed., 2006, on Eph. 1:7). “His blood,” says Maclean, means “Christ’s sacrificial death” (op. cit., on v. 7).

“With all wisdom and insight,” says Paul, “he [i.e., God] has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to ho his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth” (vv. 8b, 9, 10). F. F. Bruce explains:

As regularly in the NT, a ‘mystery’ is something which has formerly been kept secret in the purpose of God but has now been disclosed. In Col. 1:27 the aspect of his purpose which has now been manifested to his people relates to their hope of glory, of which the indwelling Christ provides the guarantee here and now. But elsewhere Paul makes it plain that the coming glory of the people of God is only a part of his purpose of grace: all creation is to share in the fruits of Christ’s redemptive work, even in ‘the glorious liberty of the children of God’ (Rom. 8:21). So here, the universe has its place in God’s secret purpose, now revealed. In Col. 1:20 God’s good pleasure was ‘to reconcile all things to himself’ through Christ. Nothing less than that is contemplated here in his ‘good pleasure,’ his eternal decree, which he ‘planned’ in Christ. (The Epistles to the Colossians, to Philemon, and to the Ephesians, NICNT, 1984, p. 261, on Eph. 1:9)

By “fullness of time,” says Maclean, Paul means “the culmination of human history,” and; “to gather . . . earth [means] the unification of the cosmos under and through Christ” (op. cit., on v. 10).

“In Christ,” says Paul, “ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory” (vv. 11-12). “We who first placed our hope in Christ,” says Bruce, “are Jewish believers, foundation members of the new community, the first fruits of the people of God in the age which Christ has inaugurated by his death and resurrection” (op. cit., p. 264 on v. 12, in Bruce’s own translation). But Paul continues, “In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; this is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s own people, to the praise of his glory” (vv. 13-14). Bruce notes that “God’s portion is not confined to Jewish believers. ‘We who first placed our hope in Christ’ have now been joined by ‘you also’‘that is to say, by Gentile believers” (ibid., on v. 13). “It is to Gentile believers that this letter is specifically addressed,” says Bruce, “assuring them that their share in God’s heritage is as full and firm as that of their brothers and sisters of Jewish birth” (ibid.).

So then, the Epistle does have an audience in mind: “So then, remember that at one time you Gentiles by birth . . . at that time without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise” (2:11-12), “have been brought near by the blood of Christ” (v. 13). He did this to “reconcile both groups to God in one body through the cross” (v. 16). The Gentiles so addressed “are no longer strangers and aliens, but . . . citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God” (v. 19). Paul envisioned the Christian community as one body, in which Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians are “joined together” (v. 21), “built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God” (v. 22). He may very well have written in this manner to most of his churches, and, as noted above, some see Ephesians as a general letter written for that purpose.

Luke 19:1-10

Jesus and Zacchaeus

19:1 He entered Jericho and was passing through it. 2 A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was rich. 3 He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. 5 When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. 7 All who saw it began to grumble and said, “He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.” 8 Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.” 9 Then Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.” (Luke 19:1-10, NRSV)

On June 12, 2007 (Tuesday in the week of the Sunday closest to June 8, Year One), comments were combined with revision and supplement from June 7, 2005, (Tuesday in the week of the Sunday closest to June 8, Year One), and from November 29, 2006 (Wednesday in the week of the Sunday closest to November 23, Year Two). The combined comments are repeated here:

The story of Zacchaeus is reported only by Luke. Perhaps, as suggested yesterday, the healing of the blind man (Bartimaeus, Mk. 10:46) is on the approach to Jericho in Luke (Lk. 18:35), rather than “as he and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho” (Mk. 10:46; cf. Mt. 20:29) “in order,” says Eric Franklin, “to accommodate the story of Zacchaeus that Jesus uses as a climax” (The Oxford Bible Commentary, 2001, p. 951, on Lk. 18:35-43). In any case, we may compare the response of Zacchaeus to that of the last rich man, the rich ruler (Luke 18:18-23). Although almost back-to-back, the two stories stand in “striking contrast” (cf. Marion Lloyd Soards, NOAB, 3^rd ed., 2001, on Lk. 19:1-10). According to I. Howard Marshall, the placement of the Zacchaeus story, as

The final story in the long account of Jesus on his journey to Jerusalem is meant to be a climax in the ministry of Jesus, and it brings out several notable features which Luke considered important. It is a supreme example of the universality of the gospel offer to tax collectors and sinners with Jesus taking the initiative and inviting himself to the house of Zacchaeus. In doing so Jesus was certainly responding to the interest shown in him by Zacchaeus, but the decisive action, contrary to all that would be expected at the time, stemmed from Jesus. (The Gospel of Luke; A Commentary on the Greek Text, NIGTC, 1978, p, 694 on Lk. 19:1-10)

At the outset, we are told two things about Zacchaeus: (1) “he was a chief tax collector,” and (2) he “was rich” (v. 2). His short stature, and his climbing the sycamore tree to see Jesus, are striking details in the story. They tell us something about his initiative and persistence–perhaps also his ingenuity. But the keys to his character, telling us who he was, are his career as a tax collector, as a “chief tax collector” (ajrcitelwvnhV, architelōnēs), no less, and his financial status: he was rich. The term “chief tax collector” (ajrcitelwvnhV, architelōnēs) is not found elsewhere in ancient Greek, though several other words compounded with ajrci- (archi-) are common: “high priest” (ajrciereuvV, archiereus), “robber chieftain” (ajrcilh/sthvV, archilēstēs), “chief shepherd” (ajrcipoivmhn, archipoimēn) of Christ (1 Pet. 5:4), “commander” (ajrcistravthgoV, archistratēgos), “leader/president of a synagogue” (ajrcisunagwgoV, archisynagōgos), “master builder” (ajrcitevktwn, architektōn), and “head waiter, butler” (ajrcitrivklinoV, architriklinos, Jn. 2:8-9) (Bauer-Danker-Arndt-Gingrich [BDAG], A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and other Early Christian Literature, 3^rd ed., 2000, p. 139, s.v. each word). Because the term “chief tax collector” does not appear elsewhere (to our knowledge 20 centuries later), Franklin suggests that the term “seems coined by Luke to make this episode climactic in Jesus’ dealings with the tax-collectors” (op. cit., p. 951, on Lk. 19:1-10). I should think that the Romans would have provided for supervision of their tax collectors. Why not through putting one of them in charge? According to Overman,

Tax collectors, the Roman system, known as “tax farming,” leased out the right to collect taxes (including customs fees) in a given area for a flat fee. The entrepreneur, usually a local aristocrat, who obtained this right would then try to collect more than the fee in order to profit by the arrangement, with obvious potential for abuse (Philo, Leg. Gai. 199). Actual collections were carried out by underlings, who would be under pressure to bring in as much as possible, and were despised by the populace; most of the references to tax collectors probably are to this class. (op. cit., on Mt. 9:10)

Overman’s description of the entrepreneur as a local aristocrat with underlings who would do most of the “dirty work” of collecting taxes fits Luke’s description of Zacchaeus. And Jericho was likely the location of an important customs office. According to David L. Tiede, revised by Christopher R. Matthews, “A chief tax collector played a role in the Roman bureaucracy that many Jews regarded as traitorous to their law” (HarperCollins Study Bible, rev. ed., 2006, on Lk. 19:2).

As the story of Zacchaeus continues, he “was trying to see who Jesus was” (v. 3), and “ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him” (v. 4). But, as noted, at this point Jesus takes the initiative. “When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, ‘Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today’” (v. 5). Zacchaeus welcomes Jesus with open arms, as it were. “So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him” (v. 6). Contrary to Zacchaeus joy, the onlookers express dismay. “All who saw it began to grumble and said, ‘He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner’” (v. 7).

At his home, Zacchaeus stands and declares his intentions to lead a new life. “Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much” (v. 8). Soards says that this is “a vow amounting to repentance” (op. cit., on v. 8). According to Tiede and Matthews, “Zacchaeus’s promise to give half to the poor is voluntary (cf. 18:18-25). I will pay back four times as much, fulfilling the strictest laws of restitution (see Ex. 22:1; Lev. 5:16; Num. 5:7)” (op. cit., on v. 8). Compare this ruling on stealing: “When someone steals an ox or a sheep, and slaughters it or sells it, the thief shall pay five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep” (Ex. 22:1a; cf. Lev. 6:5; Num. 5:6-7). When Nathan confronted David about the sin of adultery with Bathsheba and murder of Uriah, using the story of the man who stole his poor neighbor’s lamb, David’s judgment, before realizing that it was about him, was, “As the LORD lives, the man who has done this deserves to die; he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity” (2 Sam. 12:5-6).

 But the vow to “give to the poor” “half of my possessions” goes beyond the requirements of the Mosaic law and demonstrates an attitude of true repentance and commitment to Jesus’ kingdom; whereas, the ruler was unwilling to respond to Jesus’ instruction, “Sell all that you own and distribute the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me” (Lk. 18:22).

Although Zacchaeus would have been considered an outsider by the Jews, Jesus says to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham” (v. 9). And he concludes the matter by saying, “For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost” (v. 10). “The story of Zacchaeus illustrates earlier statements concerning tax collectors (53:29-32), the rich (18:25-27), and the lost (ch. 15)” (Tiede and Matthews, op. cit., on Luke 19:1-10).

Ronald D. Worden, Ph.D.

rdworden@hgst.edu

deanworden@comcast.net