"Recognition, Regret, Repentance, Reconciliation," a reflection based on Luke 19:1-10.
Who was Zacchaeus? Why did Jesus spend time with him? What does it mean to repent? Should people feel guilty? Is repentance something that we do as individuals, or collectively? Why does repentance get a bad rap? Is repentance a step on the path to reconciliation?
Luke 19:1-10
Now Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through it. There was a person named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector and was rich. Zacchaeus was seeking to see who Jesus was, but was not able to on account of the crowd, being short in stature. So Zacchaeus ran ahead and climbed a sycamore to see Jesus, who was going to pass that way. Now 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." So Zacchaeus hurried down and welcomed Jesus, rejoicing. All who saw it began to grumble and said, "To a sinner has he gone to be a guest." Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Messiah, "Look, half of my possessions, Anointed One, to the poor will I give, and if have defrauded anyone, I will pay back four times as much." Then Jesus said to Zacchaeus, "Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a child of Abraham. For the Son of Woman came to seek out and to save the lost."
Works Referenced
Culpepper, R. Alan. “The Gospel of Luke.” In New Interpreter’s Bible, Volume VIII. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2015.
Gafney, Wilda C. A Women’s Lectionary for the Whole Church, Year W. New York City: Church Publishing, 2021.
Kinunda, Quinbert. “Listening to Rural Voices in Tanzania: the Zacchaeus Episode, Luke 19:1-10.” Journal of Theology for Southern Africa No. 165 (November 2019): 50-64.
Poettcker, Grant. “Socrates, Nicodemus, and Zacchaeus: Kierkegaard and Halík on conversion and offense.” International Journal of Philosophy and Theology Vol. 80 Nos. 4-5: 482-494.
Tannehill, Robert C. Abingdon New Testament Commentaries: Luke. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1996.
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