Zacchaeus the Tax Collector
19 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. 3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.
5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.
7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”
8 But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”
9 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
The Parable of the Ten Minas
11 While they were listening to this, he went on to tell them a parable, because he was near Jerusalem and the people thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear at once. 12 He said: “A man of noble birth went to a distant country to have himself appointed king and then to return. 13 So he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas.[ A mina was about three months’ wages.] ‘Put this money to work,’ he said, ‘until I come back.’
14 “But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, ‘We don’t want this man to be our king.’
15 “He was made king, however, and returned home. Then he sent for the servants to whom he had given the money, in order to find out what they had gained with it.
16 “The first one came and said, ‘Sir, your mina has earned ten more.’
17 “‘Well done, my good servant!’ his master replied. ‘Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.’
18 “The second came and said, ‘Sir, your mina has earned five more.’
19 “His master answered, ‘You take charge of five cities.’
20 “Then another servant came and said, ‘Sir, here is your mina; I have kept it laid away in a piece of cloth. 21 I was afraid of you, because you are a hard man. You take out what you did not put in and reap what you did not sow.’
22 “His master replied, ‘I will judge you by your own words, you wicked servant! You knew, did you, that I am a hard man, taking out what I did not put in, and reaping what I did not sow? 23 Why then didn’t you put my money on deposit, so that when I came back, I could have collected it with interest?’
24 “Then he said to those standing by, ‘Take his mina away from him and give it to the one who has ten minas.’
25 “‘Sir,’ they said, ‘he already has ten!’
26 “He replied, ‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what they have will be taken away. 27 But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them—bring them here and kill them in front of me.’”
Jesus Comes to Jerusalem as King
28 After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29 As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, 30 “Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it.’”
32 Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. 33 As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?”
34 They replied, “The Lord needs it.”
35 They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. 36 As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road.
37 When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:
38 “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”[Psalm 118:26 ]
“Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”
40 “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”
41 As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it 42 and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. 43 The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. 44 They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”
Jesus at the Temple
45 When Jesus entered the temple courts, he began to drive out those who were selling. 46 “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be a house of prayer’[Isaiah 56:7 ]; but you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’[Jer. 7:11 ]”
47 Every day he was teaching at the temple. But the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the leaders among the people were trying to kill him. 48 Yet they could not find any way to do it, because all the people hung on his words.
NOTES:
19:1–10 The story of the tax collector Zacchaeus is unique
to this gospel. While a rich man (Lk 19:2), Zacchaeus provides a contrast to
the rich man of Lk 18:18–23 who cannot detach himself from his material
possessions to become a follower of Jesus. Zacchaeus, according to Luke,
exemplifies the proper attitude toward wealth: he promises to give half of his
possessions to the poor (Lk 19:8) and consequently is the recipient of
salvation (Lk 19:9–10).
19:9 A descendant of Abraham: literally, “a son of Abraham.”
The tax collector Zacchaeus, whose repentance is attested by his determination
to amend his former ways, shows himself to be a true descendant of Abraham, the
true heir to the promises of God in the Old Testament. Underlying Luke’s
depiction of Zacchaeus as a descendant of Abraham, the father of the Jews (Lk
1:73; 16:22–31), is his recognition of the central place occupied by Israel in
the plan of salvation.
19:10 This verse sums up for Luke his depiction of the role
of Jesus as savior in this gospel.
19:11–27 In this parable Luke has combined two originally
distinct parables: (1) a parable about the conduct of faithful and productive
servants (Lk 19:13, 15b–26) and (2) a parable about a rejected king (Lk 19:12,
14–15a, 27). The story about the conduct of servants occurs in another form in
Mt 25:14–20. The story about the rejected king may have originated with a
contemporary historical event. After the death of Herod the Great, his son
Archelaus traveled to Rome to receive the title of king. A delegation of Jews
appeared in Rome before Caesar Augustus to oppose the request of Archelaus.
Although not given the title of king, Archelaus was made ruler over Judea and
Samaria. As the story is used by Luke, however, it furnishes a correction to
the expectation of the imminent end of the age and of the establishment of the
kingdom in Jerusalem (Lk 19:11). Jesus is not on his way to Jerusalem to
receive the kingly power; for that, he must go away and only after returning
from the distant country (a reference to the parousia) will reward and judgment
take place.
19:13 Ten gold coins: literally, “ten minas.” A mina was a
monetary unit that in ancient Greece was the equivalent of one hundred
drachmas.
19:28–21:38 With the royal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, a
new section of Luke’s gospel begins, the ministry of Jesus in Jerusalem before
his death and resurrection. Luke suggests that this was a lengthy ministry in
Jerusalem (Lk 19:47; 20:1; 21:37–38; 22:53) and it is characterized by Jesus’
daily teaching in the temple (Lk 21:37–38). For the story of the entry of Jesus
into Jerusalem, see also Mt 21:1–11; Mk 11:1–10; Jn 12:12–19 and the notes
there.
19:38 Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord:
only in Luke is Jesus explicitly given the title king when he enters Jerusalem
in triumph. Luke has inserted this title into the words of Ps 118:26 that
heralded the arrival of the pilgrims coming to the holy city and to the temple.
Jesus is thereby acclaimed as king (see Lk 1:32) and as the one who comes (see
Mal 3:1; Lk 7:19). Peace in heaven…: the acclamation of the disciples of Jesus
in Luke echoes the announcement of the angels at the birth of Jesus (Lk 2:14).
The peace Jesus brings is associated with the salvation to be accomplished here
in Jerusalem.
19:39 Rebuke your disciples: this command, found only in
Luke, was given so that the Roman authorities would not interpret the
acclamation of Jesus as king as an uprising against them; cf. Lk 23:2–3.
19:41–44 The lament for Jerusalem is found only in Luke. By
not accepting Jesus (the one who mediates peace), Jerusalem will not find peace
but will become the victim of devastation.
19:43–44 Luke may be describing the actual disaster that
befell Jerusalem in A.D. 70 when it was destroyed by the Romans during the
First Revolt.
19:45–46 Immediately upon entering the holy city, Jesus in a
display of his authority enters the temple (see Mal 3:1–3) and lays claim to it
after cleansing it that it might become a proper place for his teaching
ministry in Jerusalem (Lk 19:47; 20:1; 21:37; 22:53). See Mt 21:12–17; Mk
11:15–19; Jn 2:13–17 and the notes there.
BACK TO:
Copyright © 2020 by Ekklesia Katholes (Acts 9:31)
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
No part of this publication may be produced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission from the publisher.
No comments:
Post a Comment