You've probably been told your whole life that repentance is always about sorrow, shame, and self incrimination. There might have even been an accusingly sinister, hateful, and sadistic tone to talking about repentance as I had encountered from both Catholic priests and Baptist preachers when I was a boy. But shame and sorrow is not always the case as is shown in the Gospel of Luke with Zacceus the Tax Collector.
The Old testament and event the New have a lot of sorrow involved in repentance, and that is understandable when you suddenly realize that you have led a wasted life as was the case of Mary Magdalene. Those tears of repentance can also be tears of release as the chains of the Devil are broken off of your soul, But sometimes there is joy instead.
Take a look at the life giving words of Luke 19 to see the clear picture of this:
1And when Yeshua entered and passed through Jericho, 2A certain man was there whose name was Zakkai; he was a rich man and Chief of Tax Collectors,3And he wanted to see who Yeshua was and he was not able to from the crowd because Zakkai was small in stature.
A short man, in a way this is symbolic of humility. His smallness eventually made him a giant.
In the Jewish thought of the day any birth defects or health problems were the result of sin. As a small man he would have been mocked and shunned his whole life. This might have led him to eventually become a tax collector which was also a hated profession.
4And he ran before it to Yeshua and he climbed up a bare fig tree to see him because he was going to pass by there.
The fig tree is often a symbol of Israel and spiritual fruitfulness.
5And when he came to that place, Yeshua saw him and said to him, “Hasten, come down, Zakkai, for today I must stay at your house.”
Here Jesus prophetically calls to Zakkai.
6And he made haste and he came down and received him rejoicing. 7But when all of them saw it, they were all complaining and they were saying, “He entered and lodged with a man that is a sinner.”
Because Zaccheus was a tax collector the Jews viewed him as a servant of the Roman opressors. Tax collectors were also known to notoriously corrupt and would add their own personal taxes on top of the taxes for Rome, but as we will see Zaccheus wasn't so corrupt.
To the Jews a "Sinner" wasn't the same as a non-jew. They called them "the goyim" or "Godless nations". A sinner was a person who had received knowledge of God but chose to live apart from that and so they went "Off the path", also called "Trespases". Today we would call that an apostate.
8Then Zakkai arose and he said to Yeshua, “Behold, my Lord, I give half my wealth to the poor, and anything that I have seized I repay fourfold to every man.”
Who told Zaccheus to do that? Jesus didn't say, "give money to the poor". He didn't ask him if he cheated anyone. All he said was' "Let me come to your house today".
This is the effect of holiness and the Holy Spirit with conviction. It doesn't always blame you, but it does show you w hat you should do. In this case giving to the needy was a command of God and an act of repentance and righteousness (tsedaka or charity or setting things right, a form of a lifestyle of repentance) on the part of Zaccheus who had heard but now inwardly knew that Jesus was the promised Messiah of God. Jesus had reached out to Zakkai with love and now Zakkai was going to reflect that love to the object of Gods love: The needy.
Furthermore, he had not been cheating anyone but pledged to pay anyone he had wronged 4 times that amount in keeping with the Law of Moses. Zakkai was making the inner house of his heart ready for Jesus. Jesus said "I must come to your house today", now Zakkai was getting it ready with repentance in the same way you prepare a room with nice linens and furnishings for an honored guest.
9Yeshua said to him, “Today, The Life has come to this house, because This One also is The Son of Abraham.” 10“For The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
Notice how Jesus calls this "The Life". He didn't say, "getting saved", He was talking about something ongoing, that is "The Life". The life and The Path are inseparable in that Jesus is "the Life and The Path". But what really sticks out to me is the unmitigated joy Zaccheus felt. He gave half his belongings and gained the whole universe and eternal life.
As Jesus arrived and chose him by name Zaccheus joined Jesus in an act of righteousness with his charitable act of giving half his wealth. Just as the tears are an outward reaction of the inward reality here too Zakkai, the small man in a barren fruit tree, has made room for Jesus in his house and become a giant tree bearing the fruit of righteousness.
+ Stan
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The Old testament and event the New have a lot of sorrow involved in repentance, and that is understandable when you suddenly realize that you have led a wasted life as was the case of Mary Magdalene. Those tears of repentance can also be tears of release as the chains of the Devil are broken off of your soul, But sometimes there is joy instead.
Take a look at the life giving words of Luke 19 to see the clear picture of this:
1And when Yeshua entered and passed through Jericho, 2A certain man was there whose name was Zakkai; he was a rich man and Chief of Tax Collectors,3And he wanted to see who Yeshua was and he was not able to from the crowd because Zakkai was small in stature.
A short man, in a way this is symbolic of humility. His smallness eventually made him a giant.
In the Jewish thought of the day any birth defects or health problems were the result of sin. As a small man he would have been mocked and shunned his whole life. This might have led him to eventually become a tax collector which was also a hated profession.
4And he ran before it to Yeshua and he climbed up a bare fig tree to see him because he was going to pass by there.
The fig tree is often a symbol of Israel and spiritual fruitfulness.
5And when he came to that place, Yeshua saw him and said to him, “Hasten, come down, Zakkai, for today I must stay at your house.”
Here Jesus prophetically calls to Zakkai.
6And he made haste and he came down and received him rejoicing. 7But when all of them saw it, they were all complaining and they were saying, “He entered and lodged with a man that is a sinner.”
Because Zaccheus was a tax collector the Jews viewed him as a servant of the Roman opressors. Tax collectors were also known to notoriously corrupt and would add their own personal taxes on top of the taxes for Rome, but as we will see Zaccheus wasn't so corrupt.
To the Jews a "Sinner" wasn't the same as a non-jew. They called them "the goyim" or "Godless nations". A sinner was a person who had received knowledge of God but chose to live apart from that and so they went "Off the path", also called "Trespases". Today we would call that an apostate.
8Then Zakkai arose and he said to Yeshua, “Behold, my Lord, I give half my wealth to the poor, and anything that I have seized I repay fourfold to every man.”
Who told Zaccheus to do that? Jesus didn't say, "give money to the poor". He didn't ask him if he cheated anyone. All he said was' "Let me come to your house today".
This is the effect of holiness and the Holy Spirit with conviction. It doesn't always blame you, but it does show you w hat you should do. In this case giving to the needy was a command of God and an act of repentance and righteousness (tsedaka or charity or setting things right, a form of a lifestyle of repentance) on the part of Zaccheus who had heard but now inwardly knew that Jesus was the promised Messiah of God. Jesus had reached out to Zakkai with love and now Zakkai was going to reflect that love to the object of Gods love: The needy.
Furthermore, he had not been cheating anyone but pledged to pay anyone he had wronged 4 times that amount in keeping with the Law of Moses. Zakkai was making the inner house of his heart ready for Jesus. Jesus said "I must come to your house today", now Zakkai was getting it ready with repentance in the same way you prepare a room with nice linens and furnishings for an honored guest.
9Yeshua said to him, “Today, The Life has come to this house, because This One also is The Son of Abraham.” 10“For The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
Notice how Jesus calls this "The Life". He didn't say, "getting saved", He was talking about something ongoing, that is "The Life". The life and The Path are inseparable in that Jesus is "the Life and The Path". But what really sticks out to me is the unmitigated joy Zaccheus felt. He gave half his belongings and gained the whole universe and eternal life.
As Jesus arrived and chose him by name Zaccheus joined Jesus in an act of righteousness with his charitable act of giving half his wealth. Just as the tears are an outward reaction of the inward reality here too Zakkai, the small man in a barren fruit tree, has made room for Jesus in his house and become a giant tree bearing the fruit of righteousness.
+ Stan
Did this help you or speak to you? Then make a donation right now.