Sons of Abraham, the Son of Man, and a Wee Little Man: Sunday of Zacchaeus

Readings:
1 Timothy 4:8-15; Luke 19:1-10
Daniel 7:12-14; 17-18; 1 Chronicles 16:7-14

What makes a BIG human being? What does it really entail to “man up,” to use a politically incorrect, but graphic “exclusivist” expression? Our readings for Divine Liturgy this Sunday, the Sunday of Zacchaeus, tell the story of a man who was small in stature AND status, but who met the Lord Jesus, and show us half of the conversation between St. Paul (who also, tradition tells us, was short) and Timothy, a young leader learning to grow in righteousness.

The story of Zacchaeus is well known to many, even to children. After all, who can resist a story of action concerning this little man, despised by many, who climbed a tree, was noticed by Jesus, and repented during a meal with the Lord? As I tell the story, my memory banks give up the song taught to me in childhood by my Sunday School teacher in the Salvation Army: “Zacchaeus was a very little man, and a very little man was he….” As a four-year old I had no idea of the way in which the little man was also despised, not only as a tax-collector (who is the butt of perennial jokes, throughout societies), but a collector for the oppressive Roman enemy, whose very salary depended upon his demanding even more than the oppressors required. Jesus seemed to have had a soft spot in his heart for these people—one (Levi/Matthew) became an apostle, and Jesus told a parable about another, in which the tax-collector (the publican) is compared FAVORABLY against the self-absorbed Pharisee. As Jesus comments in our reading for this week, a Jewish tax-collector, though engaged in despicable activity, is “also a son of Abraham,” to whom the promised Messiah belongs. Though during his earthly ministry Jesus did not take the gospel explicitly to Gentiles, we see him, in his dealings with Zacchaeus and other “tax collectors and sinners” on the margins of Jewish society, pushing the envelope! He did not fare so well with those who thought themselves righteous, did he? Perhaps He knew that those who were obviously “little” had nothing to lose, and would more readily accept Him.

But, of course, Zacchaeus had much to lose in terms of money, even if his reputation was already far gone. The story shows him welcoming a Messiah, and giving up much of his wealth—he makes restitution, as the Law required, up to FOUR TIMES (Ex 22:1) of what he had wrongly taken. When Jesus looks and sees someone, things happen! (That is, if that one is responsive.) This little person takes a step towards God, responding with what he has, and Jesus interprets the event by saying that he is an inheritor of the promises of Abraham, and one whom the Son of Man has come to find. With this statement a picture may come to our mind—the rescue of a sheep, for example, or of a bound one in Hades, by the “strong Man” Jesus (Mark 3:27). We are directed, by Jesus’ declaration, back to two passages of Scripture, one concerning the “seed of Abraham,” and the other concerning the strange figure of “the Son of Man.”

Our first passage is found in 1 Chronicles 16:7-14, which replicates the first part of Psalm 104 (LXX; 105/MT). In this passage, we hear about the beginning of formal worship in the tabernacle, after King David had brought peace to his nation.

Then on that day David first appointed that thanksgiving be sung to the LORD by Asaph and his brethren.
O give thanks to the LORD, call on his name, make known his deeds among the peoples!
Sing to him, sing praises to him, tell of all his wonderful works!
Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice!
Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his presence continually!
Remember the wonderful works that he has done, the wonders he wrought, the judgments he uttered,
O offspring of Abraham his servant, sons of Jacob, his chosen ones!
He is the LORD our God; his judgments are in all the earth. (1Ch 16:7-14 RSV)

There are several things to notice about this passage. The first is that this was not a one-off Psalm that was simply sung extemporaneously during worship. It was one of the appointed Psalms, something that the Jewish people would hear year in and year out as part of their celebrations. This Psalm of thanksgiving is appointed to be sung in the tabernacle—and later in the Temple—but, it calls upon God’s people to “make known his deeds among the peoples.” God is not simply a tribal deity, but the God of the whole creation, including those who do not know him, and they must know his wonderful works as well. As the people of God, the Jewish people, sing, they are to remember not only that they are the offspring, the seed of Abraham, the sons of Jacob, but that the LORD, the creator of all, is their God, and he is the Judge of the whole earth. Not only are the sons of Abraham not to look down upon each other, but they are to understand that God’s presence is with them so that they might tell others, even those outside of Israel, about his greatness. Here, God is the strong one—“Seek the LORD and his strength—and they are the recipients of that strength, for the good of the whole world. This is implicit, indeed, in the naming of Abraham as their father, for Abraham, the servant of God, was told that his Seed, his Descendant (whom we know as Jesus) would bless the nations, the Gentiles.

This really is quite remarkable to consider. At the very time when King David and his people have emerged from a time of conflict, and have finally come to peace by subduing the Gentiles around them, a Psalm is appointed to be sung that reminds them of God’s plan for everyone, including those whom they might consider to be enemies. God is not their mascot, but is King over the earth. The promises of Abraham were for Israel, yes, but through Israel (and Israel’s Messiah) for the whole world. Little Zacchaeus was part of that story, Jesus tells those who scoff at him.
Our second OT passage is more mystical. Jesus named himself “the Son of Man” when speaking about Zacchaeus. What does this phrase mean? Some say that it simply means that he, too, is human, that he shares our lot. This is true, of course, but it is insufficient. To understand the phrase we need to go to chapter seven of Daniel, in which the prophet had a series of visions in which he saw four great animals, representing the kings of savage pagan nations, threatening the people of God. At the end of their horrific rampage, the final beast is destroyed, and a new era begins:

As for the … beasts, their dominion was taken away, but their lives were prolonged for a season and a time. I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a Son of Man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed. …These four great beasts are four kings who shall arise out of the earth. But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, for ever and ever. (Dan 7:12-14; 17-18 RSV)

So, then, the vision concerns the passing power of earthly kings and their kingdoms, even while it acknowledges that the people of God may still be, while on earth, under their corrupt oppression: the lives of the kings “were prolonged for a season and a time.” Yet there is one who conquers over them, one who is like us in every respect (“A Son of Man”) and thus our true representative. This One is vindicated by the Almighty, and is given “dominion and glory and kingdom” over ALL peoples, everlastingly. More than that, his victory is bound up with the victory of the ‘saints of the Most High.” Read on one level, the prophecy could simply be understood as saying that Israel would eventually emerge triumphant over the Gentile nations. But read carefully, and in the light of Jesus, we know that such a triumph given to human beings, to the saints, comes only because of the victory of this great Son of Man. It is to Him that eternal kingship is given, and then to us, too, come the promises—we are to reign with Him. When Jesus spoke of Zacchaeus as a “son of Abraham” whom the “Son of Man” came to find, he was saying something quite remarkable: even this man, on the fringe of God’s people, was meant to inherit the promises, and to be represented by the Son of Man before the Almighty One.

What, then, makes a big person? To become a big man is to cast one’s lot in with the Son of Man, to recognize that the promises given to Abraham were for the whole world. It is to learn to receive and to cease taking. “Taking” or “seizing” is the characteristic seen in the four beasts, those kings of the earth who rise up against the LORD and his anointed; “taking” had represented the modus operandi of Zacchaeus until he was spied up the tree by Jesus, and took the Lord into his home. Zacchaeus’ small, but costly turn-around (“I give back four-fold!”) issued in an immeasurable gift—the approval and blessing of the Son of Man, who has authority over all things. Though what he did was only a small act, it was a true enough echo of the character of the Son of Man himself to show that Zacchaeus’ loyalties had changed: he would no longer be living for himself. For, of course, the Son of Man comes to victory, and obtains our victory, by way of the cross. In finding those who are lost, he gave—gave all that he was, emptying himself, and taking on the form of a slave, so that we might be no longer slaves, but children of Abraham, and even more than that, children of God. “God made Him who knew no sin to become sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor 5:21). What characterizes a strong and big person? The ability to give, in echo of the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus.

Our epistle reading for this Sunday enriches our understanding of these matters.

Train yourself in godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance. For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe. These things command and teach.
Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity. Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership. Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all. (1 Timothy 4:8-15)

The astute will notice that I have gone one verse back, to verse eight, from the prescribed reading, since we must do this to discover what is the faithful and true saying. St. Paul tells his prodigé: “while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way.” THAT is the instruction. We must labor, and suffer reproach, and trust in the One who is strong, giving ourselves to whatever task God has set for us. For Timothy, that was reading Scriptures, and leading the flock. For all of us, it means being an example in other ways, as we give our lives, as we conduct ourselves, love others, believe whole-heartedly, and to maintain the purity of our baptism. We are not to stand still, but to give ourselves to God’s service, so that “our progress” will inspire others. We do not live for ourselves, but for the One who in life and death, gave himself for us. As St. Paul reminds Timothy, the Savior is ours, but also the only Savior “of all human beings.” (The Greek word is the one used for people in general, not for masculine human beings in particular).

Two strong examples of “big men” who gave themselves in this way are seen in the holy “unmercenaries,” the martyrs Cyrus and John, whom we commemorate this weekend. These two were called “unmercenaries” because they gave what they had without requiring any payment, whether it was medical miracles or encouragement. These two flourished during the dreadful Diocletian persecution of the late third and early fourth centuries. The story is told of how they risked, and eventually lost their lives, by visiting a Christian woman, Athanasia, who was scheduled, with her three young daughters, aged 11-15, to be interrogated and executed for the faith. Their encouragement helped these four women of God to stand against all the forces of evil, and to, as we might have said in an earlier time, “play the man.” We continue to ask the prayers of these two generous saints, when we pray:

Since Thou hast given us the miracles of Thy holy Martyrs, Cyrus and John, as an invincible battlement, by their entreaties scatter the counsels of the heathen, O Christ our God, and strengthen the faith of Orthodox Christians, since Thou alone art good and the Lover of mankind.

 
Many of us do not face the persecution that these unmercenaries and their friends did. (Yet we are mindful of those in other places who risk and lose their lives for naming Christ. Even little children are showing us these days what it is to be a “strong man” in the strength of the Lord). However, we have our own trials, and some in our own nation have been prepared to stand up in remarkable ways. I am thinking particularly this week of David Daleiden, and others with him, who braved reputation and now, it seems, liberty, in exposing the deeds of darkness of Planned Parenthood. In a remarkably sinister reversal of judgment, he and a collaborator have been indicted, while those who have profited from the death of innocents have been exonerated. Indeed, it appears that one of the justices on the bench is on the board of Planned Parenthood: why would we expect justice? Yet our Lord specializes in raising up the humble, the little ones like Zacchaeus; the Son of Man came to remove the scepter from the ungodly, and to give the kingdom to the saints of God. Cyrus and John, entreat the Lord to scatter the counsels of those who profit by taking, especially by taking the lives of the smallest among us. Lord, by your gospel, epistle and psalms, teach us to glorify you, the Son of Man, who came to save the least and the lost.