Lange Commentary - Luke 19:1 - 19:10

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Lange Commentary - Luke 19:1 - 19:10


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4. Jesus and Zaccheus (Luk_19:1-10)

1, 2And Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. And, behold, there was a man named Zaccheus, which was the chief among the publicans [and he was a chief tax-gatherer], 3and he [this man] was rich. And he sought to see Jesus who he was; andcould not for the press, because he was little of stature. 4And he ran before, and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him; for he was to pass that way. 5And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zaccheus, make haste, and come down; for to-day I must abide at thy house. 6And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully. 7And when they saw it, they all 8murmured, saying, That he was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner. And Zaccheus stood [or, came forward], and said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold. 9And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvationcome to this house, forasmuch as he also is a son of Abraham. 10For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

Luk_19:2. Zaccheus.—Hebrew æַëָּå , “Pure,” Ezr_2:9; Neh_7:14. This Hebrew name with Greek ending of itself denotes him as a man of Jewish origin; comp. Luk_19:9. According to the Clementines, he afterwards became a disciple of Peter, and Bishop of Cæsarea. See Homil. 3:63, and Recogn. 3:65. Later Jewish traditions in reference to his descent are found in Sepp, L. J. iii. p. 166. He is ἀñ÷éôåëþíçò , an administrator of the taxes, to whom the over-sight over the common publicans was committed; perhaps plenipotentiary of one of the Roman knights, who often sustained the dignity of Publicani. At Jericho, where in this time a large amount of balsam was produced and exported, the office of tax-gatherer was doubtless an important post. That Zaccheus was rich, appears not only from the place which he had farmed, but also from the liberal way in which he sought to make good previously committed injustice. But that this wealth did not yet satisfy his heart, is made evident by his eager longing after Jesus.

Luk_19:3. He sought to see Jesus.—Without doubt, the fame of Jesus had come to his ears, but he did not yet know Him by sight. Herod also had displayed the same longing, Luk_9:7-9; but is there any need of intimating that the curiosity of Zaccheus sprang from a nobler source? In him we are entitled to presuppose a state of mind like that of the Greeks, Joh_12:21. After he has heard the wonderful and in part contradictory reports that were in circulation respecting Jesus, an obscure longing for higher treasures has been awakened in his heart,—a longing of which, however, he cannot as yet give any precise account to himself. A very favorable testimony for him is even the fact that he leaves his dwelling, and places himself on the way where the caravan going to the feast must pass by; yet in vain does he strive to discover a spot that will secure him a comfortable standing-place and an unobstructed view; great as is his interest, his stature is proportionably diminutive, so that at last he climbs a tree, on which he finds both rest and an unobstructed view along the road; and he also feels himself now, in the hope of at last obtaining his wish, so happy that he takes no account of the mockeries to which he, the smallest, and yet in a certain sense a great, man, was doubtless exposed in the midst of the jubilant throng, on account of his singular proceeding.

Luk_19:4. A sycamore tree, óõêïìïñÝá .—See Lachmann and Tischendorf: the Ficus Ægyptia of Pliny. Arbor moro similis folio, magnitudine, adspectu. See Winer, in voce. The fruit is, according to the accounts of travellers, pleasant and sweet-tasting. But here the sycamore bears a fruit of the noblest and rarest kind, which is to ripen for the refreshment of Jesus.

Luk_19:5. Jesus … saw him.—It is not necessary to explain the acquaintance of Jesus with Zaccheus as supernatural (Olshausen); nor have we any more need of taking refuge in the assumption of a relation unknown to us between the two (Meyer), or conjecturing that some one had designedly mentioned him to our Lord (Paulus). The difficulty disappears if we only transfer ourselves fairly to the scene of the event. By the very exceptionalness of his position, Zaccheus strikes the eye of all. His name goes from mouth to mouth. One shows him to another. Here and there dislike manifests itself against the doubtless not universally beloved chief publican, comp. Luk_19:7, and, therefore, in an entirely natural way the Saviour’s look is directed upon Zaccheus. But what is truly Divine consists in this: that our Lord at once fathoms the heart of the man with the same look which once followed Nathanael into solitude, Joh_1:48, and that He fulfils his longing for a better good in a way which causes Zaccheus to find more than he had at the moment sought “Nomine se appellari, Zacchœus non potuit non et admirari et lœtari.” Bengel.

To-day I must abide at thy house.—Stop a while to rest. Comp. Luk_19:7, and Mat_10:11. “ Äåῖ is uttered from the consciousness of the Divine disposition of events, Luk_19:10.” Meyer. If this utterance, on the one hand, indicates the haste which well knows that it has no time to lose and will never come again to Jericho, it also beyond doubt expresses, on the other hand, the joy of the Redeemer, who finds the sinner, as the sinner had sought his Redeemer. For the Saviour there exists here an inward necessity to turn in at no other dwelling than that of the publican; His heart commands it, the constraint of compassion tells Him so. “As now in Zaccheus the longing to see Jesus came from the prevenient grace of God, and was the beginning of faith, so was this spark of faith by Christ’s address mightily strengthened.”

Luk_19:7. When they saw it they all murmured.—It is, of course, understood that we have not to understand this of the disciples (Calvin), but of the Jews, who had been witnesses of the joy with which Zaccheus received the Lord at the entrance of his dwelling. With greater haste than he had ever used for the taking in of the most considerable gain, Zaccheus has opened his house for the Exalted Traveller, to whom his heart already feels itself drawn. Yet what prepares for him the most delightful surprise is to others a scandal, and soon the smothered murmur of censure gains distinctness: “He is gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner.” ÐáñÜ must in the construction not be connected with åἰóῆëèåí but with êáôáëßῦóáé , since the latter has no other significance than îåíßæåóèáé . We do not, however, from these words alone need to draw the conclusion that Zaccheus was a sinner above many others—for publican and sinner were, in the mouths of many, words of one and the same meaning—and quite as little that Jesus really spent the whole night in the dwelling of Zaccheus, and did not continue His journey till the following day. êáôáëῦóáé , it is true, is commonly taken in this sense, e. g., by Meyer and De Wette, as also by Schleiermacher, l. c. p. 174. But the example Joh_1:39 does not prove this, and our Lord’s concluding declaration: “To-day is salvation come to this house,” would be deprived of its natural relation to the other: “To-day must I abide at thy house,” if both sayings had not been uttered in one day. Apparently, therefore, we have to assume that our Lord, who was manifestly hastening to Jerusalem, spent only some hours, the remnant of the day, with Zaccheus, and this of itself was sufficient to make Him with many an object of offence. While every publican, even as such, was odious to the people, who wished to be tributary to Jehovah alone, they had undoubtedly learned of the numerous priests who dwelt at Jericho to look down upon an ἀñ÷éôåëþíçò with double contempt. It also bears witness to the unfavorable feeling against our Lord which had so greatly increased in Judæa, that He could scarcely advance a step without drawing on Himself new censure. But if any think that we must assume that the Saviour really spent the night also with Zaccheus, we must at all events conceive that which is related Luk_19:8-9, as not taking place on the following morning, but soon after the arrival of our Lord, under the first fresh impression of His personal appearance.

Luk_19:8. And Zaccheus came forward and said.—Not as though the admonitions of his Guest had now for the first time exercised such an influence upon this publican (Kuinoel), and still less because he was persuaded that no one would be able to charge upon him the least deceit, because he was honesty itself (F. R. Schneider, Gesch. J. Chr. ii. p. 84), but because he in this way wished to give an unequivocal proof of his thankfulness for the undeserved honor that had fallen to his lot. Strikingly does the liberality of the chief publican contrast with the mean-spiritedness of the multitude, Luk_19:7. And if ever the saying proved true, that it is indeed difficult yet not impossible for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God, this now came to pass in the words of Zaccheus. He will requite the honor, bestowed on his house by some special act; and already does he know his Guest so intimately as this, that he is well persuaded as to what kind of offering will be to Him even far more acceptable than the most splendid feast. Deeply did he feel his accumulated ill-desert over against the immaculately Holy One; but this compassion shown him encouraged him to rise out of the depth into which he had sunk. With entire spontaneousness he begins to speak of the moral obliquity which had earlier misled him, consciously or unconsciously, to defraud any one of anything, and more than the letter of the law makes his duty will he restore. The hypothetical form of his vow, åἴ · ôé , is not merely a milder expression of confession (Meyer); it is, on the other hand, entirely natural in the mouth of a man who has so long and so often offended through the common dishonesty of his calling, that he at the moment does not even call to mind when in particular he had gained anything by chicanery. Enough, the restitution which Moses had required only in a special case of theft (Exo_22:1), he will make in the case of everything that he has gained in a dishonest way, and while, according to the later Jewish writers, even he was distinguished as an eminent Israelite, who destined the fifth part of his property to benevolence, Zaccheus gives not less than the half of his goods to the poor. In truth: “hœc est sapiens illa stultitia, quam de sycomoro, tanquam fructum vitœ, legerat, rapta reddere, propria relinquere, visibilia contemnere.” Beza. Zaccheus evidently shows that the principle is not strange to him which is expressed in the old maxim: “Peccatum non remittitur, nisi ablatum restituatur.” Whether even previously the requirement addressed by John the Baptist to the publicans had come to his ears: “Exact no more than is appointed,” we know not; at all events, he had hitherto not acted agreeably to it. But now it is as if not only a new light had risen to his eyes, but also a new life to his heart. The day when Jesus entered his house is the birth-day of his new better man, and while he of his own free choice becomes poorer in earthly goods, his wealth in heavenly treasures augments, so that To-day in his consciousness draws a sharp dividing line between Yesterday and To-morrow. This consciousness he expresses in a surprising manner: the ingenua confessio and the voluntaria restitutio complement one another admirably.

Luk_19:9. This day is salvation come to this house.—Our Lord addresses these words directly to Zaccheus ( ðñüò ), not merely in relation to him (De Wette, and others); that He does it in the third person arises from the fact, that this declaration is meant to comprise at the same time a vindication of His own coming to this house, and a well-deserved eulogy for Zaccheus himself. He says that salvation has come to the house of the publican, not because that house had received one of His visits, but because its inhabitant really showed himself another man from what he appeared to be in the eyes of the multitude. While they had even just before named him an ἀíὴñ ἁìáñôùëüò , the Saviour now names him a õἱὸò ἈâñáÜì , not because he had before been a heathen, but now showed the character of a true Israelite (Maldonatus and others), nor yet merely because he by his conversion had become a true Israelite ( ἐóôß in the sense of ἐãÝíåôï , Kuinoel), but because it was manifest that he, how much soever the people reviled him, yet belonged to the people of God’s choice. The unloving censurers had overlooked the fact that he, as a son of Abraham, was nevertheless still related to them according to the flesh; Jesus bestowed upon him the eulogy that he also belonged, according to the Spirit, to the posterity of the friend of God; comp. Luk_13:16.

Luk_19:10. For the Son of Man.—Statement of the ground of the previous declaration. Where a son of Abraham, according to the flesh, is a lost one, just there is My appearance necessary; where a lost one is renewed unto a spiritual son of Abraham, there is the purpose of My appearance attained.— Ἠëèå signifies not entirely the same as the Ý ̓ ñ÷åóèáé åἰò ôὸí êüóìïí of John, where the secondary idea of preëxistence is not to be mistaken; absolutely used, it appears to designate the public manifestation and coming forth of the Son of Man.—To seek, like the Shepherd, Luk_15:4. Comp. Mat_9:13; Mat_18:11.—To save, not in the sense of to make blessed, but in the sense of to rescue. The óùôçñßá of the New Testament is the preservation of that which would otherwise have become the certain prey of an irrevocable destruction, as Zaccheus would have become if this hour had not dawned for him.—What afterwards became of him we know not. In all probability he remained in his office of tax-gatherer; at least the Saviour, who sees the end of His own career approaching, does not call him away from it, as he formerly called Matthew and others. He knows that such a man will afterwards be an ornament to the calling of the publican, and prove himself continually a son of Abraham. Yet enough, at all events, when Jesus now soon afterwards left Jericho, He knew that in this city at least one house was found in which He had already bestowed that which He, dying, was soon to procure for a whole lost world— óùôçñßá !

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. In the days of Joshua there was a terrible curse uttered upon Jericho, Jos_6:26, and in the time of Ahab this curse was fulfilled in a not less terrible manner, 1Ki_16:34. With the entry of the Saviour into Jericho there dawns at least for one house in Jericho a day of inestimable blessing, and more yet would have become partakers of this blessing along with Zaccheus, had they only known the time of their visitation.

2. The coming of our Saviour to the City of Palms in the midst of the tumult of an innumerable throng; the silent inquiry of a longing soul after Him, and the sweet answer of prevenient grace; the entrance of Jesus into the favored house with all His peace, and the sacrifice rendered by the thanksgiving of the surprised inhabitant thereof;—all this has a beautiful symbolical sense, which makes this gospel above any other fitted for the dedication of a church, especially when it is brought into connection with the inexhaustibly rich epistle, Rev_21:1-5.

3. “Little soul, thinkest thou then that for thee no tree has grown on which thou mightest climb, that thy eyes might behold Him that bringeth salvation to thy heart?” Gossner.

4. The very great diversity of the ways in which God leads sinners to conversion becomes manifest when we compare the history of Zaccheus with so many others; for instance, with that of the Penitent Thief, of Saul, Cornelius, of the Jailer, &c. The history of this chief of the publicans reminds us of the parable of the Treasure in the Field, and still more of that of the Pearl of Great Price. At the same time the reception which Jesus makes ready for the publican is an admirable commentary on His own word, Rev_3:20.

5. The connection of ðßóôéò with ìåôÜíïéá is vividly presented in the history of Zaccheus. On the one hand, no receptivity for faith on the Saviour, unless already in his soul an incipient, secret but powerful change had taken place; on the other hand, no true faith that did not of itself lead to a thorough alteration of the life and the method of business. It is foolish to suppose that Zaccheus, by the restoration of extorted gain, could have compensated his guilt before God, but just as little would his repentance have been a sincere one if he had felt no necessity of setting right his trespasses in this way. The consolatory consciousness that the guilt of sin is blotted out cannot possibly refresh us, if it is not at the same time our highest wish to be relieved from the ruinous dominion of the same.

6. The Pauline doctrine of Justification by Faith is by this narrative both explained and confirmed. Zaccheus is the precursor of the many heathens who have not sought for righteousness and yet have obtained righteousness, Rom_9:30-33. The Jews, on the other hand, who in their holiness of works murmured against the bestowal of free grace, remained then and remain yet—shut out.

7. In conclusion, the circumstance deserves well to be brought into use in behalf of future Apologetics, that the whole history of Zaccheus bears a character of freshness, truth, and absence of invention, on which every doubt is broken, as even Strauss, L. J. i. p. 613, has conceded. But with this its historical truth is united its ideal and eternal truth, according to which this journey of the Saviour may be called the symbol of His continuous journey through the world’s history, in which He now, as ever, reveals Himself to the individual in His saving power, while the greater part, even yet, continually misunderstand Him or mock Him.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

The hour of blessing for the once accursed City of Palms.—Where Jesus passes by He cannot remain hidden.—The rich Zaccheus in all his poverty; the subsequently impoverished Zaccheus in all his wealth.—The longing to see Jesus: 1. How it arises; 2. wherein it reveals itself; 3. in what way it is satisfied.—How the tumult of the world often hinders us still from seeing and hearing our Lord at hand.—In order to see Jesus well, one must climb; in order to receive Him rightly, one must come down.—He hath filled the hungry with good things, but the rich He hath sent empty away.—The courage of the poor sinner.—The looking of Jesus up to Zaccheus no less proof of grace than His looking down towards many others.—Where the concern is to save a sinner, there to the Saviour a stopping on His way to death is no loss of time.—It is not by the beauty of nature, but by a work of grace, that our Lord allows Himself to be detained at Jericho.—“Make haste and come down, for to-day I must abide at thy house,” text for a communion address. This assurance: 1. For whom does it hold true? 2. what does it prove? 3. what does it promise? 4. what does it require?—Jesus a Saviour who: 1. Must come into our house; 2. and can come even to-day; 3. and comes for our salvation.—Jesus invites Himself, if one should not venture to invite Him.—The Good Shepherd calls His sheep by name, Joh_10:3.—Even to-day does the world take offence when the Saviour turns in at the house of the sinner.—Parallel between this event and Luk_7:36-50. Here also the displeasure of Simon on the one hand, the penitence of the sinning woman on the other hand.—Zaccheus, the longer for salvation, is: 1. Courageously bold; 2. inwardly rejoiced; 3. by many contemned; 4. highly honored.—The little Zaccheus a great hero of faith: 1. How longingly he waits; 2. how frankly he comes: 3. how bountifully he thanks.—The making good of former trespasses: 1. A necessity naturally felt; 2. a sure token; 3. a blessed fruit, of upright faith.—“To-day is salvation come unto this house,” a text for baptismal and marriage addresses.—The day of true conversion the most memorable day of life, 2Co_5:17.—Where Jesus gains disciples, there has Abraham also acquired genuine sons.—Jesus is come to seek, etc.: 1. A most humiliating; 2. an indescribably comforting; 3. a powerfully sanctifying, saying.

Starke:—J. Hall:—From a great sinner there may come a great saint.—Osiander:—God has chosen some souls of the rich as well as of the poor to eternal life.—Many a man does something that in his calling appears to him to be unimpeachable, but faith judges very differently; 2Sa_6:16.—Christ willingly directs His eyes upon penitent sinners; Luk_22:61.—Quesnel:—God gives the longing to know Him, and if that is not despised He then gives more.—The Lord Jesus wishes to come spiritually to us; Joh_14:23.—Majus:—We may well be conversant with sinners if we only do not mean to practise sin with them.—Compassion towards the poor avails not for salvation, yet must it be practised for those that will be saved; Deu_24:17.—Langii Op.:—How many are like Zaccheus in riches and unrighteousness, but how few in true conversion and restitution.—Nova Bibl. Tub.:—Happy the house where Jesus becomes a Guest!—With true conversion there come to pass great alterations in houses, cities, and countries.—The farther from the world, the nearer to God.—Heubner:—Jesus is accessible to all classes.—Even yet He finds necessity to abide with those that desire Him.—What an honor to entertain Jesus!—The days of salvation in our fife when Jesus comes especially near to us.—Through faith we come into communion with all the saints of the early time.—The visible church leads into the invisible.—Our churches as dwelling-places of Jesus; they are: 1. Reminders of Him, Luk_19:1-4; Luke 2. sources of His gracious visitation, Luk_19:5-7; Luke 3. summonses on the part of Jesus to conscientious fulfilment of duty, Luk_19:8; Luke 4. awakenings to the care of our own and others’ souls, Luk_19:9-10.—Palmer:—The gracious hour of the Lord: 1. How it comes (unexpected, but not unprepared for); 2. what it brings (Christ, and in Him salvation); 3. what traces it leaves behind (a heart disposed to repentance and love).—Arndt:—Jesus the Friend of man: 1. Towards whom He reveals His love; 2. what moves Him thereto; 3. how He proceeds; 4. what effects he produces; 5. by what means he accomplishes and crowns His work.—J. Diedrich:—How men’s souls, truly for their salvation, meet with Christ.—W. Hofacker:—The beautiful process of development which the noble plant of faith, under the influence of Divine grace, passes through: 1. The tender germs; 2. the beautiful flower; 3. the wholesome fruits of the plant.—Gerok:—The concurrence of human will and Divine grace.—Knapp:—Concerning the ever-abounding blessing of a true personal acquaintance with Christ.—Harless:—Jesus receives sinners [Jesus nimmt die Sünder an].