Anybody out there like me, who grew up in the 60s and 70s in a Southern Baptist church? If so, you most likely have vivid memories of flannelgraph stories in Sunday School. For those of you who didn’t grow up as I did, or weren’t even born yet, a flannelgraph is a storytelling tool consisting of a board covered in flannel fabric. It is used to display cut-out pictures and illustrations to enhance storytelling, teaching concepts, and hands-on learning. I loved when I walked into my second grade Sunday School classroom and the flannelgraph was sitting on the table next to the teacher’s chair. I couldn't wait to see which Bible characters were in that day’s lesson.
I remember the Sunday when the story was about a rich man who was also short, named Zacchaeus, who lived and worked in a city in Israel called Jericho. Of course hearing the name, “Jericho” reminded me of another flannelgraph story of that city’s tall walls and Joshua leading a bunch of priests with ram’s horns around the walls for several days. They didn’t make a sound until the last day, when the horns were blown and the walls came tumbling down! But I digress…the flannelgraph had a big tree and lots of people and Jesus, of course. And then there was this little man who could sit right up in the tree. It was amazing! Granted this was before Veggie Tales or Super Book or other christian cartoons, so we were just excited to see the figures from the Bible stories move around the flannel board. Unlike many of the biblical flannelgraph stories, the story about Zacchaeus had a fun little song with hand motions to help kids remember:
Zacchaeus was a wee little man
And a wee little man was he
He climbed up in a sycamore tree
For the Lord he wanted to see
And as the Savior passed that way
He looked up in the tree
And He said, “Zacchaeus, you come down!
For I’m going to your house today.
For I’m going to your house today.”
Today we’ll read the entire short story (pun intended!) of Zacchaeus in the only gospel in which it was recorded - Luke. We’ll also read of Jesus’ last parable taught on His way to Jerusalem - about stewardship of the gifts entrusted to us.
Read Luke Luke 19:1-27
Jesus was passing through the city of Jericho on His way to Jerusalem. Now Jericho in this period was quite different from the Old Testament city whose walls had come crashing down when the Israelites first crossed the Jordan River from 40+ years in the wilderness. Herod the Great had obtained Jericho from Caesar Augustus; he then proceeded to build aqueducts, a fortress, a monumental winter palace, and even a hippodrome! In case you don’t know, a hippodrome was a stadium-type structure that had a U-shaped racecourse. It was used to race chariots and horses, a popular sport at the time. Spectators could watch men, especially those of the lower class, race around the course on a chariot pulled by horses. The Greeks and Romans had nothing on Herod!
As usual, throngs of people surrounded Jesus as He entered this modern metropolis. Everyone wanted to see Jesus, hear from Him and maybe even catch a miracle or two. Included in the crowd was a chief tax collector, named Zacchaeus. While this title of chief tax collector isn’t found anywhere else in the New Testament, we do know that Jericho was centrally situated in that area and was most likely a collection point for taxing goods moving from east to west and vice versa. Regardless, Zacchaeus was a rich and powerful man, but there was just one problem. Zacchaeus was small in stature. The average height of a Jewish man in that day was about five and a half feet, so he must have been more like five feet, or maybe shorter! If he looked forward in the middle of a crowd, all he saw were lots of necks, shoulders and backs. Realizing he was about to miss the celebrity of the year, Zacchaeus climbed up a sycamore tree and sat in the crook of one of its limbs. Now he could see! And Jesus was coming his way!
Zacchaeus was thrilled to lay eyes on Jesus, watching from a distance. But Jesus stopped, looked up at His image-bearer perched in a tree and sought him out. ”Zacchaeus, hurry and come down because today it is necessary for me to stay at your house.” (v 5) How did Jesus know his name? Realizing that Jesus saw him and knew him, Zacchaeus scrambled down the tree and joyfully welcomed Jesus. Could it be that he was saved at that moment? Why else would Zacchaeus joyfully welcome a Jewish rabbi? It would be more likely for him to be ashamed or skeptical of the attention.
Then the complaints started pouring in, “Why would He want to hang out with this chief sinner? This guy’s an absolute jerk, regularly extorting money from us and everyone who passes through Jericho.” (from v 7) Jesus doesn't say a word, but Zacchaeus certainly does, recognizing the wrong that he has done and promising to pay it all back. If that isn’t fruit in keeping with repentance, I don’t know what is! Then Jesus confirms the change by saying, “Today salvation has come to this house…For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost…even short tax collectors!” (from vv 9-10)
The residents of Jericho can’t believe their eyes and ears. Jesus has their full attention, so He uses the moment to teach one last parable before coming to His final destination - Jerusalem. This parable, of Ten Minas, was in response to those who expected that the fullness of the kingdom of God was to appear immediately. This was especially a concern because Jesus was heading to Jerusalem, where expectations of a messiah with military might were running high.
“Therefore he said, ‘A nobleman traveled to a far country to receive for himself authority to be king and then to return.’” (v 12) The phrase “to receive for himself authority to be king” is literally “to receive for himself a kingdom, or sovereignty.” Jesus is the nobleman who, after His death, burial, resurrection and ascension to heaven will wait until He is granted authority, sovereignty over the expanded kingdom of God on earth. At that point, and only the Father knows the timing, Christ will return. According to Matthew 24:36, “Now concerning that day and hour no one knows—neither the angels of heaven nor the Son —except the Father alone.”
Therefore the parable indicates that the Kingdom of God will not be seen in its fullness until Christ returns.
But what about the in-between time? The parable implies that Jesus will give gifts to each of His people, expecting them to use those gifts in His absence to assist in growing the Kingdom of God. These gifts are suited to each person and should not be compared or hidden, but stewarded for the building up of the body of Christ. The Apostle Paul teases this out more fully for us in his letter to the Corinthian church, “Now concerning spiritual gifts: brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be unaware…Now there are different gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different ministries, but the same Lord. And there are different activities, but the same God works all of them in each person. A manifestation of the Spirit is given to each person for the common good: to one is given a message of wisdom through the Spirit, to another, a message of knowledge by the same Spirit, to another, faith by the same Spirit, to another, gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another, the performing of miracles, to another, prophecy, to another, distinguishing between spirits, to another, different kinds of tongues, to another, interpretation of tongues. One and the same Spirit is active in all these, distributing to each person as he wills.” (1 Cor 12:1, 4-11) Unfortunately, many who claim to be Christ-followers will prove their deep hatred for Him, refusing to submit to His lordship and build mini kingdoms for themselves.
When Jesus returns, He will gather His people to Himself joyfully, but will also ask for an accounting of how each of us stewarded the spiritual gifts He entrusted to us in every area of life - finances, possessions, work, family, children. It appears that those who faithfully carry out stewardship responsibilities in this life will be given greater responsibility and stewardship in the life to come. This, along with a number of other New Testament passages, teach that there will be degrees of reward and responsibility in heaven. Many will have been faithful with what they were given and will be entrusted with much more; but then there will be those who created a harsh and selfish image of God, justifying their refusal to do His will in this world. Perhaps they suffered great loss and blame God or were treated unjustly by a parent or other authority and now refuse to submit to any authority over them. Regardless of the reasons, and there are many that we are all tempted to believe as we live in this broken world, inhabiting these broken and decaying bodies, a twisted, incomplete image of God that is nurtured and allowed to take root will always result in a false narrative of God and His good plan of redemption. There will be severe consequences for this thinking and behavior if not submitted and repented by the time Christ returns.
This reminds me of Moses' final speech given to the Israelites in the wilderness, urging them to accept the covenant and law that Yahweh had offered them. “See, today I have set before you life and prosperity, death and adversity. For I am commanding you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, statutes, and ordinances, so that you may live and multiply, and the Lord your God may bless you in the land you are entering to possess. But if your heart turns away and you do not listen and you are led astray to bow in worship to other gods and serve them, I tell you today that you will certainly perish and will not prolong your days in the land you are entering to possess across the Jordan. I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, love the Lord your God, obey him, and remain faithful to him.” (Deut. 30:13-20)
Big Picture Questions for Today:
Zacchaeus chose life the day that Jesus came to town. Many of the noblemen's people chose to invest in growing his kingdom while he was away. Have you chosen life? Are you waiting expectantly for Christ’s return, investing in and growing His Kingdom? Has fear or unbelief paralyzed you, making you unable to steward the gifts you have been given? Or perhaps pride and arrogance has caused you to judge and reject the Lord and prioritize the building of your own kingdom on earth?
Pray this confession of sin, from the Book of Common Prayer, 2019:
Most merciful God,
we confess that we have sinned against you
in thought, word, and deed,
by what we have done,
and by what we have left undone.
We have not loved you with our whole heart;
we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.
We are truly sorry and we humbly repent.
For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ,
have mercy on us and forgive us;
that we may delight in your will,
and walk in your ways,
to the glory of your Name. Amen.
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