Friday, 12 April Luke 18:35 – 19:10
Written by Dr Graham Leo. ©2019.
Today’s reading crosses two chapters. As is often the case, the chapter/verse divisions are not helpful for our understanding. Always remember that Luke, and other biblical authors did not write with chapters. They were imposed on scripture many hundreds of years later. They are useful for finding and referencing, but if we want to be insightful readers of scripture, we should always look beyond them to find what the writer is getting at. Today’s reading is a case in point – and it’s another two stories to compare.
If you were reading this Gospel chapter by chapter, you might easily miss this: In 18:35 Luke writes: As Jesus approached Jericho… At 19:1 he writes: Jesus entered Jericho… The similarity is too sharp to be accidental. But let’s look further.
In the first story, there is a blind man who immediately knew who Jesus was. He heard a commotion, asked someone what was going on, and was told that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. Quick as light, he calls out: Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me! The blind man knew who Jesus really was, even without being told.
In the second story, there is a man who could see, but who really wanted to see who Jesus was (v3). Luke jokes that Zacchaeus couldn't see Jesus properly because he was a short man, and had to climb a tree, but really, of course, that wasn't the real reason at all.
I don't mean that Zacchaeus didn't actually climb the tree, but I can’t help but see Luke smiling as he writes down this story in just the way that he has. Read 18:3, and imagine a scholar in his tweed coat with leather protector patches on the sleeves, having a quiet little smirk on his face as he writes. Wanted to see Jesus properly, so he climbed a tree. Tee hee. Jolly good! Hope they get it when they read this in 2000 years time!
The blind man really wanted to see and the seeing man was blind to the truth because he had spent his whole life focussing his sight on his money-making. But both wanted to see Jesus in the depth of their hearts and both were met by Jesus at their point of need.
Who could not believe that Luke wants us to read these two stories side by side?
Further, when Jesus hears the blind man calling out, he stops and calls for the man to be brought to him. (That was a service, wasn't it? To be the man or woman who obeyed Jesus just then. We don't know their name, but their deed was so important in the story of Christianity.) The man must have been absolutely beside himself with joy and anticipation. His voice had been heard! The healer had called him over! Could he…, would he… if only… perhaps this is my moment?
He hears the words, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ Oh, were there ever any more welcome words? These are the words that Jesus, through this man’s story, asks of all of us. Not always for healing, or solving of our problems, but for dealing with our core problem. We are sinners, desperately in need of forgiveness and reconstruction.
So Jesus grants him his sight. The Greek word (anablephon) used here is the same as that used in Luke 4:18, that moment where Jesus announces his kingdom inauguration. One of the promised signs was that the blind should receive their sight (anablephon).
When Luke declares that Zacchaeus wants to see Jesus, he uses a different word. He uses the Greek word idein. This was a very popular word for Plato and other Greek philosophers. They used it to mean a concept, an archetype, an original idea – for this is where our word ‘idea’ comes from. The name Zacchaeus probably comes from a root that means pure, clear, like glass or pure olive oil. It refers to a quality of something that is so clear you can see through it. The scholar Luke is enjoying this story and its words.
So now we see another clever little contrast that Luke has placed into these two stories. The blind man wanted to gain visual sight, because he was like a prisoner, bound up, held captive by his blindness. (The idea of captivity, of being bound up is inherent in the Hebrew of this phrase from Isaiah that Jesus reads in Luke 4.)
Zacchaeus wanted to gain an intellectual idea of who Jesus was. He could see him by the simple means of climbing a tree, but the extra elevation didn't allow him to achieve his goal of idein, of understanding Jesus. (Leather-patch-tweed-coated Luke puffs on his pipe and smiles, again, shifting in his seat slightly as he reads this over.)
So Jesus met Zacchaeus where he needed to be met. He looked up at Zacchaeus, and invited himself to dinner at his house. Jesus looked up! How odd!
C. S. Lewis wrote once, in a letter to a friend, (I'm quoting from memory here, don't tell me I’ve cited him wrongly if you check it out!) that it’s funny how you always think that Jesus is taller than you are. It’s impossible to imagine looking down on Jesus as you talk to him. I'm not especially tall, but I don't know whether tall people also feel this way? There’s a very tall man at my church; I must ask him.
At the dinner, something happened which fulfilled Zacchaeus’s longing. He developed such a clear idea of who Jesus really was, that he did what seems to be so typical of the effect that Jesus had on people in his day. He became uncharacteristically generous. When you realise that you have wronged someone, it is good to rectify it quickly and generously.
Luke points out one last difference between these two events. When Jesus welcomed the blind man home, the people praised God and rejoiced that the kingdom was come amongst them. When Jesus welcomed himself into Zacchaeus’ home, and was welcomed in return by Zacchaeus, the people began to mutter and grumble about Jesus spending too much time with sinners.
We need to be always open to the fact that God also loves those people whom we don't particularly like. His welcome is wider than ours. We might need to enlarge our vision, get a greater concept, a bigger idea of who God truly is, in order to truly understand, to see, to get a good idea of the width and depth of his love for us all.
Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, I thank you for Luke and his careful reconstructions of the events that you shaped in your life here on earth. I can see to some extent, but it is ‘clear’ to me that my vision needs to be wider, my depth of vision greater, my focal point sharpened. Help me to see you more clearly in your wonderful personal presence, but also in the people around me who reflect your image. Amen.
