Jews and Tax Collectors: How the Crowd Viewed Zacchaeus

So, about Zacchaeus.... Now I'm not sure how interested you are in this subject. I assume most of you don't click over here for sermons or history lessons. But humor me, because this Biblical figure is quite interesting to me, for good reasons, which I'll share at a later time. For now...

Following our look into the Biblical figure, Zacchaeus, we ask the question: How did Jewish custom or law perceive those Jewish men who opted to become Roman officials by way of the publican, or tax collector?

The Talmud, which began as an oral tradition or law explaining what the Torah (Genesis - Deuteronomy) means and how to interpret the five books and apply the Laws therein, was compiled and written down around the 2nd century C.E., after the fall of Jerusalem and her temple in 70 C.E. Orthodox Jews believe God taught the oral law (Talmud) to Moses, and he taught it to others, down to the present day. It is from the Talmud that we draw societal conclusions and laws governing Jewish tax collectors.

We know that during the time of Christ on earth, the Pharisees were the Jewish sect that strictly followed this oral tradition. In fact, it was a Pharisee that later compiled the written Talmud in 2nd century C.E. What we don't know is how much weight these laws had with the other sects of Judaism at the time of Christ.

I have not gone to the original sources here but rather take mostly from the writings of Alfred Edersheim, a Messianic Jewish scholar of the late 1800's in The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah. Brief internet sources are cited.

1. The lawfulness of paying Roman taxes was questioned by Rabbinical teaching. Why? For one, Roman rule over the Jewish nation was against the expectation, hope, and redemption of Israel. The Jewish publican was seen as the embodiment of antinationalism, a man gone to work for the other side, so to speak. And second, religious conviction, especially of the most devout Jews, demanded no homage to any lord but the one true God.

2. There were two types of tax collectors. Those who collected the regular dues of ground, income, and poll tax. And the custom house official, of greater Roman importance, and the object of chief hatred. It was the custom house official that could inflict greater hardship on the people, taxing them on anything imaginable. Imports, exports, all bought and sold, road money, harbor dues, axles, wheels, animals, bridges, etc, etc. Even the research of modern scholars has not been able to identify all the names of exacted dues. Tax collectors often stopped travelers on their journeys, forcing them to unload all goods, animals, and searching through private letters and such. Quite an annoyance to any traveler in route to a necessary destination.

3. Both classes of publicans fell under a Rabbinic ban: Tax collectors were disqualified from being judges or witnesses in law suits, because they "exacted more than was due." It was also believed and stated that repentance was especially difficult for tax-gatherers and custom house officials. Jews were forbidden the changing of money from the chest of the custom house officials who did not keep to the tax appointed by the government. Those that volunteered their service to Rome did so in hopes of making profits on their own account. Or at least that is how they were viewed. The Talmud charges the custom house officials with gross partiality, showing favor to those they wished, and exacting from those who they did not favor. They were considered a criminal race. If a Jewish tax collector belonged to a sacred association, they were at once expelled, though restoration was possible through repentance. They were said to be oppressors, and against them every type of deception was allowed so as to avoid their oppressions.

4. Records of the brutality of the tax collector: Recorded by Philo (30 B.C.E - 45 C.E.), Hellenized Jewish philosopher from Alexandria, Egypt: "They [Romans] deliberately choose as tax collectors men who are absolutely ruthless and savage, and give them the means of satisfying their greed. These people who are mischief-makers by nature, gain added immunity because of their "superior orders," obsequious in everything where their masters are concerned, leave undone no cruelty of any kind and recognize no equity or gentleness . . . as they collect the taxes they spread confusion and chaos everywhere. They exact money not only from people's property but also from their bodies by means of personal injuries, assault and completely unheard of forms of torture." From De Specialibus Legibus (http://www.taxhistory.org/thp/readings.nsf/cf7c9c870b600b9585256df80075b9dd/a5321448c7e17ff185256f0a0059a4ba?OpenDocument)

5. Records of favorable Jewish publicans: There are cases of recorded religious custom house officials showing favor to Rabbis, or giving them notice to go into hiding. There is an instance related of a tax gatherer becoming a Rabbi, though the more rigid of his Jewish brothers refused association with him.

Zacchaeus (con't)

I've been thinking alot of Zacchaeus lately. We had a great discussion going a few posts down, and I can't get it out of my head. You can follow it there if you'd like, but at the core of the discussion was a matter of Biblical translation: the use of verb tense that changes our understanding of Zacchaeus, depending on which way it's read.

We all know the story of Zacchaeus. We sang the song in Sunday School. He's a short, mean tax collector. Jesus hollers for him to come down from the tree. "For I'm going to your house today."

But we should take another look at the story. On account of one translation (NIV, among others), Zacchaeus tells our Lord, when accused by the Jews of being a sinner, "Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount." (Luke 19:8)

So by this interpretation, the story is that this Chief Publican, Zacchaeus, a Jew, excited by the arrival of Jesus into Jericho, expectantly climbs a tree, most likely a tree close to his house, to see our Lord walking by on the road to Jerusalem. Jesus looks up, notices Zacchaeus, sees something unexplainable to the crowd, and asks to be his guest, a high honor in Jewish custom. The Jewish crowd sees Jesus walking to Zacchaeus's house, and they become indignant. "Surely Jesus would not be guest to a sinner. A man who has taken wrongfully from us to give money to Rome. Blasphemous Rome. Causing us to pay allegiance to one other than the God of the Jews. And getting rich at the same time, by taking more than necessary and keeping the excess." And so Zacchaeus, moved by the acceptance given by Jesus that had been refused him by his own people, utters his conversion. To which Jesus replies, "Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."

But the New King James, among others, translates Luke 19:8 as: "Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.”

So here we see that after the complaint of the crowd, Zacchaeus testifies to our Lord that the crowd had it all wrong. They had cast wrong judgment on account of a man's career, his wealth, his appearance. Because of their laws they had considered him unworthy, an outcast. Not righteous enough. And Jesus restores Zacchaeus to his rightful place in Jewish society by looking beyond the outward appearance. And Zacchaeus experiences the love he so desperately sought when climbing the tree to see the man who healed the sick, raised the dead. drove out demons, and claimed to forgive sins. The love he was refused by his own.

Two different stories. Two different accounts of Zacchaeus. So what do we do with this? Where do we go from here?

Zacchaeus

Still reading Blue Like Jazz. I'm close to finishing. Here Donald Miller writes about hearing Brennan Manning speak. Brennan Manning is one of my favorite writers. I've heard him speak a couple of times as well, and it's a real treat. Here's what Don heard:

"A friend and I traveled to Salem to hear Brennan Manning speak. Manning is a former Catholic priest and a wonderful writer who has struggled with alcoholism and speaks frankly about matters of Christian spirituality. We sat so close I could see the blue in Brennan's eyes and that quality of sincerity you find in people who have turned trial into service. Brennan grew up in New York and speaks with a slight East Coast bite that has been sanded down by years of smoking.

He opened his talk with the story of Zacchaeus. Brennan talked about how an entire town, with their ridicule and hatred, could not keep the little man from oppressing them through the extravagant financial gains he made as a tax collector. Christ walked through town, Brennan said, and spotted the man. Christ told Zacchaeus that He would like to have a meal with him.

In the single conversation Christ had with Zacchaeus, Brennan reminded us, Jesus spoke affirmation and love, and the tax collector sold his possessions and made amends to those he had robbed. It was the affection of Christ, not the brutality of a town, that healed Zacchaeus."