NOTES for Luk 19:1-27

Previously Jesus had incurred the displeasure of devout people by associating with tax collectors (tax farmers) and sinners (those who openly did not observe the Law), but now He goes beyond every limit: He enters the home of the chief destroyer and exploiter and declares his sins forgiven simply because he has promised to mend his ways. He explains this by saying that Zacchaeus, after all, is also a “son of Abraham.” In the language of that time, this means that he too is a human being, that God created him for Himself, for life and joy. In theory, we too know that “human beings were created for happiness,” yet for us humanity is still divided into those who deserve this happiness and those who do not, into the worthy and the unworthy. We ourselves, of course, end up among the “better part,” which is why the Pharisees, like all ordinary people, “began to grumble” when Christ entered the home of a “sinner.” The Lord knows how to see a human being in everyone, and we should learn this ability.