Part of the Family ...

Monday, April 10, 2017. What is it that makes you part of the family? It is birth, usually. When you are a biological kid of your parents, you are automatically part of the family. Of course, it is also possible to be adopted. Then, you legally become a part of the family. It is interesting that the biblical books use this image as well.

A man named Zacchaeus …

The biblical books know the family of faith. It is, in the first place, the family of Abraham, the family of the Jews, the people of Israel. They have become a family through the faith and discipleship of Abraham. Now, when Jesus is acting and discussing with his fellow contemporaries, the topic is raised again. Listen:

1 He entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. 3 And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small in stature. 4 So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way. 5 And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully. 7 And when they saw it, they all grumbled, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” 8 And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” 9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” (from Luke 19)

It is an interesting story. It is about faith, and about changing the direction of my life. It is about what becomes the driving force in my decisions. It is about repentance. Zacchaeus is turning. He repents. He is changing his life. He is discovering new life!

Family of Abraham …

From a theological viewpoint, the story is crystal clear. With his faith and with his actions this tax collector Zacchaeus is a son of Abraham. He is following the faith of the fathers. He is searching God. And he is receiving God into his life. And this is completely changing the way he acts, the way he thinks, the way he moves forward.

We are invited into the family of Abraham. We are invited, the door is Jesus, it is faith in him. Faith means both: to trust and to do. It is not separated. It is just one. Faith means to put him into the center of my life, in full! That will have consequences, and Zacchaeus here is drawing the right conclusions. He is changing his life.

Jesus is not denying that Zacchaeus did many wrong things. He calls him a lost one, who is now saved. He is saved by faith in Jesus, not by his own justice, not by his actions. Jesus approached him before he worked out his repentance. He invited him before he could do. He entered his house just as an answer to his faith! That is how it works, until today, in your life and in mine. (Roland Potthast) ... more texts