Jubilee: The Community that Believes (Luke 19:1-10)

Estimates say in Jesus’ time, Jews were paying anywhere from fifty to eighty percent of their income to the Roman government. This was the result of a corrupt system in which tax collectors took some off the top to enrich themselves and their superiors. In Luke 19, a crowd gathers to listen to Jesus who is passing through. Everybody wants to see Jesus, including Zacchaeus, a tax collector. Only, Zacchaeus had a problem:  Zacchaeus was a wee little man, and a wee little man was he. So he climbs a tree. Jesus sees him and says, “Quick, come down! I must be a guest in your house today.” In the time that Jesus spends with Zacchaeus, something happens. The chief tax collector, is changed. Zacchaeus stares down his past and recognizes the injustice he’s done. Zacchaeus experiences salvation through repentance, a repentance that gave way to Jubilee. Biblical repentance invites us to look back, name our brokenness, and turn toward new life in Christ. New life that transforms our thoughts and actions. New life that repairs the wrongs we have done. New life that invites us to partner with Jesus for the sake of the common good.