Luke 19:1-10 · Zacchaeus the Tax Collector
Luke 19:1-10
Luke 19:1-10
Sweet
by Leonard Sweet
Loading...

The well-known story of Zacchaeus in today's text is so familiar that one might be tempted to give it a quick rereading and move on. The interpreters of this passage, however, are by no means unanimous in their opinion, and a close examination yields several possibilities for sermonic treatment.

The setting for this last incident in the travel narrative Luke has been providing is the wealthy Greco-Roman city of Herodian Jericho. This city, nothing like the Old Testament Jericho, was a beautiful municipality known for its fine buildings, wide streets, public squares and well-appointed homes. Located near the Jordan River, Jericho was a major stop on the trade routes between Jerusalem and Judea and cities which lay to the east. It was, therefore, an important customs and tax center, where to…

ChristianGlobe Networks, Inc., Collected Works, by Leonard Sweet