At Jericho "there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among
the Publicans, and he was rich." He had already heard much of Jesus,
and now "he sought to see Jesus, who he was; and could not for the
press," or crowd of people who surrounded the Lord, for Zacchaeus was a
short man, or "little of stature." Being really anxious to see Jesus,
Zacchaeus did not content himself with merely _wishing_, and
_regretting_; but he took some trouble to accomplish his object, and
met with his reward. We read that Zacchaeus "ran on before, and
climbed up into a sycamore tree," under which Jesus must pass; and by
this means nothing could prevent his seeing the Lord.
The sycamore tree here spoken of, is also called the Egyptian fig; the
leaves are like those of the mulberry tree, but the fruit resembles
the fig, in size, shape, and taste.
Jesus, who knows all things, saw the heart of Zacchaeus, and knew that
he was willing to become a true disciple; and none such will He ever
overlook. Therefore, "when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and
saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for
to-day I must abide at thy house." Most joyfully did Zacchaeus obey: he
had taken some trouble merely to see Jesus, and now he would have the
privilege of listening to His words. But many of the Jews who were
present were offended and displeased, because Jesus took such notice
of a man belonging to a class, whom they, in their self-righteous
spirit, condemned as unworthy to associate with them; "they all
murmured, saying, That he was gone to be a guest with a man that is a
sinner." Zacchaeus, seeing that Jesus was blamed for noticing him,
thought it right to show that whatever his sins might have been, he
was now truly penitent, and determined to undo as much as possible any
wrong he had done to his fellow creatures, in making them pay more
taxes than were justly due: so he stood up, "and said unto the Lord,
Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give," that is, I will from this
time give, "to the poor, and if I have taken anything from any man by
false accusation," (or over-taxing,) "I will restore him fourfold":
that is, I will give him back four times as much as he has lost,
through any fault of mine. This was true repentance, springing from
faith, and as such it found favour with God. "And Jesus said unto him,
This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a
son of Abraham. For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that
which was lost."
Zacchaeus had shown himself to be, spiritually, as well as by descent,
a son of faithful Abraham; and as such he and his family were to
receive that salvation, which Jesus came to bring to those who would
turn from their sins and be saved.
At this time, "Jesus spake a parable; because he was nigh to
Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God should
immediately appear." By this parable of the nobleman, who went into a
far country to receive a kingdom, and then returned to judge his
servants for the use they had made of the talents which he had given
them, Jesus showed that although He was Lord of all, He must leave
this world for a time, and return again to judge His servants, before
His kingdom could be visibly established,--before the kingdom of God
could appear in glory.
It is very easy to understand the meaning of this parable: we all,
that is, all the men, women, and children, who have ever been born,
are sent upon earth that we may serve God, and show our love to Him,
by doing His will in all things; and in doing all the good we can to
others. Some have greater means and opportunities of doing good than
others; such means and opportunities, as riches, wisdom, health,
leisure, &c., are the "talents" entrusted to us; and we are to use
them in the service of God, and not for our own pleasure only. Some
have more of these "talents" than others; but all of us have
opportunities of being useful, if we are ready to practise
self-denial, and give up our own pleasure, wishes, and ease, in order
to do little acts of kindness to others, in obedience to the word of
God. If we do not do our duty to God and man to the best of our power
whilst we are on earth, the Lord will be angry with us, as the king in
the parable was with the "wicked servant," who had kept his talent
"laid up in a napkin," instead of using it so as to make a proper
return to the Master, who had given it to him.
When Jesus reached Bethany, Lazarus had already been buried four days.
Bethany was a village about two miles from Jerusalem; "and many of the
Jews came to Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their
brother." It was a custom amongst the Jews for friends and relations
to come in this way to the house where any one had died, and there to
mourn and lament, with particular ceremonies, for seven days. We have
no such custom; but when any one is in trouble, we should do all we
can to comfort and help: even in all the little troubles and vexations
which daily happen to those around us, we should try to do anything we
can to help them. The best rule in this, as in all other matters, is
to observe the precept, "Do unto others as you would wish them to do
unto you." That is, think how you would feel if the same misfortune,
trouble, or vexation, fell upon you; and thus try and feel for others:
then think what you would wish to be done for you in a like case, and
do the same for them. Show that you are sorry for them, by doing any
little act of kindness that is in your power, without thinking of
yourself,--your own wishes, pleasure, or convenience. Even children
can do this; and the sooner they begin to do so, the more will they
grow in favour with God and Man.
The beautiful story of the raising of Lazarus is to be read in St.
John's Gospel (ch. xi.).
Martha's faith seems to have been weak; for though she believed that
Jesus could have saved her brother's life had He come in time, she
certainly did not believe that He could now restore him to life.
Mary, too, seems only to have thought that Jesus could have kept
Lazarus from dying; but her faith was stronger than Martha's, for she
made no objection to the taking away the stone that lay upon the cave
in which Lazarus was buried.
Jesus here sets us an example of feeling for others: He saw the great
sorrow of Martha and Mary, and, although He was going to remove the
cause of their grief, yet He felt for them in their distress--"Jesus
wept." What a comfort to all who are in trouble upon earth, to know
that their Lord in heaven feels for them, and will hear their prayers
for help and comfort; though He will not answer them in the same way
that He answered the prayers of Mary and her sister.
"Many of the Jews which came to Mary, and had seen the things which
Jesus did, believed on him. But some of them," determined not to
acknowledge Him as the Messiah, "went their ways to the Pharisees, and
told them what things Jesus had done."
The Chief Priests and Pharisees immediately called together the
members of the Sanhedrim, or great Council, and said, "What do we? for
this man worketh many miracles." They could not deny that Jesus had
worked many miracles; for multitudes of the people had seen, and been
benefited by them. To the question, "What do we?" or rather, what
shall we do? We might reasonably expect the answer, We will
acknowledge Him as the Messiah, the Son of God; but, no: they did not
say this; on the contrary, their only thought was to prevent others
from believing in Him. Rightly did they judge, "If we let him thus
alone, all men will believe in him": but they added, "and the Romans
shall come and take away both our place and nation." In their
blindness as to the spiritual nature of the Messiah's kingdom, these
Jews thought, that if they acknowledged Jesus, the Roman Emperor would
consider them as rebels, wishing to set up a temporal kingdom, and
would send his armies to destroy them utterly. Far better would it
have been for these unhappy men, if they had _only_ considered the
proofs before them, and acknowledged Jesus to be the Messiah, without
fearing what man could do unto them. In a few years moreover, the very
evil which they so wickedly strove to avoid did come upon them: their
nation was totally destroyed, the people scattered over all lands, and
the temple burnt to the ground.
No doubt there were many different opinions amongst the members of the
Sanhedrim, for, after much discussion, "one of them, named Caiaphas,
being the High Priest that same year, said unto them, Ye know nothing
at all, nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should
die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not. And this
spake he not of himself; but being High Priest that year, he
prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation; and not for that
nation only, but that also he should gather in one the children of God
that were scattered abroad."