The power of personal faith in Christ changing people and society around them. A study in Luke 19:1-10 by James D. Hernando<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n The story of Zacchaeus is one of the most intriguing in Luke\u2019s gospel\u2014a literary masterpiece filled with vivid imagery, drama, and biting irony. It is the story of the conversion of an arch villain in Jewish society who has a transforming encounter with the Lord. But it also offers marvelous insight into how the church transforms society one converted sinner at a time.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Enter the Villain<\/strong><\/p>\n Luke quickly opens his story by introducing the main character in the briefest fashion. However, English readers seldom catch the innuendo of the Greek syntax. \u201cThere was a man called by name Zacchaeus.\u201d Luke is undoubtedly calling attention to the man\u2019s name, which is derived from the Hebrew root1<\/sup> meaning \u201cpure\u201d or \u201cacquitted one.\u201d The irony leaps out from Luke\u2019s pen with the ensuing words, \u201cand he was a chief tax collector.\u201d Tax collectors (Gk. telonai<\/em>) were locals hired by cities and towns to collect taxes for the Romans. Zacchaeus was a \u201cchief\u201d tax collector (Gk. architelones<\/em>), which meant he probably had supervision over a region and number of tax collectors. Luke\u2019s words \u201cand he was rich\u201d would certainly not go unnoticed by Jews in Jesus\u2019 day. The privilege of collecting taxes was offered at a steep price and those who held that job set tax rates that often exceeded by far any quotas demanded by Rome. While tax-collectors had no authority to confiscate funds or property, they held great leverage over the people as they could exact severe penalties by reporting tax delinquency to the Romans. This they often did whether the charge were true or not.2<\/sup> And so here Luke presents an arch villain who is ironically named. He was anything but someone of pure or blameless character; he was, in fact, the exact opposite of his name. Keep in mind also that \u201ctax-collectors\u201d were notorious for their corruption and the mere mention of their profession aligned them with \u201csinners.\u201d (See Matt. 9:11; Mark 2:15f; Luke 5:30).<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n The Action of Zacchaeus<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n The Call and Invitation of Jesus<\/strong><\/p>\n The irony continues when Jesus stops under this \u201csycamore\u201d tree and calls him to come down. If as some scholars suggest the tree was a variety of \u201cfig\u201d tree (mulberry),3<\/sup> the irony soars. The great \u201cshake down\u201d artist who could extort excessive taxes by falsely accusing people of tax delinquency is now \u201cshook down\u201d down out of the fig tree!4<\/sup> But Jesus does not berate him or add to his obvious humiliating posture. Instead he honors him by calling him by name and declaring his intent to be a guest at his house.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n The Transforming Fellowship<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Concluding Thoughts and Application<\/strong><\/p>\n The transforming effect that the Church brings to society is only possible through individuals who have had a transforming encounter with Jesus Christ. At conversion sinners experience an inner transformation that reorients their entire lives. In a very real sense, all things become new (cf. 2 Cor. 5:17). Regeneration (\u201cbeing born again\u201d) and the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit initiate\u00a0the process of transformation into the image of Christ (Rom. 8:28f; 2 Cor. 3:18; Titus 3:5). However, all too often Christians think about this work of transformation exclusively in a personal spiritual sense. Seldom do we \u201cthink outside the soul,\u201d to borrow a clich\u00e9.<\/p>\n The Church can become a transformational agent in society when people, who are daily being transformed into the image of Christ, determine to live out \u201cKingdom\u201d principles in the various arenas of their personal lives. The effect is magnified when these same individuals collectively ask how those principles might inform and transform the business of being \u201cin this world,\u201d but not \u201cof this world.\u201d This life is made possible by the enabling presence and power of the Holy Spirit who has been given to us as a pledge of the fullness to come (Eph. 1:13-14; 2 Cor. 1:22).<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/299px-Niels_Larsen_Stevns-_Zak%C3%A6us.jpg\")