Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 There was a man there named Zacchaeus — a chief tax collector, and wealthy.[1] 3 He was trying to see who Jesus was, but he couldn’t because of the crowd, since he was a short man. 4 So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, because Jesus was about to come that way.
5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down — I have to stay at your house today.” 6 So he hurried down and welcomed him gladly.
7 Everyone who saw this grumbled. “He’s gone to be the guest of a sinner,” they said.
8 But Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord — half of everything I own I’m giving to the poor, and if I’ve cheated anyone out of anything, I’m paying it back four times over.”[2]
9 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man too is a son of Abraham. 10 The Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”
11 While they were listening to this, Jesus went on to tell a parable, because he was near Jerusalem and they thought the kingdom of God was going to appear right away. 12 So he said: “A man of noble birth went to a distant country to receive a kingdom for himself and then return. 13 He called ten of his slaves and gave them ten minas. ‘Put this money to work until I come back,’ he told them.
14 “But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We don’t want this man to rule over us.’
15 “When he returned, having received the kingdom, he ordered those slaves to whom he had given the money to be brought before him, to find out what they had gained by trading.
16 “The first one came and said, ‘Master, your mina has earned ten more minas.’
17 “‘Well done, good servant!’ he replied. ‘Because you’ve been faithful in a very small thing, take charge of ten cities.’
18 “The second came and said, ‘Master, your mina has made five minas.’
19 “He said to him, ‘You take charge of five cities.’
20 “Then another came and said, ‘Master, here is your mina. I kept it wrapped up in a cloth,[3] 21 because I was afraid of you. You’re a hard man — you take what you didn’t put down and reap what you didn’t sow.’
22 “He said to him, ‘Out of your own mouth I’ll judge you, you wicked servant. You knew I’m a hard man, taking what I didn’t put down and reaping what I didn’t sow? 23 Then why didn’t you put my money on deposit? Then when I came back I could have collected it with interest.’
24 “Then he said to those standing by, ‘Take the mina from him and give it to the one who has ten minas.’
25 “They said to him, ‘Master, he already has ten minas!’
26 “‘I tell you, to everyone who has, more will be given. But from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. 27 And as for these enemies of mine who didn’t want me to rule over them — bring them here and slaughter them in front of me.’”
28 After saying these things, Jesus went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.
29 As he came near Bethphage and Bethany, at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, 30 saying, “Go into the village ahead. As you enter it you’ll find a colt tied there, one that no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ say this: ‘The Lord needs it.’”
32 Those who were sent went and found it just as he had told them. 33 As they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?”
34 They said, “The Lord needs it.”
35 They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks over the colt, and set Jesus on it. 36 As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road.
37 When he was already near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began to praise God joyfully and loudly for all the miracles they had seen. 38 They shouted:
“Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest!”
39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.”
40 He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would cry out.”
41 As he drew near and saw the city, he cried over it, 42 saying, “If only you — even you — had known on this day what would bring you peace. But now it’s hidden from your eyes. 43 For the days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you, surround you, and hem you in on every side.[4] 44 They will dash you to the ground — you and your children within you — and they won’t leave one stone on top of another in you, because you didn’t recognize the time when God came to you.”
45 Then he entered the temple and began driving out those who were selling there. 46 He said to them, “It is written: ‘My house will be a house of prayer.’ But you’ve made it a hideout for bandits.”[5]
47 Every day he was teaching in the temple. The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people kept trying to destroy him, 48 but they couldn’t find a way to do it, because all the people hung on his every word.
Notes
Note 1. The Greek word here, architelōnēs, is unusual — Zacchaeus wasn’t just a toll collector but a supervisor who oversaw other collectors and took a cut of what they gathered. In the Roman tax-farming system, men in his position grew rich by taking a share of what those under them collected. ↩
Note 2. Fourfold repayment is the penalty set in Exodus 22:1 for a thief who steals and slaughters a sheep. For someone confessing voluntarily, the ordinary requirement was lighter. ↩
Note 3. The word translated “cloth” is soudarion, a Latin loanword (sudarium) for a small napkin used to wipe sweat from the face. It’s the same word John’s Gospel uses for the cloth wound around Jesus’ head in the tomb. ↩
Note 4. The tactics described — throwing up an earthwork, encircling the city, hemming it in — are Roman siege practice. ↩
Note 5. Two prophets stand together here: “a house of prayer” comes from Isaiah 56:7, and “a den of robbers” from Jeremiah 7:11. In Jeremiah the phrase indicted people who committed injustice and then sheltered in the temple as if it made them safe. ↩