Zacchaeus of Internal Revenue Services

In my last posting I wrote, it was meant to remind us to remember the poor. For this posting I would like to speak about Zacchaeus. He was a Tax Collector. Tax Collectors were despised in the first century and disliked as they worked for the beginnings of what we now call the Internal Revenue Service. They were on the same level in society as some corrupt politicians we see today. Due to the fact that they were known for stealing by overcharging the people, to skim money off the top for themselves; no one liked them. Now Zacchaeus was the Chief Tax Collector and known to be very well off. Zacchaeus' story is told in Luke 19:1-9.

All who came in contact with Jesus were known to be impacted in one way or another. Turned out this man even had a physical disability for being very short. This did not stop him from finding out about this man Jesus whom people were talking about. He had his chance and was moved to make his wrongs right by giving half of what he owned to the poor! Also to give back all he owned to each person he over taxed. Amazing right? But He did not stop there. He then announced he will pay back 4x's the amount he took--from each person.

He was not asked to do this but initiated, and did what he thought was the right thing to do. Nothing got in his way of seeking the truth and then doing what was right. In soberness of his life the first thing he thought of was the poor and those who became poor as a result of his dealings. I enjoy these two stories (the posting before and this one) as it shows two different types of people but the same message; "remember the poor".