Dear Theophilus,
What a marvelous story of
transformation. My mind’s eye pictures
Zacchaeus clinging to that tree in the hopes of seeing Jesus, then almost
falling out when Jesus stops and stares directly at him! What a picture that would be!
I did not miss your point at the
end about God doing miracles in all of our lives. I know that you intend for me to climb a tree
of my own, that I might see God drawing near and recognize the things God has
done for me. The problem is, Theophilus,
that I am struggling to see Jesus reaching out to me. I cry out into the silence for God to reveal
things to me as clearly as he did to Zacchaeus, but silence only answers my
cries, and I wonder if it’s all too good to be true, a story so wonderful that
truth could never be behind it. I want
to believe it, but I can’t help but think that it’s just a figment of a man’s
imagination, sold to an adoring crowd, that has taken on a life of its
own. How could all this be true? And if so, why is it so hard to see and understand
today? Am I doing something wrong? Or perhaps you are the one that is
wrong? I don’t mean to attack you, good
and faithful friend, but I wonder sometimes if you want it to be true so badly
that you see past the impossibilities of it all. I would have no problem acknowledging my
error if it were revealed clearly to me by God that I was wrong, but God seems
silent in these parts, and there seems to be no hurry on his part to address my
concerns.
I am not giving up until we reach
the end, I can assure you of that, and I won’t give up on the possibility of
God, for my curiosity compels me forward.
I will hold onto the hope of God’s dramatic revelation in my own life,
but until then I remain somewhat skeptical of the truth of it all, yet still
captured by how compelling this story is.
As the crowd was still responding
with wonder to the miracle that had fallen upon the house of Zacchaeus, Jesus
went on to tell yet another story to keep their attention focused on God’s
kingdom, to continue pushing them to understand more about this kingdom. As one who doesn’t fully understand all of
this, I would be grateful for this further explanation, except I’m not sure I
find the story very satisfactory in helping me see more clearly! They continued to draw near to Jerusalem, and
many in the crowd expected the kingdom to begin very soon, as though Jesus
might conquer the city the closer he came to it. I think Jesus was trying to teach them that
it would be a while before such a thing took place, as we can clearly see,
since we still wait for such dramatic actions today.
Here is the story. Curiously, there was a nobleman who opted to
visit a far-off country in the hopes of receiving royal power. Before leaving, he distributed ten pounds
evenly among his ten slaves, commanding them to use their pound to do business
and trade until he returned. I do not
believe this nobleman was widely admired, for those within the country tried to
prevent the distant country from granting him royal power by sending a
delegation, but I think we can all agree that the will of the commoners is
often disregarded when it comes to leadership and power!
The nobleman, now a king, returned
from his successful venture, and upon doing so he had his slaves brought forth
to determine the results of their business while he was away. The first slave came forward with the
positive news that the one pound had been used to make ten more pounds! The king
was quite pleased with the slave’s
result, and he told the slave that since he had been so faithful in this small
deed, he was going to be placed in charge of ten cities!
Yet another slave came forward and
reported that the one pound had been used to make five more pounds. The king was still pleased with this result,
offering the slave five cities over which he could rule.
A third slave came forward and
offered the king nothing but the original pound. He confessed that fear of the king, who
harshly benefits from the work of others, drove him to enclose it safely in
cloth and not use it in business.
The slave’s fear was realized when
the king answered with wrath in his voice, informing the slave that he would be
judged just as he expected to be judged.
The king asked the slave why he had been so passive if he knew that the
king was a harsh man who benefited from the work of others. He suggested that the slave could have at
least left the money in the bank, where it might have earned interest.
To those standing by, the king
ordered them to take the one pound from this slave and give it to the first
slave who had made ten pounds. They
openly wondered why, when this slave already had ten pounds, but the king cut
them off by saying that those who have will receive more, while everything will
be taken from those without. Also, the
king concluded by commanding all of those who had sent the delegation seeking
to prevent his kingship to be brought before him, that they might be killed
before the king’s eyes.
At best, I would describe this
story as odd. At worst, I would say it
is cruel and punishing. To be honest,
Theophilus, I lean toward the latter. I
want to give Jesus the benefit of the doubt, but I don’t see a lot of redeeming
qualities in this story, and it certainly doesn’t do much to help me understand
God’s kingdom. I’m sure that it was a
long and arduous journey for the nobleman to be granted the power to be a king,
and he obviously is very angry at those who oppose his rule, but please explain
to me the interactions with the slaves, for that is a mystery to this man.
Sincerely,
Luke
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