The Zacchaeus Plan

In the gospel of Matthew, there is an account of a young man who sought Jesus for advice. "What must I do to enter into everlasting life?" he asked. Jesus told him to follow the commandments. To this the young man replied that he had done so since he was a boy. Jesus then told the young man, "You lack one thing. Go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." At this the young man became distressed, and he went away sad, because he was very wealthy and had great possessions.

In the gospel of Luke, Jesus told a parable about a man whose crops produced a great harvest. So much did he yield that he soon ran out of storage space for his grains. He thought and then decided that he would tear down his barns and built much larger ones so he could store all of his grains. Thinking of the profits he would gain, he fancied living a life of leisure and merriment for the rest of his life. But that night God chastised him for his greediness and took his life. Jesus ended the story by saying, "This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God."

Also in the gospel of Luke, Jesus pronounced the four woes, one of which was directed at the wealthy, "What sorrow awaits you who are rich, for you have your only happiness now."

From the biblical accounts above, can one be wrong in assuming that Jesus scorns the wealthy? And yet many prominent preachers and religious public figures would argue to the contrary. They tell you that God wants Christians to be financially prosperous, even obscenely rich. They conduct wealth-building seminars and teach people how to get out of debt and be rich.

Of course, these Christian get-rich motivators never mention what Jesus warns about the consequences of wealth. In the story of the rich young man, Jesus went on to tell His disciples that so difficult it is for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven it would be easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle. Astonished by the remarks, the flabbergasted disciples asked Jesus, "Who then can be saved?"

Jesus replied that a rich person can indeed be saved, but that this is possible only through God. And in fact there is a gospel account of a rich man who brought salvation unto himself and his house.

The gospel of Luke tells the story of Zacchaeus, a high-ranking tax collector who was very wealthy but on account of his profession, was also reviled by the Jews. To the grumblings of the Jews, Zacchaeus' welcomed Jesus into his house. Afterwards, a repentant Zacchaeus promised Jesus that he would sell half of his possessions and give the money to the poor. On top of that, Zacchaeus also vowed that to anyone he had cheated, he would reimburse them four times the amount of money he owed. To this Jesus proclaimed that "today salvation has come to this house."

So for the few and rich among us, there is indeed assurance from Jesus that you can enter the kingdom of God. But are you willing to adopt the Zacchaeus Plan to earn your salvation?