Luke 19:1-10 – Jesus in Jericho

It is tempting at this time of President’s Trump’s first major political defeat (i.e. ‘failure of his health care bill’) to say something critical of the President. However, let’s forgo that for now and move on to a much deeper question. Since President Trump learns nothing in victories, can we be hopeful, as I pray for him, that he learns something in defeat?

I was reading in my morning devotional a passage from Luke 19:1-10 about Jesus traveling through Jericho on his way to Jerusalem.  Jesus and his disciples had not intended to stop in Jericho. A crowd of people had gathered along the road to see Jesus. Zacchaeus was a short individual so he climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Jesus over the head of the crowds. Since he was rich and a hated tax collector, working in collusion with the Roman authorities to collect taxes from the occupied Jews in Israel, he may have also climbed the tree for safety from persons who hated him.

As Jesus passed by he saw Zacchaeus in the sycamore tree, paused to talk to him and said, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately, I must stay at your house today.” (v.5)  Zacchaeus came down and welcomed Jesus and his disciples into his home. The people from the community of Jericho, upon observing Jesus’ interaction with Zacchaeus began to mutter, “He (Jesus) has gone to be the guest of a sinner.” Perhaps they were jealous that of all persons in the community, Zacchaeus is the only one receiving an invitation. Or, perhaps Zacchaeus was such a hated member of the community, since he was a tax collector, they simply objected to Jesus associating with him by going to his home. Inside the home as the disciples, Jesus, and other community guests gathered, Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Here and now I give half my possessions to the poor. And if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times that amount.” (verses 6-8)

Jesus replies to him in this way:  “Today, salvation has come to this house, for this man too is a son of Abraham.  For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”  (verses. 9-10)  (from Jan Johnson, The Church’s Ancient Method for Meeting God. IVP Press, 2016).

Zacchaeus was a very wealthy man in comparison to others in the community. Some of his wealth may have come from his position of authority, which enabled him not only to collect taxes, but also to extort additional money for his “services” to the community.  He was hated in the community because he was not trusted and because he did things which were wrong in the sight of his fellow Jews, owing to his collusion with the power and furthering the bondage of the community by the Roman authorities. Jesus called him “a son of Abraham” because that was his heritage; he indeed was a fellow Jew of Israel.

The parallels with President Donald Trump are striking. He is a man born of privilege and power. Now, he exercises the ultimate power as President of the United States. He maintains his position of wealth and privilege, as according to Forbes magazine, he is worth between $3-4 billion due to his real estate empire. Yet, even with all this “power,” President Trump had a terrible defeat today. The American Health Care Act, so touted by the Republicans and designed by Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, never even came up for a vote. President Trump, of course, blames the Democrats for his failure to pass this quintessential Republican bill. Is he completely naïve? Why is he surprised the Democrats treat him and the Republican congress the same way the Republicans have treated President Obama and the Democrats for the past 8 years?  In any case, this would be an opportune time for the President to repent of his sins. Perhaps salvation might come to his home too!

Since President Trump touts the name of being a Christian follower of Jesus Christ, he might be informed by this passage on Zacchaeus coming down from his treetop position to welcome Jesus into his home. As a “son of Abraham,” it would be a profound gesture for the rest of us in the larger community of the church of Jesus Christ if he too said, “Here and today, I given half my wealth to the poor. And if I have cheated anyone of anything, I will pay back four times that amount” (Luke 19:6-8). And so today, following President Trump’s first legislative defeat, we offer him on behalf of the church of Jesus Christ a chance to repent of his sins and find redemption.

If President Trump truly wanted to replace the Affordable Care Act, (a.k.a. Obamacare) which he has called a “disaster” for the American people despite the fact that 24 million or so Americans have received needed healthcare under this expansion of Medicaid, then he would admit that his real problem in its failure of passage in Congress is the Koch brothers: Charles and David Koch. According to CNN News (March 24, 2017) the brothers claimed they would spend millions to create a new fund for the 2018 Republican re-election races, but ONLY MAKE IT AVAILABLE TO GOP CONGRESSMAN WHO VOTE AGAINST THE BILL! According to the story on CNN News, the Koch brothers said in their announcement, “We want to make certain that lawmakers understand the policy consequences of voting for a law that keeps Obamacare intact” (a quote from the advocacy group, ‘Americans for Prosperity’). To be fair, they also said they will give money to those who do not vote with their network, formerly called the Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce; but those who vote with their network will have access to more money.

President Trump is either blind or stupid to blame the Democrats for the opposition which originates in his own caucus of Republicans. Even with his famed negotiating skills and Vice President Pence’s last minute arm twisting to Congress before the scheduled March 24, 2017 vote, the Koch brothers have proved once again that their money and the conservative caucus are more powerful than the President. They have shown they have the ability to scuttle any legislation they dislike as long as they hold their conservative network together. According to some reports, the Koch brothers hold approximately 31 Republican congressman in their pocket, more than enough to make or break any legislation which President Trump or Speaker of the House Ryan propose.

In my opinion, before the new budget proposal hits the floor for debate, the President should either: (1) Make friends with the Democrats and gather enough swing votes to be sure any proposed legislation passes. (However, to do this President Trump must move to the center and hold a more moderate position on health care, the economy, defense and infrastructure than he currently occupies). Or (2) somehow punish the Koch brothers as he threatened to do to the conservative congressmen who refused to endorse his bill. If I were President and if I were upset about this legislative loss and my own prestige (as apparently President Trump is, by what he says on TV Fox News), then I would resurrect the EPA by removing it from any budget cuts and strongly encourage it to go after the Koch brothers with new regulations targeting their industries and make their life miserable until they were willing to work with me in Congress. As President Lyndon B. Johnson did in the 1960s, legislative arm twisting and behind the scenes threats often help move legislation forward in a reluctant Congress. Consider Medicare, one of the largest peacetime expansions of federal power and oversight of health care in modern history.

One day, perhaps, President Trump will begin to live by the same rules which govern all followers of Christ, the truth about ourselves before the Living God! All Christians from time to time fail and often we fail miserably before God and our fellow men and women.  But we find renewal of ourselves, new strength and hope, and sometimes even salvation from God when in the presence of Christ and humbling ourselves before the Risen Christ, we admit not only our failures, but express a willingness as Zacchaeus did to begin again, not as the old person we once were, but as a new creation of God in Jesus Christ!

Zacchaeus evidenced his repentance and his newness in Christ in two ways: (1) He willingly gave half his wealth to the poor and announced this before the whole community present in Jericho and (2) promised Christ and before all the community that for anyone who had a grievance against him, he would personally meet with them and pay back four times as much as they has been damaged out of his own wealth. He did not shift the blame for his sins; he accepted full responsibility for everything he had done and he made amends!

We will know, therefore, that salvation in Christ has come to President Trump when we see this kind of evidence that change has come into his life and home. The White House and the Presidency of the United States is a good place to proclaim reconciliation between warring factions in Congress and as President Roosevelt did in his “fireside chats,” bring hope to a discouraged nation struggling simply to survive. It also proved, in the early 1940s, to be a good place to direct the nation in its battle against evil powers intent on destroying modern democracy.

I believe in my heart that what the American people want is not simply jobs and prosperity, but a President who represents all of us, who works with all of Congress to bring about needed legislation for ALL THE PEOPLE. I also believe we want a President who reaches out to the least American with no power and elevates their status as a citizen to equal the access to the President’s time and listening ear, as the wealthy and powerful Koch brothers are given, despite the fact that these men apparently care nothing for the poor of this nation but are intent on gathering more and more wealth, as their stated aim is to dismantle what legislative protections exist for the least among us to have needed healthcare.

In my medical practice, I daily witness the misery of those who have no insurance, who are afraid to go to the hospital or even come to the clinic because they have no money to pay for health care of any kind. These persons flood the Emergency Departments across our nation seeking needed help for themselves and their children. Considering all the wealth and power the Koch brothers possess already, why have they not contributed half their wealth to the poor? Do they really believe they will carry their wealth with them when they stand before the Living God and give account for their lives and how they have lived it in this world? If they understand anything about Jesus’ words and instruction on “laying up treasures in heaven,” they might be appalled at how little treasure waits for them over there!  Of course, only God speaks authoritatively on matters such as these, since we all live or die before the Lord, God in Christ being our ultimate judge!

Ministers of the Church of Jesus Christ, of which I am one, are called upon by God to give both warning and hope to God’s people. The warning I have given is this treatise. The hope which is offered is found only in Jesus Christ, in the Good News Jesus brings to all who repent, who turn from their unrighteous ways and find hope in their God. My job is to point you towards Jesus Christ! I say to President Donald Trump, House Speaker Ryan, Vice President Pence, Charles and David Koch (who have good Methodist names), and the Conservative Republican caucus so beholden to the Koch brothers for their place in Congress that our God offers hope for them all and salvation in Christ for those willing to seek Him. Their salvation will, of course, as for all Christians be evidenced by repentance and how they treat the poor and “the least among us” of this nation.

And so, in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and speaking a minister of Christ’s Gospel, I offer all these and others not mentioned above both a word of warning and a word of hope. The warning exists for all those so enamored by power in this world as to forfeit their own soul and humanity towards others in order to obtain more wealth and power. The hope exists for any who repent from their sins as did our brother Zacchaeus, who in his own life speaks so clearly to use all. To Zacchaeus and all like him Jesus says, “Today, salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham! For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:1-10).

The Voice of one Crying out in this wilderness, “Make straight in this desert a highway for our God!” In the name of and by the power of Jesus Christ the Risen Lord, who alone is God of both heaven and earth, in whose grace we serve with much gratitude and thanksgiving, in the name of God our Father, Son and Holy Spirit.“Amen!”

Let all the people of God say, “Amen!”

“Amen!  We praise you, Lord Jesus Christ!”

“Amen!”