Lucas 19

Lucas 19

William MacDonald writes that Lk 19:8 "is one of the strongest in the Bible on restitution. Salvation does not relieve a person from righting the wrongs of the past. Debts contracted during one's unconverted days are not canceled by the new birth. And if money was stolen before salvation, then a true sense of the grace of God requires that this money be repaid after a person has become a child of God." (Ibid) In stating he will give back four times as much, Zacchaeus went beyond the requirement of the Law, which, in the case of fraud, requires the return of that which is illegally acquired plus one-fifth. For example Lev 6:2-5+ says "he shall make restitution for it in full and add to it one-fifth more." In the case of theft the requirement in the Law was a payment of at least four times the amount stolen (cf. Ex. 22:1) and so it appears that Zacchaeus regards his actions as the equivalent of theft. Under Mosaic Law if a thief voluntarily confessed, he had to restore what he took, add 20% and bring a trespass offering to the Lord (Leviticus 6:1ff+). If he stole something and was caught with the goods, he had to repay two times (Ex 22:4). Clearly the main point is that Zaccheus was a new creation in Christ, as evidenced by the fruit of repentance. Behold (2400)(idou) draws attention to what follows. Idou in the middle voice means "you yourself look, see, perceive!" The aorist imperative is a command emphasizing "Do it now! Don't delay!" The NIV has "Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor." He was not negotiating terms with Jesus but was fully sold out. Lord (2962)(kurios from kuros = might or power, related to kuroo = to give authority) primarily means the One Who is the possessor, owner, and master, the One Who is sovereign and possesses absolute authority, absolute ownership and unrivaled power. In Acts 25:26 Festus uses kurios as a title for the Roman emperor. Kurios described the one to whom a person or thing belonged, and over which he (the kurios) had the power of deciding how it was disposed. Kurios is used over 9000 times in the Septuagint and over 700 times in the NT. Therefore it behooves us to understand the truth concerning Jesus as Lord and not allow ourselves to become side-tracked in debate over so-called "Lordship salvation". The indisputable Biblical facts are that faith in Jesus saves and Jesus is Lord (Ro 10:9,10+) This confession of "Jesus is Lord" became a direct affront to the practice of Roman emperor worship. Certain cities even built temples for Caesar-worship as was the case in Smyrna where the command was to honor the emperor by confessing "Caesar is Lord". To declare "Jesus is Lord" became a crime punishable by death, resulting in the martyrdom. I think the first century believers understood "Lordship" in a way modern believers would find it difficult to comprehend! (cp Jesus' "prophetic" warning in Mt 10:22, 23, 24, 25+ where "master" is kurios) James Montgomery