AND THE WALLS CAME TUMBLING DOWN
Wisdom 11:22-12:2; 2 Thessalonians 1:11-2:2; Luke 19:1-10
Joshua fought the battle of Jericho,
Jericho, Jericho,
Joshua fought the battle of Jericho,
And the walls came tumbling down!
Do you remember that song? Many of you, like me, probably learned it as a child attending Sunday School or Vacation Bible Camp. It relates musically in simple fashion the story of Joshua, the one God chose, after the death of Moses, to be the leader of the Israelite people. Under Yahweh’s guidance, Joshua and the Israelites set out to conquer the land of Canaan. But the city of Jericho stood as an obstacle between the people of Israel and them claiming all that God had promised them. Before they could go deeper into the land of Canaan, Jericho had to first fall. The ancient city of Jericho was a great walled city. History tells us that it was surrounded by two massive stone walls. The outer wall was six feet thick and twenty feet high. The inner wall was twelve feet thick and thirty feet high. There was a fifteen foot guarded walkway between these two walls. From a military standpoint, it was virtually impenetrable. A messenger from God appeared to Joshua and gave him special (and very unusual) instructions on how to conquer Jericho. The priests were to carry the Ark of the Covenant with them as they marched around the city walls of Jericho. Soldiers marched in front of the priests and behind them. The priests blew trumpets and marched around the city once each day for six days. On the seventh day they marched around the city seven times. After the seventh time, when the priests blew the trumpets, the people shouted . . .
And the walls came tumbling down.
About fourteen hundred years later, another man named Joshua (we know him better by the Greek translation of his name: Jesus) entered the city of Jericho and he too made “the walls come tumbling down.” Not walls of stone and mortar that surround a city named Jericho, but walls of injustice and greed that surrounded the heart of a man named Zacchaeus.
Zacchaeus was a Roman tax collector in the region of Jericho. He had two distinguishing characteristics that are pointed out in Luke’s gospel. He was short . . . and he was rich! Since he was the “chief” tax collector, and since Jericho could have been the richest city in Judea, he was probably very rich. The other thing we also know was that he was hated.
The Romans had devised a clever system for collecting taxes from regions they had conquered and occupied. Instead of the Romans themselves acting as tax collectors, they sold franchises to “businessmen” from the conquered territory. These men then had the freedom to extort as much as they could from their fellow countrymen. As a result, many became rich, and all were viewed as traitors.
So here comes Jesus through Jericho. And Zacchaeus wants desperately to see him. Maybe he just wanted to catch a glimpse of the one who people said made the blind see, the deaf hear, lepers clean and the lame walk. Or perhaps word had spread that this was a Rabbi who was a friend to “tax collectors and sinners.” Unable to see over the crowd, Zacchaeus climbed a tree to get a look. He could not have imagined that Jesus would stop under the tree, call him by name, and invite himself over for dinner . . .
And the walls came tumbling down.
We’re not told what Jesus and Zacchaeus talked about over the meal, but we see a changed Zacchaeus. The walls that Zacchaeus had built around his heart, walls of ego, of arrogance, of affluence, of greed, of power, of status came tumbling down, not with the blare of trumpets and the shouts of an army, but simply by the warmth and gentleness of a single voice, “Today, salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham.” And amidst the ruins of those walls, Zacchaeus stands up and makes a monumental commitment: “Lord, here and now I give half my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anyone, I will repay them four times the amount.” It was the response of a man whose walls were smashed and whose heart was set free. A man whose life had been radically impacted by Jesus.
Luke doesn’t tell us what happened to Zacchaeus after Jesus left, but second and third century sources say his name was changed to Matthias, and he was picked in the Upper Room to replace Judas. Another early source goes on to say he became the first leader of the church in the Roman capital of Judea, Caesarea by the Sea.
Walls. Walls that surround a city. Walls that surround the human heart. Our Gospel today challenges us to look at ourselves and recognize the walls in our own lives. But here’s the thing about walls: Some walls won’t let you in and some walls won’t let you out. When we build walls around us we deceive ourselves into thinking that we’re protected. But nothing could be further from the truth. When we surround ourselves with walls we not only block out everything outside of us, but we trap everything inside us too. What type of wall do you have? Do you have a wall like Jericho that makes you impregnable? A wall that leaves your heart untouched by the words and example of Jesus? Unpenetrated by the needs of others? Hardened to those who seek your forgiveness? Rigid to those who need your love? Or is your wall like that which surrounded Zacchaeus? A wall that lock you in schedules and time commitments that keep you from prayer and a deeper relationship with God? Is it a wall that holds you prisoner – a prisoner to the mores and attitudes of mainstream society rather than Gospel values? Is it a wall that holds you hostage by the all-consuming need for success, status, wealth and the material comforts of life? Or is it a wall that inhibits you emotionally and renders you incapable of expressing your feelings for fear it will make you vulnerable. There’s only one power strong enough to topple those walls. It’s the same power that created the universe, parted the Red Sea, and made the walls of Jericho come tumbling down. The power of God.
Today, Jesus says to us as he did to Zacchaeus, “Today I must stay at your house.” Jesus wants to come home with you. He doesn’t want it to be just a once a week Sunday encounter. He wants to stay with you. He wants to be in on every conversation you have, every decision you make, every relationship you have. He desires to knock down any walls that need to be demolished in your life by the power of his love and mercy. But if you notice in today’s Gospel, Jesus didn’t break into Zacchaeus’ house. And he won’t break into yours as well. It’s always God standing at the doorway, seeking but never forcing entry. It’s God always wishing to come in, but never crossing a threshold uninvited. It’s always up to us to welcome God in as he waits patiently for us. So what do you say? Maybe it’s time for us to be like Zacchaeus and climb a tree, go out on a limb, and receive him with joy.
Jesus fought the battle for Zacchaeus’ heart
It was just the start, Zacchaeus’s heart.
Jesus fights the battle for your very heart.
Let the walls come tumbling down.
