The Lord spoke to
Moses, saying, "If anyone sins and commits a breach of faith against the
Lord by deceiving his neighbor in a matter of deposit or security, or through
robbery, or if he has oppressed his neighbor or has found something lost and
lied about it, swearing falsely - in any of all the things that people do and
sin thereby - if he has sinned and has realized his guilt and will restore what
he took by robbery or what he got by oppression or the deposit that was
committed to him or the lost thing that he found or anything about which he has
sworn falsely, he shall restore it in full and shall add a fifth to it, and
give it to him to whom it belongs on the day he realizes his guilt. And he
shall bring to the priest as his compensation to the Lord a ram without blemish
out of the flock, or its equivalent for a guilt offering. And the priest shall
make atonement for him before the Lord, and he shall be forgiven for any of the
things that one may do and thereby become guilty." (Vayikra / Leviticus
6:1-7; ESV)
Recently I
was reading the account of Yeshua's interaction with the chief tax collector
Zakkai (commonly known as Zacchaeus - see Luke 19:1-10). Tax collectors were
despised by the first-century Jewish community, since they were in the employ
of the hated Romans to collect funds from their own people for these foreign
oppressors. What made matters worse is that they often grew rich by extracting
more than required.
It must have
been scandalous for Yeshua to invite himself to Zakkai's home. There is nothing
I can find in the story to suggest why the Messiah focused on him at that
moment. What we do know, however, is the profound effect this had on this
outcast. He repented. Right at that moment he determined to live differently by
being generous to the poor, and if he had truly defrauded anyone he would give
back to them four times as much. Yeshua's response confirmed the godliness of
Zakkai's repentance: "Today salvation has come to this house, since he
also is a son of Abraham" (Luke 19:9).
I don't know
if I have ever heard any one confirm the reality of salvation in a person's
life based on their determination to take action as we see in this story. What
Zakkai did looks a lot more like what God required under the Sinai Covenant
than what is expressed in most so-called gospel preaching today. As I read
earlier, God through Moses was clear as to what should happen when a person did
the kind of thing Zakkai did: restoration followed by sacrifice. That Zakkai
went beyond the restoration requirement only further demonstrates his change of
heart, but his understanding of what to do once he was ready to admit his wrong
was derived from the Torah of Moses.
Biblical
repentance whether in the Hebrew Bible or New Covenant Scriptures is always the
same: a change of heart intimately associated with a change of lifestyle. Deeds
don't manipulate God. But if we truly humble ourselves before him, admit our
need of him due to sin, and demonstrate willingness to submit to him, he
receives us. Righteous deeds will always follow a truly humbled heart as the
fruit of repentance. Even though what's going on in the heart is crucial, it is
deeds that are the evidence of the internal reality.
What Zakkai
did that day relates to what we read from this week's Torah portion not only
with regard to his act of restoration. Moses commanded an offering as well.
Zakkai likely didn't understand that Yeshua's statement of salvation to him was
made effective by Yeshua's offering of himself which was yet to occur. While a
change of heart and behavior are necessary elements of salvation, they in
themselves do not resolve our alienation from God. Until Yeshua conquered death
through his unjust execution and resurrection, repentance alone could not
bridge the gap between humans and God. A sacrifice was always necessary to
restore relationship with God. Moses commanded it; Yeshua fulfilled it once and
for all.
Yet Yeshua's
sacrifice as the final solution to our broken relationship with God in no way
reduces our need to respond like Zakkai did. On the contrary as people
reconciled to God, we should now seek to discern what pleases him (see
Ephesians 5:10). Once of the ways we do that is by knowing the Scriptures.
Zakkai was a sinner, but when he finally repented he knew what to do, because
he grew up in a culture that knew God's Word. It's never too late to start
learning.
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