Why was zacchaeus despised

He was proactive with his wish to see Jesus. What are we doing to actively seek God? He recently helped edit the new book Knowing Why: Evidences that the Book of Mormon is True and has published and presented widely on scripture, innovation, entrepreneurship, technology, teaching, and learning and has PhDs in Biblical Studies and Instructional Technology. More at taylorhalverson.

Scott Haines is a lifelong student of the scriptures. He is trained as a neuro-ophthalmologist and practices at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia.

When called upon, he gladly provides consultations for the Missionary Health department. He is currently serving in the bishopric of his ward. He and his wife, Jen, have four well-behaved children. Search Search Search. The Romans needed local tax collectors, and they found it advantageous to hire locals such as Zacchaeus to collect money from their kinfolk. In exchange, these local tax collectors pledged their allegiance to Rome and charged a nice commission.

And, they were known for skimming a little extra off the top. As a result, they were despised. And that stigma was so well known that Jesus even used it as part of an earlier teaching on love during his Sermon on the Mount:. Do not even the tax collectors do the same?

So, Zacchaeus was the chief tax collector of a very lucrative trade hub at Jericho. As a result, he was rich and powerful at the expense of his own people. Zacchaeus the tax collector was viewed as a traitor. Much to his astonishment, the Lord called Zacchaeus by name, telling him to come down from the tree. That very day, Jesus went home with Zacchaeus.

Moved by Jesus' message, the notorious sinner turned his life over to Christ and was never the same again. As a chief tax collector for the vicinity of Jericho, Zacchaeus, a Jew, was an employee of the Roman Empire. Under the Roman system, men bid on those positions, pledging to raise a certain amount of money. Anything they raised over that amount was their personal profit.

Luke says Zacchaeus was a wealthy man, so he must have extorted a great deal from the people and encouraged his subordinates to do so as well. Jesus was passing through Jericho one day, but because Zacchaeus was a short man, he could not see over the crowd.

He ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to get a better view. To his surprise and delight, Jesus stopped, looked up, and ordered Zacchaeus to come down because he would stay at his house. The crowd, however, muttered that Jesus would be socializing with a sinner. Jews hated tax collectors because they were dishonest tools of the oppressive Roman government. At Jesus' call to him, Zacchaeus promised to give half his money to the poor and repay fourfold anyone he had cheated.

Jesus told Zacchaeus that salvation would come to his house that day. At the home of Zacchaeus, Jesus told the parable of the ten servants. Zacchaeus is not mentioned again in the Bible after that episode, but we can assume his repentant spirit and his acceptance of Christ did, indeed, lead to his salvation and the salvation of his whole household.

He collected taxes for the Romans, overseeing the customs charges on the trade routes through Jericho and levying taxes on individual citizens in that area. Brahma is the first god in the Hindu triumvirate, or trimurti. The triumvirate consists of three gods who are responsible for the creation, upkeep and destruction of the world.

The other two gods are Vishnu and Shiva. Patristic evidence. In the 4th Century some Jewish Christian groups maintained that Jesus was himself a vegetarian. Epiphanius quotes the Gospel of the Ebionites where Jesus has a confrontation with the high priest. Fish, though, which are cold blooded were considered okay to eat on fasting days.