In Luke 19:1-10 we read the story of Zacchaeus, the only "rich" man who Christ ever said received salvation. In the KJV it reads;
1And Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. 2And, behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich. 3And he sought to see Jesus who he was; and could not for the press, because he was little of stature. 4And he ran before, and climbed up into a sycomore tree to see him: for he was to pass that way. 5And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at thy house. 6And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, That he was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner. 8And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold. 9And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham. 10For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
So, why did Christ tell Zacchaeus "This day is salvation come to this house"? Christ famously said in Matthew 19:23 "That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven." This was after his encounter with the rich young man. The young man had asked Christ "what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?" Christ first answered him "keep the commandments" and listed a few of the Old Testament commandments of God. When the rich young man told Christ "All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?" is when Christ replied; "If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me." Of course we are told that the young man went away sorrowful because he had "great possessions" and was unwilling to give them up.
When Christ relayed the Parable of Lazarus and the rich man, in Luke 16:19-31 we read in verses 22-23 "22And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; 23And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments," So, why is it that Lazarus went to "Abraham's bosom" and the rich man went to hell. I've heard people say that the rich man went to hell because he didn't help poor Lazarus. First, nowhere in the story does it say that he never gave him anything. Secondly, it doesn't make sense from a logical standpoint. If he never gave him a handout, why was Lazarus still hanging out, begging at the rich mans gate. One would think if the rich man never gave him anything he would have found greener pastures. All we know from Christ's telling is that Lazarus was poor and went to heaven and the only thing we know about the rich man is he was rich and went to hell. So, without reading between the lines, we have only the fact that he was rich to explain why he was in hell.
So, what was different about Zacchaeus? I think it;s obvious. Zacchaeus told Christ that he had given half his goods to the poor and anyone who he had cheated, he repaid them fourfold. Zacchaeus had heard Christ's teachings and acted upon them by giving away his wealth to the poor and making restitution to those he had cheated. I find it interesting that he gave half to the poor before making restitution. That meant more for the poor since they got theirs off the top and still the restitution to those he had cheated was the same. At any rate, Zacchaeus was the only rich man to actually act on what Christ taught and thus Christ said he had received salvation. This leads one to conclude that the only way a rich man can receive Christ is to give away their riches to those less fortunate and the vast majority of rich people will never do that. Thus the admonition that a rich man can hardly ever get to heaven.
1And Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. 2And, behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich. 3And he sought to see Jesus who he was; and could not for the press, because he was little of stature. 4And he ran before, and climbed up into a sycomore tree to see him: for he was to pass that way. 5And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at thy house. 6And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, That he was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner. 8And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold. 9And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham. 10For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
So, why did Christ tell Zacchaeus "This day is salvation come to this house"? Christ famously said in Matthew 19:23 "That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven." This was after his encounter with the rich young man. The young man had asked Christ "what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?" Christ first answered him "keep the commandments" and listed a few of the Old Testament commandments of God. When the rich young man told Christ "All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?" is when Christ replied; "If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me." Of course we are told that the young man went away sorrowful because he had "great possessions" and was unwilling to give them up.
When Christ relayed the Parable of Lazarus and the rich man, in Luke 16:19-31 we read in verses 22-23 "22And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; 23And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments," So, why is it that Lazarus went to "Abraham's bosom" and the rich man went to hell. I've heard people say that the rich man went to hell because he didn't help poor Lazarus. First, nowhere in the story does it say that he never gave him anything. Secondly, it doesn't make sense from a logical standpoint. If he never gave him a handout, why was Lazarus still hanging out, begging at the rich mans gate. One would think if the rich man never gave him anything he would have found greener pastures. All we know from Christ's telling is that Lazarus was poor and went to heaven and the only thing we know about the rich man is he was rich and went to hell. So, without reading between the lines, we have only the fact that he was rich to explain why he was in hell.
So, what was different about Zacchaeus? I think it;s obvious. Zacchaeus told Christ that he had given half his goods to the poor and anyone who he had cheated, he repaid them fourfold. Zacchaeus had heard Christ's teachings and acted upon them by giving away his wealth to the poor and making restitution to those he had cheated. I find it interesting that he gave half to the poor before making restitution. That meant more for the poor since they got theirs off the top and still the restitution to those he had cheated was the same. At any rate, Zacchaeus was the only rich man to actually act on what Christ taught and thus Christ said he had received salvation. This leads one to conclude that the only way a rich man can receive Christ is to give away their riches to those less fortunate and the vast majority of rich people will never do that. Thus the admonition that a rich man can hardly ever get to heaven.
