Bible Reading Luke 19:1-10 and commentary

And he entered and was passing through Jericho.

And behold there was a man named Zacchaeus; and he was a leading publican, and he was rich.

And he was trying to see Jesus, who he was, but could not, on account of the crowd, because he was short of stature.

So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was going to pass that way.

And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and saw him, and said to him, "Zacchaeus, make haste and come down; for I must stay in thy house today."

And he made haste and came down, and welcomed him joyfully.

And upon seeing it all began to murmur, saying, "He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner."

But Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, "Behold, Lord, I give one-half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold."

Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come in this house, since he, too, is a son of Abraham.

For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."

***
This is one of my favorites in the Gospels. I love remembering the man who was so eager to see Jesus that he climbed a tree... and then Jesus knew he was there and already his name!

There is a great subtle statement here, though, one I have alluded to in my posts about Jewish-Muslim-Christian understanding. Notice that Jesus says that "salvation has come in this house" because "he too" is a son of Abraham.

No one who believes in the Gospel can read this statement and not see that Jesus viewed salvation as being available to the descendents of Abraham. This is why I constantly remind people, and explain to those who never learned it, that the Abrahamic faiths are one united family and Jesus has clearly stated the availability of salvation to all those who are a son (descendent) of Abraham.

So Christians who think that Muslims are not within the "house" of hope for salvation as promised by Jesus are in error, because Jesus clearly states that "since he, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost." The Qur'an revealed, taught, gifted and restored the people who would accept it with their lineage back to Abraham.

Jesus is clearly indicating that he is not severing or replacing the lineage back to Abraham, by so clearly referencing him by name. In other words, Jesus is not saying that "anything before me is no longer valid." Far from it, Jesus underscores the continuing salvation promise and history for all the descendents of Abraham, including those that had the lineage but were "lost."