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| De Roos Factory, Jesus Encounters Zacchaeus Dutch (Delft), 1690-1710 London, Victoria and Albert Museum |
“At that time, Jesus came to
Jericho and intended to pass through the town.
Now a man there named Zacchaeus,
who was a chief tax collector and
also a wealthy man,
was seeking to see who Jesus was;
but he could not see him because
of the crowd,
for he was short in stature.
So he ran ahead and climbed a
sycamore tree in order to see Jesus,
who was about to pass that way.
When he reached the place, Jesus
looked up and said,
“Zacchaeus, come down quickly,
for today I must stay at your
house.”
And he came down quickly and
received him with joy.
When they all saw this, they
began to grumble, saying,
“He has gone to stay at the house
of a sinner.”
But Zacchaeus stood there and
said to the Lord,
“Behold, half of my possessions,
Lord, I shall give to the poor,
and if I have extorted anything
from anyone
I shall repay it four times
over.”
And Jesus said to him,
“Today salvation has come to this
house
because this man too is a
descendant of Abraham.
For the Son of Man has come to
seek
and to save what was lost.”
Luke 19:1-10
Gospel for the Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C, October
30, 2016
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| Pietro Monaco after Bernardo Strozzi Jesus Encounters Zacchaeus Italian (Venice), 1730-1739 London, British Museum |
This story, found only in the Gospel of Luke, is as full of important
meaning as any other portion of the Gospel accounts of the ministry of Jesus
between His baptism and His passion. On
one level it is a human, even a humorous story, on the other hand it is
profound.
The action of this story takes place in Luke, as Jesus is traveling up
to Jerusalem, where He will be put to death.
It is set as He is about to enter the town of Jericho, one of the oldest
continuously lived in sites in the world.
A resident of Jericho named Zacchaeus approaches the crowd awaiting the
entry of Jesus out of curiosity. He is
short, so he decides to climb a tree to get a better view. But, instead of him getting a look at Jesus,
it is Jesus who sees him and, it seems, sees into him, for He knows him
and calls him by name. More than that, Jesus
tells him that He will stay in his house.
Instead of being upset at this unexpected turn of events Zacchaeus
welcomes Him, receiving Him “with joy”.
When unspecified people (? residents of Jericho, the apostles,
Pharisees?) grumble about Jesus’ dining with a “sinner” Zacchaeus makes a
stunning statement “Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the
poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone I shall repay it four times
over.” (Luke 19:8) Jesus then tells him that “Today salvation has come to this
house because this man too is a descendant of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to
save what was lost.” (Luke 19:9-10)
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| Boetius Adamszoon Bolswert Christ in the House of Zacchaeus Flemish, 1590-1622 Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum |
It would seem that this small story contains quite a bit of
meaning. For, Zacchaeus is a kind of “everyman”
(or perhaps, nowadays, “every person”), a stand in for all of us. He is curious about this celebrity who is
coming to town and struggles to get a better view. But, what he gets from this particular
celebrity is unexpected. He gets a
calling, a personal invitation, to come down and welcome the visitor into his
house. And, instead of shying away, of
saying “no thanks, my house isn’t ready” Zacchaeus “receives Him with joy”. Furthermore, so affected is he by the
meeting, he offers to give one half of all he owns to the poor (and we are told
he was a wealthy man, so it’s not a small thing). And, not content with that, he offers to
repay anyone he has extorted money from four times over. Since, the way in which tax collectors went
about getting the money they were required to raise was through extortion, this
probably represented a substantial amount.
Roman provincial tax collectors were permitted to keep a portion of the
money they raised for the Imperial treasury.
This which meant that, in order to make the money they felt they were
entitled to, above that required by the Roman government, the sums they
extracted from people were pretty large and burdensome, and deeply
resented. By making this offer Zacchaeus
is acknowledging his guilt, as well as offering to pay restitution.
The ways in which artists illustrated this story through time is an
interesting chronicle, with some divergent branches and shifts of focus.
To begin with, early illustrations told a fairly simple tale. Two illuminations in royal books painted in
the scriptorium of Reichenau around the beginning of the 11th
century provide two different views of the same story, one of which would lead
to a branch development a few centuries later.
One shows Jesus, seated on a donkey, entering Jericho. In the other book, Jesus is on foot,
surrounded by His disciples. The latter
image also includes the feast at the house of Zacchaeus.
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| Jesus Encounters Zacchaeus as He Enters Jericho from the Gospel Book of Otto III German (Reichenau), c.1000 Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek MS Clm 4453, fol. 234v |
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| Jesus Encounters Zacchaeus and Dines at His House from the Gospel Book of Heinrich II German (Reichenau)m ca.1007-1012 Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek MS Clm 4452_fol.200r |
A few decades later, the image was incorporated on the bronze column of
Bishop Bernward in Hildesheim, one of the great bronze works that Bernward
commissioned that revived the art of bronze casting, after its post-Roman
decline.
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| Jesus Encounters Zacchaeus Berward's Column German (Hildesheim), ca. 1020 Hildesheim, Cathedral |
For the next two hundred plus years, illustrations of the text were
simple and straightforward.
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| Jesus Encounters Zacchaeus from Book of Pericopes of the Monastery of Saint Erentrud Austrian (Salzburg), 1140 Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek MS Cod.lat.15903, fol. 96v |
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| Jesus Encounters Zacchaeus from Gospel Book German (Passau), ca. 1170-1180 Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek MS Clm 16002, fol. 40v
This image cleverly uses initials to represent the
tree and Jesus standing on the ground.
|
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| Jesus Encounters Zacchaeus from a Picture Bible French (St. Omer, Abbey of St. Bertin), ca.1190-1200 The Hague, Koninklijk Bibliothek MS KB 76 F 5, fol. 013r |
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| Jesus Encounters Zacchaeus English (Canterbury), 13th Century Canterbury, Cathedral |
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| Jesus Encounters Zacchaeus and Dines with Him North German (Monastery of Weinhausen), ca. 1335 Weinhausen, Weinhausen Abbey |
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| Jesus Encounters Zacchaeus from a 13th Century Pattern Book German, 1200-1300 Freiburg im Breisgau, Augustiner Museum G23.1c |
Around at
the beginning of the 14th century, the image, propagated throughout
Europe by such means as pattern books and the interchange of artists, merged
into a different part of the Gospel story, the triumphal entry of Jesus into
Jerusalem on what we now call Palm Sunday.
Artists began to incorporate one or two or more people in trees in their
illustrations of the entry. And this confusion between the story of
Zacchaeus and Jesus’ entry into Jericho and Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem lasted
for about 100 years.
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| Giotto, Entry into Jerusalem Italian, 1300-1305 Padua, Arena Chapel |
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| Duccio, Entry into Jerusalem from the Maesta Altarpiece Italain, 1308-1311 Siena, Museo dell'Opera del Duomo |
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| Pietro Lorenzetti. Entry into Jerusalem Italian, c.1320 Assisi, Church of San Francesco, Lower Church |
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| German Master, Entry into Jerusalem Detail from the Osnabrueck Altarpiece German, 1370s_ Cologne, Wallraf-Richartz-Museum |
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| The Limbourg Brothers (Herman, Jean and Paul) from Tres Riches Heures of the Duc de Berry Dutch, 1412-1416 Chantilly, Musee Conde MS 65, fol. 173v |
However, early in the 15th century, the images became
unwound once again. The emphasis again returned to
the dramatic moment of the meeting between Jesus and the small man in the
tree.
Paintings from this period, which lasted up to the beginning of the 20th century and continue today, are infrequent. It is through the medium of prints and other of the “minor” arts that the images were transmitted. This made them much more available to the ordinary person, since prints are cheaper and more mobile than paintings.
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| Claes Brouwer, Alexander Master, Jesus Encounters Zacchaeus from Bible historiale Dutch (Utrecht), ca.1430 The Hague, Koninklijk Bibliothek MS KB 78 D 38-dl2, fol. 173v |
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| Delft Master, Meal at House of Zacchaeus and the Encounter of Jesus and Zacchaeus Dutch, 1480-1500 Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum |
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| Antwerp Master, Meal at House of Zacchaeus and the Encounter of Jesus and Zacchaeus Flemish, 1485-1491 Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum |
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| Anonymous, Jesus Encounters Zacchaeus A Cutting from a Gradual Book Dutch, ea. 16th Century London, Victoria and Albert Musseum |
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| Glass Roundel with the Encounter of Jesus and Zacchaeus North Netherlands, 1500-1510 New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Cloisters Collection |
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| Adam Petri, Encounter of Jesus and Zacchaeus German, 1514 London, British Museum |
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| Glass Roundel, Jesus at Supper in the house of Zacchaeus German, ca.1530 London, Victoria and Albert Museum |
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| Philips Galle after Maerten de Vos, Encounter of Jesus and Zacchaeus Flemish (Antwerp), 1547-1612 Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum |
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| Jan Collaert after Maarten de Vos, Encounter of Jesus and Zacchaeus from Thesaurus Novi Testamenti elegantissimis iconibus expressus continens historias atque miracula do[mi] ni nostri Iesu Christi Flemish, c.1585 London, British Museum |
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| Bernardo Strozzi, Encounter of Jesus and Zacchaeus Italian, c.1640 Nantes, Musee des Beaux-Arts |
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| Alexandre Ubelesqui, Encounter of Jesus and Zacchaeus at Jericho French, c.1700 Bayonne, Musee Bonnat-Helleu |
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| Glazed Tile, Jesus Encounters Zacchaeus English or Dutch, ca.1718-1725 London, Victoria and Albert Museum |
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| Domenico Tiepolo, Christ in the House of Zacchaeus in Jericho Italian, ca.1750-1800 Paris, Musee du Louvre |
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| Joseph Anton Feuchtmayer, Encounter of Jesus with Zacchaeus Austrian, 1761-1763 Sankt Gallen, Cathedral |
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| Thomas Schaidhauf, Encounter of Jesus and Zacchaeus German, c. 1780-1807 Furstenfeldbruck, Catholic Parish of St. Bernard |
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| James Tissot, Encounter of Jesus and Zacchaeus French, 1886-1896 New York, Brooklyn Museum |
There was one significant further development on the theme, that of
Zacchaeus as a penitent, detached from the meeting with Jesus or His reception
in Zacchaeus’ home. In these Zacchaeus
is very clearly offering his ill-gotten gains to Jesus or is repenting in private
prayer.
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| Boetius Adamszoon Bolswert, Christ in the House of Zacchaeus Flemish, 1590-1622 Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum |
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| Willem Isaacszoon van Swanenburg after Abraham Bloemaert Penitent Zacchaeus from a series of prints of Penitents Dutch (Leiden), 1611 Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum |
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| Hans Burgkmair the Elder, Zacchaeus Climbs the Tree of Faith, Hope and Charity from Predigen teütsch by Johann Geiler von Keysersberg German (Augsburg), 1508-1510 London, British Museum |
A further interesting image of Zacchaeus, showing him climbing the
tree, preparatory to the arrival of Jesus is found in the book Predigen teütsch (German
Preaching), by the popular preacher Johann Geiler von Keysersberg (1445-1510),
who was a popular preacher at the end of the 15th century.1 It shows
the figure of Zacchaeus climbing a tree (incorrectly shown as a palm). The tree is wrapped in a banderol with the
words “Leibe”, “Hoffnung” and “Glaub”(sic), which translate as Love, Hope and
Faith. Someone has handwritten in the
Latin translations of these words: “Charitas”, “Spes” and “Fides”. In other words, Faith, Hope and Charity, the
three theological virtues. Zacchaeus is
here shown for what he represents, the person who seeks to find salvation
through Christ and the church.
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| Charles Lemeire, St. Zacchaeus French, 1888-1893 Paris, Musee d'Orsay |
©
M. Duffy, 2016
1. Scheid, Nikolaus. "Johann Geiler von
Kaysersberg." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 6. New York: Robert
Appleton Company, 1909. 28 Oct. 2016 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06403c.htm>.
Scripture texts in this work are taken from the New
American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of
Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. and are used by permission of the
copyright owner. All Rights Reserved. No part of the New American Bible may be
reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
