Ordinary Time 20: Zacchaeus

Tim framed the story of Zacchaeus through a lens that was probably new for many of us. How did the story you may have learned as a child differ from the one that you heard taught today? In what ways were the meaning and take-aways of the story changed by the new way of looking at it? What new insights or ideas were prompted by a this unfamiliar lens? With new information and framing, take some time to ponder and then share what this story is “about” for you at this moment.

Tim shared that, for the first thousand-ish years of the church, the interpretation of Zacchaeus he taught today was the standard. Somewhere along the way, the standard undersatnding of the story evolved (at least in some parts of the world church). Tim also intentionally prepared us to learn a significantly different way of understanding Zacchaeus and his encounter with Jesus. How does it feel to realize that what we sometimes think we know as an objective fact about the Bible might be, instead, just one way to understanding it?

Tim shared the following quote from the midrash: “The torah has seventy faces; turn it around and around, for everything is in it.” What’s your initial response to this idea? What does it bring up for you? How do you feel about the idea that there might be many right or appropriate interpretations or understandings of a single Bible story? What if the same is true for all of the Bible? What surfaces for you as you consider that? Is there anything that feels like it should be “off limits” for this kind of consideration? Why or why not?

Tim highlighted several examples of times in which standard English translations might lead an English speaking reader into an understanding that is out of sync with the original Greek. Recalling other instances in which we’ve learned that this is a common challenge of translation in general, what does that mean when it comes to the way you relate to the Bible and its words as you understand them? Does it feel any resistenace to that reality?

n the landscape of your faith, what does it mean that some of what you’ve been taught may be anchored in misleading word choice on the part of long-ago translators?