A new take on Zacchaeus

I expect everyone is familiar with the story of Zacchaeus (as recorded in Luke 19) You maybe also sang this song as a child:

Now Zacchaeus was a very little man,

And a very little man was he,

He climbed up to the top of the tree,

For the Saviour he wanted to see,

For the Saviour he wanted to see.

Now when the Saviour came that way,

He looked up to the tree,

And said, “Now Zacchaeus, you come down,

I’m coming to your house for tea,

I’m coming to your house for tea!” 

I was reading Daniel B. Clendenin' s website http://www.journeywithjesus.net/ this week and found the following new take on the story.  I have heard the tale many times before I have never understood Zacchaeus in this way.

Traditionally Zacchaeus is a sinner who repents and is converted on the spot and as a result he promises future reparations. Clendenin writes:

"There's another way to read this story in which Zacchaeus isn't a sinner who converts but a saint who surprises. He doesn't make promises about the future, rather, he defends himself and shocks the crowd by appealing to his past. Both interpretations depend on how you translate Luke 19:8, and in particular the verbs that in the Greek text are in the present tense. It's a good example of the interplay between translation and interpretation. Even though the verbs are in the present tense, the typical way of reading of this story follows scholars like Robert Stein and translations like the NRSV and NIV. They render the present tense verbs as a "futuristic present." That is, Zacchaeus the sinner repents and vows that henceforth he'll make restitution.
The second option follows commentators like Joseph Fitzmyer and translations like the KJV and RSV. They render the verbs as a "progressive present tense." In this reading, Zacchaeus is a hidden saint about whom people have made all sorts of false assumptions about his corruption. And so he defends himself: "Lord, I always give half of my wealth to the poor, and whenever I discover any fraud or discrepancy I always make a fourfold restitution.The crowd had demonized Zacchaeus. Jesus praises him."

An understanding of grammar can thus transform the interpretation of the story.  

I like the second way of reading the story. It fits with the many times that in Luke's gospel Jesus calls out good people who are bad and commends bad people who are good. The gospel has some unlikely heroes — the faith of a Roman soldier, a "good" Samaritan, a shrewd manager who was commended for his dishonesty, a Samaritan leper who was the only person to give thanks for his healing, and an un-named tax collector who was commended as more righteous than a Pharisee. This way of interpreting the story of Zacchaeus adds another person to this list that praises those it was considered shocking to praise.

Image courtesy of satit_srihin  /FreeDigitalPhotos.net