In studying the theme of hospitality in the Jewish Scriptures, we were particularly invested in considering Abraham as the host of angels – and, in some sense, of Yahweh himself. And, as we turn to the New Testament, we find a continued interest in the theme of hospitality.[1] The reference at the end of Hebrews is particularly interesting:
Do not forget to be hospitable to strangers, for in doing so, some have welcomed angels without knowing it![2]
The comment rings with echoes from both the Jewish (e.g., Abraham) and Greek (e.g., Nestor, Baucis and Philemon, etc.) traditions. As before, we will focus on a few narrow slices of the text, considering Jesus (and subsequently, his followers) as he is portrayed by the author of Luke and Acts (henceforth, just ‘Luke’).[3] One of Luke’s recurring themes is the divine visitation of Jesus and how he is accepted or rejected – or, in the language we’ve been using so far, does the host treat him hospitably or inhospitably. Then, having reflected on the position of Jesus as a guest, we will turn to Jesus as the host. Next, we will follow Jesus sending out his followers, and observe how they, as bearers of Jesus’ message, receive a mixed reception. Finally, we will reflect on the practical implication of these teachings for our own lives.
The gospels, including Luke, only pick up Jesus’ life in the last two or three years, beginning with his baptism by John the Baptizer and his temptation in the wilderness. Following these events in Luke, Jesus begins his wanderings or itinerancy. He journeys to his hometown of Nazareth where he is rejected and threatened with death, which contrasts with his time in Capernaum when he is welcomed. Jesus continues traveling around Galilee, and at one point is invited to the house of a Pharisee named Simon. Simon entertains Jesus for a meal when their meal is interrupted:
A woman who was a sinner in the city, when she learned that Jesus was reclining at the table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster jar of perfume. Standing behind, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears, and she wiped them with her hair. She also kissed his feet and anointed them with the perfumed oil. Now when the Pharisee who had invited Jesus saw this, he said to himself, ‘If this man were a prophet, he would have perceived who is touching him and what kind of woman this is, that she is a sinner.'[4]
The Meal at the House of Simon the Pharisee. Anonymous. Public domain. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Meal_house_simon_pharisee_xil2_hi.jpg
Jesus’ message to Simon is that one, like the woman, who has sinned much is more appreciative of the forgiveness of god than one who, likely based on their life’s circumstances, has sinned little. Jesus does this, however, by indicating the lack of hospitality shown to him:
Turning to the woman, Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do you see this woman? I entered your house, and you gave me no water for my feet; but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. You gave me no kiss, but since the time I came in, she has not ceased kissing my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with perfume. Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven because she has loved much. But the one to whom little is forgiven loves little.’ Jesus said to the woman, ‘Your sins are forgiven.'[5]
Here we see the condemnation: Simon had not treated his divine guest with appropriate hospitality, as Abraham would have done. Simon, having only minimally transgressed the Law, was less appreciative of the divine work Jesus was accomplishing and so showed less appreciation for his guest.
After traveling across the Galilean countryside, Luke spends about ten chapters describing Jesus’ journey toward Jerusalem. Having crossed the Jordan River, heading west in the final approach to Jerusalem, Jesus enters Jericho. Here, a ‘sinner’ of a very different sort was waiting to catch a glimpse of the son of god, and, unlike Simon, would prove an ‘Abraham’ in his encounter.
There was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. He was trying to see who Jesus was, and could not because of the crowd, for he was short. He ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Jesus, who was about to pass that way. When Jesus came to the place, he looked up, saw Zacchaeus, and said to him, ‘Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house!’ He hurried, came down, and received Jesus with joy.[6]
An etching by Jan Luyken from the Phillip Medhurst Collection of Bible illustrations housed at Belgrave Hall, Leicester, England (The Kevin Victor Freestone Bequest). Photo by Philip De Vere. Phillip Medhurst [CC BY-SA]
Zacchaeus was a tax collector[7] – and not just any tax collector, but a chief tax collector! Tax collectors were reviled by their Jewish countrymen as agents of oppression. Jews living in Judea and Galilee had to bear the burden of ‘double taxation’, with a Temple tax going to maintenance of the temple and its activities, as well as a poll tax to their Roman overlords. The position of tax collector was usually sold/purchased, with the opportunity of over-collecting taxes – in other words, they effectively stole money from their countrymen. Throughout the Roman world, tax collectors were associated with ‘beggars, thieves, and robbers,'[8] and for Jewish tax collectors like Zacchaeus, they were traitors as well.
And yet, like the sinful woman, Zacchaeus is transformed by Jesus, practicing hospitality in taking him in to his home and promising to give half of his possessions to the poor and to restore any wrongfully obtained funds to their owners. Jesus commends him, ‘Today, salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham. For the son of man came to seek and to save what was lost.'[9] While the reference to ‘son of Abraham’ certainly bears other connotations, we should catch glimpses of Abraham welcoming his three divine guests, as Zacchaeus himself had done.
According to tradition, the sycamore tree Zacchaeus climbed. James Emery from Douglasville, United States [CC BY]
In the intervening ten chapters between Simon and Zacchaeus, Jesus is often shown dining, perhaps telling parables from the seat of someone’s cushion. We see examples of bad hosts, like Simon, but also bad guests. To these latter, he insists that they show greater humility:
When Jesus noticed how people chose the best seats, he told the guest a parable, saying, ‘When you are invited by anyone to a marriage feast, do not sit in the best seat. It could be that someone more honorable than you might have been invited by the host, and he who invited both of you would come and tell you, “Make room for this person.” Then, with shame, you would proceed to take the lowest place. Instead, when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place. And so, when the host comes, he may tell you, “Friend, move up higher!” Then you will be honored in the presence of those who sit at the table with you. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.'[10]
And to the host, he gives quite simple instructions: show hospitality to the needy, not to those who can repay you with a feast of their own.
Jesus said to the one who had invited him, ‘When you make a dinner or a supper, do not call your friends, brothers, kinsmen, or rich neighbors because they might return the favor and pay you back. Instead, when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, and the blind. Then you will be blessed, because they do not have the means to pay you back. For you will be repaid in the resurrection of the righteous.'[11]
From this admonition, Jesus transitions into another parable in which he describes a banquet being prepared, but those who are invited (i.e., the righteous, like Simon) refuse to come: they are otherwise engaged and do not highly regard the invitation. Disappointed and angered, the host instead invites ‘the poor, the maimed, the lame, and the blind’ (i.e., the sinners, like the woman and Zacchaeus). The tables are now flipped: Jesus is now the one extending the invitation to a feast. He reveals himself to be the bestower of hospitality, the divine host. In the next post, we will consider Jesus (and Yahweh) as the divine hosts of an ultimate, messianic banquet.
- E.g., 1 Peter 4.9, Romans 12.13, 1 Timothy 3.2, Titus 1.8, etc.
- Hebrews 13.2 (all references based on EOB translation)
- A broader introduction would include Jipp, Saved by Faith and Hospitality
- Luke 7.37f
- Luke 7.44f
- Luke 19.2f
- For more details, see ‘Tax Collector’ in a Bible Dictionary.
- Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary, ‘Tax Collector’, citing (among others) Cicero, Diogenes Cynicus, Lucan, and Dio Chrysostom.
- Luke 19.9-10
- Luke 14.7f
- Luke 14.12f