Antiquitopia

When reading Luke-Acts as a whole, one begins to see a certain trajectory. We begin with John the Baptist saying: He who has two coats, let him share with him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise." Tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, "Teacher what shall we do?" And he said to them, "Collect no more than is appointed you." (Luke 3:11-13) You can see some of these same issues unfold with Jesus. The first part can be found in Jesus' commands to his disciples when he sends them out: Take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not have two tunics. (Luke 9:3) In addition to keeping only one garment, the tax collector issue also shows up throughout. Jesus mingles with tax ocllectors, but more poignantly, the passage concerning Zacchaeus, the tax collector who does not cheat anyone and does not make them pay more than appointed, stands out as a good example (19:1-10). For the almost i...