Zacchaeus: When God Stopped by

by Patty Froese

There was: Tzofit, a stunning, but cynical, woman; Benyamin, a bloodthirsty zealot ready to murder for justice; Ehud, a desperate man with a debt someone was going to have to pay; Gaius Markus Africanus, a centurion trained to spot any mans weaknesses quickly; and Zacchaeus, a dwarf of a man who had never grown to full stature, a friendless outcast who collected taxes for Rome. Little did they realize that their second chance would begin the moment a Stranger locked eyes with a man perched in a sycamore tree. The town was filled with people who needed a second chance.

Genres: Biblical Fiction

176 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2010

Reviews

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author wrote from the POV of too many characters, and the story was incredibly slow.

[Evelynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Zacchaeus’ brother, Oshri, dies, he leaves a widow that no one wants to care for. Tzofit is too cynical to be a good wife for anyone, they say. No one wants a daughter-in-law who cannot love and refuses to respect. So the burden falls on Zacchaeus to take her as a wife. But the two are not a good match. They remain at odds with one another on everything. Why would Elohim allow this to happen?

Ehud is a loyal Judean who is drowning in debt. In a desperate attempt to earn a little money, he begins to spy on his neighbors and fish for information a tax collector wants about transactions over land that were kept hush-hush and large inheritances that somehow were not reported to Rome. But soon, giving Zacchaeus the edge on his fellow townsfolk is not enough, and Seth the moneylender takes Ehud’s daughter, Nitza, as a slave for payment. How will Adonai provide?

Benyamin’s fingers ache to unsheathe his sword whenever he catches the centurion Gaius Markus Africanus looking at his sister, Bracha. As a zealot, he hates the Romans anyway, and would appreciate it if Rome would let them alone. When he is chosen to carry out a plot against the most hated tax collector in Yericho, he feels that this is the will of Elohim—and a way to strike at the heart of Rome. But when Gaius, the very centurion Benyamin loathes, becomes an unlikely hero for Bracha, Benyamin must decide on what the will of Elohim really is.

And then there’s the famous Healer who invited Himself to Zacchaeus’ wedding party…