Zacche´us, a superintendent of taxes at Jericho. Having heard of the Redeemer, he felt a great desire to see him as he drew near that place; for which purpose he climbed up into a sycamore-tree, because he was little of stature. Jesus, pleased with this manifestation of his eagerness, and knowing that it proceeded from a heart not far from the kingdom of God, saw fit to honor Zaccheus by becoming his guest. This offended the self-righteous Jews, who objected that 'he was gone to be a guest with a man that is a sinner.' This offensive imputation was met by Zaccheus in the spirit of the Mosaic conception of goodness—'The half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken anything from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.' He that knew the heart of man knew not only the truth of this statement, but that the good works of Zaccheus emanated from right motives, and therefore terminated the conversation with the words, 'This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham'—a declaration which, whether Zaccheus was by birth a Jew or not, signifies that he had the same principle of faith which was imputed to Abraham, the father of the faithful, for righteousness (, sq.).
Tradition represents Zaccheus as the first Christian bishop of Cesarea.
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John Kitto was an English biblical scholar of Cornish descent.Born in Plymouth, John Kitto was a sickly child, son of a Cornish stonemason. The drunkenness of his father and the poverty of his family meant that much of his childhood was spent in the workhouse. He had no more than three years of erratic and interrupted education. At the age of twelve John Kitto fell on his head from a rooftop, and became totally and permanently deaf. As a young man he suffered further tragedies, disappointments and much loneliness. His height was 4 ft 8 in, and his accident left him with an impaired sense of balance. He found consolation in browsing at bookstalls and reading any books that came his way.
From these hardships he was rescued by friends who became aware of his mental abilities and encouraged him to write topical articles for local newspapers, arranging eventually for him to work as an assistant in a local library. Here he continued to educate himself.
One of his benefactors was the Exeter dentist Anthony Norris Groves, who in 1824 offered him employment as a dental assistant. Living with the Groves family, Kitto was profoundly influenced by the practical Christian faith of his employer. In 1829 he accompanied Groves on his pioneering mission to Baghdad and served as tutor to Groves's two sons. In 1833 Kitto returned to England via Constantinople, accompanied by another member of the Groves mission, Francis William Newman. Shortly afterwards he married, and in due course had several children.
A London publisher asked Kitto to write up his travel journals for a series of articles in the Penny Magazine, a publication read at that time by a million people in Britain, reprinted in America and translated into French, German and Dutch. Other writing projects followed as readers enquired about his experiences in the East amidst people living in circumstances closely resembling those of Bible times.
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