Zacchaeus vs. Keir Starmer — The Tale of Two Repentances.

Albert
7 min readOct 3, 2024

Repentance — From Zacchaeus to Keir Starmer — A Tale of Two Turnarounds.

True Repentance is More Than Just Saying Sorry.

Let’s talk about something we don’t hear much these days, repentance. Not just saying “my bad” and moving on, but the kind of turnaround that changes everything. We’re going to look at two very different examples — one from way back when, and one that’s pretty fresh in the news.

Zacchaeus — OG “Original Gangster” of Turning It Around.

In the realm of ethics and morality, the concept of repentance stands as a cornerstone of personal and societal transformation. If you’re into modern cultural music, you might recall the rapper Ice-T’s “O.G. Original Gangster” from 1991 — but let’s not get sidetracked.

Repentance is rooted in the Greek term “metanoia,” (μετάνοια) meaning “a change of mind” or “a turning around,” is far more than just a superficial “sorry.” It’s about a profound shift in heart and behaviour. True repentance involves a deep, transformative change that goes beyond mere words.

This article dives into two contrasting examples of repentance, on the one side the Biblical story of Zacchaeus, who we might call the OG of turning it around, and on the other side the recent actions of UK Prime…

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