1. The sinner named Zacchaeus

It seems the most of what we know about him is bad.  Luke says:-

• He lived in Jericho – Jericho was a powerful city in the ancient world, but its power was put to an evil use.  The first people to live there were Amorites, who were so wicked the land got sick of them and vomited them out!  It was the first city to fight Israel and keep God’s people from taking the land He gave them.  When it was destroyed, Joshua put it under a curse—no one could touch the loot—it must be buried with the wicked men who had it.  God’s curse on it was so strong that the Israelites were not allowed to rebuild it—and if any did, it would be to his own sorrow. See Joshua 6:26. For many years, men feared God’s oath, but finally, a man called Hiel of Bethel, defied the Lord and paid for it…dearly. See 1 Kings 16:34. Zacchaeus lives in a cursed city. Cursed by God Himself. It was a place that smelled of sin and death. Zacchaeus was right at home in the hateful city.
• He was a chief tax collector and he was rich – No one likes a tax collector, even if the system he’s part of is a just one.  But the system this man served with not just. It was thoroughly corrupt. Everyone knew it, and no one better than Zacchaeus. The Roman Empire was divided into districts and each one of them had to pay a certain amount of money for the privilege of being ruled by the hated Romans!  Rome set the figure and tax collectors (or publicans) bid for the districts.  If the district in and around Jericho had to pay a thousand shekels a year.  Then the publican would pay the fee himself for the right to collect the tax.  If he collected a thousand shekels a year, he’d make no profit.  So he collected far more than that. Often five or ten or twenty times the fixed rate!  He got the money by shaking down the people, threatening them, and so on.  He wasn’t at all like an agent of the HMRC/IRS, but more like a mobster! He became so rich by robbing his own people in service to their masters. They were like the untouchables of India; no one would get near them, to brush up against such a man in the market, for example, would defile a Jew and make him not welcome anywhere until he had washed and made an offering to the Lord for his cleansing!
• He was of short stature – To add insult to injury, he was wasn’t very tall! The man who was so morally and religiously stunted, was also a dwarf on the outside!  Zacchaeus is a little, greedy, cruel, and hateful man.  His money has bought him a fine home and many servants, but no one loves him, no one respects him; he’s not got a friend in the world.

2. The Friend named Jesus

It seems that Zacchaeus had one person who wanted to be his friend. The publican hears that Jesus of Nazareth is passing through town on His way to Jerusalem.  What Zacchaeus knew of the Lord, we can’t say.  Had Zacchaeus heard the rumors that Jesus was the friend of sinners?  Was it more likely he came out to gawk at a celebrity?  The Lord was a very famous Man and had done all kinds of great things and the tax collector wants to see what all the fuss is about.  Maybe he’ll see a display of His great power; it’s not every day you see a miracle.  He goes out to see one.

There is a problem for him to see Jesus.  Zacchaeus is built like a jockey, but several basketball teams are standing in front of him and no one’s going to make way for him.  So, he climbs a sycamore tree to watch the Lord pass by. But the Lord doesn’t pass by.  He stops underneath the tree and invites Himself to lunch: “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house”.

Jesus might have had lunch the mayor, with the chief rabbi but instead of choosing to dine at the governor’s mansion, He wants to go home with the most reviled man in town! Nobody is more surprised than Zacchaeus!  But surprised or not, he obeys the Lord, jumps down from the tree, and runs home as fast as his short legs will carry him.  The order is given! The Lord and His disciples show up a few minutes later and they all sit down to eat.  We don’t know what was said at the table  that day, but we know what happened: The Lord saved that wicked old Publican.  We know that because of the amazing change that came over him.  Remember, a Publican is a thief—his father was a thief, his son would be a thief—it’s who he is!  But the man who had always lived for money (and didn’t care how he got it), now lives for something else.

Zacchaeus set aside the money he gave to the poor, he also promised to re-pay everyone he had cheated.  And that’s the point: he had cheated everyone! Thus, he didn’t go from being a very rich man to a rich man, but from a rich man to a poor man.  The god he had served so long has been replaced by a new God—the God who sat at his table! Zacchaeus was the happiest man in the world!  He must have jumped for joy that day—a good two inches maybe!  The Lord was also happy and His disciples shared in the joy.

3. There are always critics

But not everyone was so pleased.  In fact, nobody else was.  Luke says, “When they saw it, they all murmured…” We tend to blame the Pharisees for this, but the Bible doesn’t.  It says the whole crowd who came to see the Lord watched Him in dismay and went their way grumbling about His choice of companions. They all said, “He has gone to be a guest of a man who is a sinner”. Zacchaeus was a Jew but because of how he lived they believed he had forfeited the right to claim the heritage of Israel.  He was a son of Abraham and Isaac in the same way that Ishmael and Esau were: tied to them by blood, but not by Covenant. In effect, they called him a Gentile—and worse than an ordinary Gentile because he oppressed the people of God.  He was an enemy of God’s People, and therefore, an enemy of God.

Were they right about Zacchaeus? Yes they were!  He was everything they said he was.  The tax collector was an enemy of God. But, what they missed was this: God loves His enemies.  “But God commended His love to us in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”. (Romans 5:8).

Notice Zacchaeus’ hospitality and home. The Lord went home with him, saying, “Today salvation has come to this house.” When we joyfully receive Christ as Saviour, it touches our family and affects our home. Then there was Zacchaeus’ new-found honesty. To everyone’s surprise, he agreed to make restitution to those he had cheated and give half his money to the poor. When Jesus comes into our lives, it changes our ethics. Finally, notice his hope. From that day, Zacchaeus was a changed man with a new future and an eternal promise. According to Christian tradition, he later entered the ministry and used his considerable skills as Bishop of Caesarea. What the Jews meant as an insult, we take as a promise: “This Man receives sinners”.

Categories: Luke