Course Change

Luke 19:1-10

INTRODUCTION

The Disney film “Finding” Nemo is an animated story of a father's resolute search for his son. The father, a fish named Marlin, teams up with another fish named Dory to find Marlin’s son Nemo. A dentist captured Nemo while diving off the coast of Sydney, Australia, and placed him in a fish tank in his office. Nemo thinks his father has forgotten about him and that he'll never see him again. But one day, a pelican named Nigel lands in the window of the dentist's office and begins to tell Nemo an amazing story.

Marlin would not let anything stand in the way of finding his lost son. Trouble, danger, fears, difficulties, nothing would stand between him and his son Nemo. As cute and touching as that story may be, the story of how God has sought us out through Jesus Christ is even more powerful.

This morning, we will look at the story of a man who was, in our terms, a Roman IRS agent. Luke records an encounter between Jesus and a man named Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus was a man short in stature, but his story stands tall. Most of us have probably at least heard of Zaccheus because he was made somewhat famous by a popular childhood song, which we may have heard in Sunday school or Vacation Bible School. This song starts: "Zaccheus was a wee little man, and a wee little man was he." I have always wondered if the songwriter was Irish or a Leprechaun for using "wee."

This story is so popular with children because it involves one of their favorite activities, climbing trees. Or maybe it's the catchy lyrics of the wee little song. Whatever the reason, this story is well-known and loved by children. When thinking about the biblical account of Zacchaeus, I was reminded of its simplicity and how it excited me as a child. I loved that song as a child. But as I looked deeper, I noticed some profound parallels with divine truth that may be overlooked due to the story’s familiarity and simplicity. Zacchaeus was a man who thought he was seeking Jesus, only to discover that Jesus had been seeking him.

Apparently, Zacchaeus was a corrupt tax collector. Although despised and hated, he became an impressive example of a rich man coming to salvation. With Zacchaeus, Jesus accomplished the impossible. The story of Zacchaeus shows us how God has sought us out and what that means for us.

Luke 19:1–10 ESV

He entered Jericho and was passing through. And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small in stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all grumbled, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

SCRIPTURAL ANALYSIS

Verses 1-4

Luke closely tied this event with Zacchaeus to the preceding chapter and the travel narrative in which Jesus passed through to Jerusalem. As the end of His earthly ministry approached, Jesus entered and walked through the city of Jericho.

Being a border city, Jericho had a customs station. Because it was also one of the wealthiest cities of Palestine, in the most fertile part of Judea and boasting a Herodian palace, the taxes would also be extensive. The Jews opposed these taxes because these taxes supported a secular government and its pagan gods, but they were still forced to pay. The “chief” tax gatherer would be the one who contracted for sales and customs taxes and hired collectors under him.

In Jericho, there was Zacchaeus, the head tax collector, who was quite rich. Zacchaeus is a “chief tax collector,” meaning he stands at the top of the collection pyramid, taking a commission cut from those who collected taxes for him. Given this role, Zacchaeus would have become rich without cheating, but it seems that he cheated anyway to become more wealthy.

For Zacchaeus to be “short” by ancient Mediterranean standards probably means he was less than five feet tall. With its pleasant climate year-round, Jericho was especially noted for its palm trees but supported many other trees, including the well-known sycamore tree. Moments earlier, a blind man sitting on the side of the road had been healed by Jesus. The news had spread, and Zacchaeus wanted to see about this Jesus.

Verses 5-8

As always, every act of Jesus was part of a divine plan—he said he must go to Zacchaeus’s home. Zacchaeus climbed down quickly and took Jesus home.

No matter how high their status, people did not typically invite themselves to someone else’s home. Pious Jews would also be unwilling to enter the home of a tax collector or to eat his food. The reasoning behind that was that someone unreligious enough to collect taxes would not be ceremonially careful with his food, and the Pharisees would not trust what he offered. Many in the crowd were unhappy with Jesus’ choice of hosts: the crowds were displeased that he had gone to be the guest of a notorious sinner.

Some grumbled, but Jesus knew that Zacchaeus was ready for a change in his life. After Jesus took the initiative with him, Zacchaeus took the initiative to follow wherever the path of obedience to Jesus might lead.

That Zacchaeus makes restitution in response to grace rather than only to receive grace fits Jesus’ ministry. His promise to make restitution recognizes that his white-collar crime is just as serious as other kinds of theft. His restitution goes beyond Pharisaic law, which required fourfold or fivefold restitution only for stolen oxen and sheep, only if he slaughtered or sold them, and only if a sufficient number of people witnessed the act. Zacchaeus was inspired by the grace of Jesus.

Verses 9-10

This tax collector was perceived as a traitor by his people, so they would not have considered him a son of Abraham. Yet, by opening his heart to Jesus, he proved himself to be not only a son of Abraham in the sense of a Jew looking for the Kingdom but also a son of Abraham in the truest sense of the word because he experienced salvation.

Jesus showed ultimate acceptance of the tax collector/traitor turned repentant sinner. Salvation had come to Zacchaeus and to his house. Jesus’ mission had basically been a mission to the Jews, and this man was a Jew, participating in the covenant with Abraham, even if he acted the part of the traitor in Jewish eyes. For Jesus, a repentant Jew from such a sordid background was better than a self-righteous Jew with no sense of the need for repentance.

The scene with Zacchaeus provides Luke’s Gospel with its ultimate statement about Jesus. Jesus knew his purpose on earth. His purpose was not to reform the Jewish religion, prove the Pharisees wrong, or bring in a military or political kingdom. His purpose was to bring salvation to lost people. Jesus dedicated the three years of his earthly ministry to finding people who knew they were lost and showing them God’s way of salvation: repentance and faith.

To the grumblers, detractors, and self-righteous, to those who thought they were saved simply because they were descendants of Abraham, Jesus explained his mission: he came to seek and save those like Zacchaeus who are lost. This story revealed a universal truth.

TODAY’S KEY TRUTH

Regardless of anyone’s past or place, salvation is available to everyone.

APPLICATION

Being a tax collector or wealthy is not in and of itself sinful. But how Zacchaeus collected taxes and obtained his wealth would be a sin.

Though he was a Jew, Zacchaeus was a chief tax collector for the Roman government and had grown very wealthy off of extracting as much money as he could from his fellow Jewish citizens in his area. The Romans would designate an individual to represent them in a given area and charge that person with the responsibility for collecting taxes. Zacchaeus’ profits came from keeping everything he could collect beyond what he owed the Romans.

As a chief tax collector, Zacchaeus took a cut of all the taxes collected. Being chief tax collector in Jericho, as Zacchaeus was, was an important and wealthy position because many people passed through Jericho on their way to Jerusalem. Jericho also produced many products. In other words, this was a great place to be a tax collector who wanted to become wealthy.

All manner of tactics were used to extort money from citizens, thus tax collectors became hated individuals. Not only were tax collectors taking money from people, but since they were Jews as well, these tax collectors were viewed as traitors.

Zacchaeus was a sinner because he routinely lived his life based on greed, lies, abuse of the poor, and complete self-interest. His actions were utterly immoral. In his pursuit of wealth, Zacchaeus treated people as sources of money for his personal gain rather than as friends and fellow Jews. Not only was Zacchaeus the chief tax collector, but he was also a ‘chief sinner’.

However, if we’re intellectually honest, we can easily identify with Zacchaeus because we are all sinners. Our sin stands in between us and God, starting with Adam and Eve and going all the way to Zacchaeus and through to us. Our sin stands in between us and a full relationship with our heavenly father.

All Zacchaeus wanted was a glimpse of Jesus, and now he stood face-to-face with Christ. How did that happen? Because what Zacchaeus did not realize was that Jesus was actually seeking him. When Jesus came to the spot where Zacchaeus was perched in the tree, Jesus called to Zacchaeus by name and told him to come down so that he could visit his house. Jesus initiated the contact with Zacchaeus. He ignored Zacchaeus's social place and reached out to him. While Zacchaeus was searching for Jesus, Jesus had already been searching for him. And what a change Jesus made in Zacchaeus.

After he has given away half of his wealth to the poor, he would have to go back to some, maybe most, of the people of Jericho and give back four times what he had illegally taken. This was a serious commitment. This was no easy believism which is so rampant in Christianity today. Our sinful nature tells us not to admit our wrongs and cover up any signs of weakness. One of the worst things we can do is to commit a wrong and then pretend it never happened or did not do any damage. God responds to the humble and those who recognize that the way they have walked is wrong.

Jesus proclaimed that only an authentic salvation experience could produce such a change. When Jesus returned to the street, he presented Jericho not with an indignant, conniving tax collector but with a redeemed tax collector, philanthropist, honest man, and child of the king.

This encounter shows us what Jesus’ ministry was all about, leading to God those whom others have given up on and calling those who need to repent. His mission is to redeem the prodigals. When Jesus finds a person He knows is lost, He sets aside everything else so that they know Jesus came from them. Jesus came to seek and save the lost.

Regardless of anyone’s past or place, salvation is available to everyone.

CONCLUSION

Once again, Jesus finds himself in the home and dining in the company of the wrong sort of people. And once again, the crowd outside grumbles. But this time, instead of Jesus telling a parable—Luke no doubt wants us to think of the prodigal son and the other similar stories he’s already given us—the tax collector himself speaks to Jesus in public and gives evidence of his extravagant repentance. Repentance here isn’t just a change of heart; repentance also involves restoration and making amends. Zacchaeus is determined to do so extraordinarily. He doesn’t offer to sell all his property, nor does Jesus demand it. But by the time he’d given half of it away and made fourfold restitution where necessary, we can imagine he would be in seriously reduced circumstances.

He doesn’t care. Zacchaeus has found something more valuable. ‘Today I have to stay at your house’ becomes ‘Today salvation has come to this house’; where Jesus is, their salvation is to be found for those who accept him as master and reorder their lives accordingly. Once more, Jesus links a former outcast back into the true family of Abraham. Zacchaeus isn’t going to follow Jesus on the road to Jerusalem, escaping the neighbors' puzzled and probably still angry looks. He will live out his new life and re-establish himself as part of the renewed Israel right where he is. In Zacchaeus’s changed heart, love for God expresses itself in love for others. The course of Zacchaeus’ life has been forever changed.

Regardless of anyone’s past or place, salvation is available to everyone.

Through this encounter, we see Jesus’ purpose: “To Seek & Save the Lost.” That is the purpose behind Jesus’ ministry. Jesus doesn’t write off anyone. One of the errors the pious can make is to separate themselves from the world in such a way that they lose contact with sinners. Usually, two factors feed such isolation: (1) a healthy desire not to succumb to standards of living that destroy moral integrity, and (2) a subtle but deadly feeling of superiority so that we feel we are inherently better than others. But we cannot impact what we don’t interact with.

The purpose of this conversation was to demonstrate that salvation is available to all sinners. Jesus, by singling this man out for salvation, made it plain that even the worst of sinners in man’s sight were not beyond the reach of His love.

Jesus Christ has come to seek and to save the lost. This includes white-collar criminals and blue-collar criminals, the poor and the blind, and the rich, who are spiritually blind. The Lord Jesus saves white-collar sinners like Chuck Colson, who mistreated many in his pursuit of political power. And he saves the anonymous person in slavery from drugs or alcohol. No one is beyond the grace and forgiveness of Jesus. No one has gone so far that they exist beyond the grasp of Jesus’ love. No one. Your past nor your place exceeds the mercy of God. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done or, where you’re from, or where you have been; grace is available to you. Jesus can and will change the course of your life.

Regardless of anyone’s past or place, salvation is available to everyone.

Jesus brings salvation to all types of people, even the wealthy and fraudulent. His purpose in coming to the world was to seek out and rescue sinners. If you don’t know Jesus personally, no matter what you’ve done, where you have been, or where you’re from, Jesus came seeking you. He came to offer salvation and grace to you. No matter what, grace and forgiveness is for you.

If you’re a believer, let us not give up praying for the lost, for God saves unlikely people, even us! We all have people we have been praying for a long time. You’ve been praying for people who, for whatever reason, have ignored or rejected Christ. Don’t give up hope. Hold onto hope, even when the journey feels long. Every prayer and act of love can plant seeds of faith. Remember, transformation takes time. Trust that God’s grace can reach the hardest hearts in the most unexpected ways. Keep believing, keep inviting, and let your light shine; your perseverance might be the spark they need. No one is hopelessly lost. Jesus conquered death and sin. He can change the course of anyone’s life.

Regardless of anyone’s past or place, salvation is available to everyone.