Come Down, Zacchaeus

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.”\

Introduction: More Than the Little Man in the Tree

▸ Have you ever noticed that in a small town, your reputation can walk into a room before you do? Before you sit down at the 811 Diner, people may already know your name.

They may know your family.

They may know where you work.

They may even remember what happened ten years ago.

▸ Sometimes that is wonderful. Sometimes it means people have already decided who you are before you ever get a chance to speak.

▸ Zacchaeus had that kind of reputation in Jericho. When people saw him up in that tree, they did not just see a short man trying to get a better view.

They saw a chief tax collector.

They saw someone who had become wealthy while working within a system that exploited his own neighbors.

They saw a traitor.

They saw a sinner.

They knew his name, and they had plenty to say about him.

▸ Then Jesus stopped underneath that tree. He looked up. He called Zacchaeus by name. And He told Zacchaeus that He was going to his house.

▸ The crowd had an opinion about Zacchaeus. Jesus had a purpose.

▸ We often tell this story as a cheerful children's story about a little man in a tree. But there is much more happening here.

Zacchaeus was wealthy.

He was powerful.

He had hurt people.

▸ The crowd had real reasons to resent him. And that is exactly what makes Jesus' decision to stop for him so startling.

▸ Today I want us to see what happens when Jesus comes close to someone everyone else would rather keep at a distance.

1. Jesus Sees the Person the Crowd Sees Only by Reputation

▸ Luke tells us that Zacchaeus climbed a sycamore fig tree. These trees often had low, spreading branches, which made them fairly easy to climb.

▸ So the surprising part is not that Zacchaeus was able to climb the tree. The surprising part is that this wealthy, important man was willing to climb one in front of everybody just to see Jesus.

▸ Imagine that scene. A chief tax collector. A man of wealth. A man of status. Running down the road and scrambling up a tree. Whatever dignity he thought he had, he was willing to lay it aside because he wanted to see Jesus.

▸ As I read this story, I cannot help but wonder what attracted Zacchaeus to Jesus in the first place. But something was happening inside of him. Something his money could not buy. Something his status could not provide.

▸ He may not have fully understood what he was looking for yet, but he knew he needed to see Jesus. And Zacchaeus was not going to let any barrier stand in his way.

His height was a barrier.

The crowd was another barrier.

Yet he ran ahead, climbed the tree, and positioned himself where he could catch a glimpse of Jesus.

▸ Throughout this series, we have seen Jesus cross barriers to reach people. And here we see someone who is also desperate enough to push through a barrier just to get near Him.

▸ The crowd knew Zacchaeus' occupation. Jesus knew his name. The crowd knew his reputation. Jesus knew the person. The crowd saw what Zacchaeus had done. Jesus saw a man who needed grace.

▸ Have you ever been reduced to one thing?

The mistake.

The addiction.

The failure.

The divorce.

The diagnosis.

The worst thing you ever did.

The labels the world tries to attach to us are endless.

▸ Zacchaeus knew what that felt like. Everyone knew his label. Then Jesus called him by name.

▸ Jesus still knows our names today.

He knows where we are.

He knows what we have done.

He knows what we carry.

He knows what we need.

▸ And just as He called Zacchaeus, He still calls people to come near. Out of all the people lining the road, Jesus stopped for the one person everybody else would have preferred He ignore.

▸ But notice something important. Jesus did not excuse what Zacchaeus had done. He did not pretend his sin did not matter. But neither did Jesus allow Zacchaeus' sin to become his entire identity.

▸ Zacchaeus had harmed people. That was real. But his sin was not the whole of who he was.

▸ The same is true of every person we meet. Every person bears the image of God. Every person has value because they were created by Him.

▸ So here is a question for us: Who might be interested in Jesus but feels like they have to watch from a distance? Who has been reduced to a reputation?

A label?

A mistake?

A past?

▸ Jesus saw Zacchaeus. And if people matter to God, they should matter to us.

Transition: Jesus did not simply notice Zacchaeus. He did something even more surprising.

2. Jesus Crosses the Barrier and Comes to His Home

▸ Jesus makes the first move. Zacchaeus does not introduce himself. He does not clean up his reputation first. He does not prove that he deserves Jesus' attention.

▸ Jesus stops. Jesus looks up. Jesus calls him by name. And then Jesus says: “I must stay at your house today.” Notice that word: Must. Jesus does not say, “Maybe I will stop by.” He does not say, “If I have time, perhaps we can visit.” He says: “I must stay at your house today.”

▸ There is purpose in that statement. Jesus sees this encounter as part of His mission. Imagine the shock. Zacchaeus was probably surprised. The crowd certainly was. In their minds, a respected rabbi should never associate with somebody like Zacchaeus.

▸ Surely Jesus would keep His distance from a man like him. But Jesus did the exact opposite. A meal in that culture meant more than simply sitting down to eat. It was an act of fellowship. It was an act of relationship. It was a way of saying: “I am willing to be seen with you.”

▸ Jesus intentionally chose to spend time with somebody the crowd had rejected. And Zacchaeus' response is beautiful in its simplicity. He hurried down. And he received Jesus joyfully. That raises a question for us.

▸ When Jesus calls us closer, do we receive Him with that same joy? Zacchaeus did not stop to calculate the cost. He did not worry about what everybody else thought. He simply welcomed Jesus.

▸ The crowd, however, grumbled. They could not understand why Jesus would associate with a sinner like Zacchaeus. But Jesus was never primarily concerned about protecting His reputation. He was concerned about rescuing people. And this is where the story turns.

▸ The crowd feared that spending time with Zacchaeus would change Jesus. Instead, Jesus changed Zacchaeus. That is what grace does. Grace does not ignore sin. Grace transforms sinners.

3. Jesus' Grace Leads Zacchaeus to Make Things Right

▸ Luke does not record the details of Jesus’ conversation with Zacchaeus. What he does show us is Zacchaeus’ response: he would give half of his possessions to the poor and repay four times whatever he had taken dishonestly.

▸ Not long before this, Luke tells us about another wealthy man—the rich young ruler. He walked away holding tightly to his wealth. Zacchaeus welcomed Jesus and opened his hands.

▸ And Jesus declared, “Today salvation has come to this house.” Zacchaeus’ generosity was not payment for salvation. It was evidence of a changed life. His repentance reached into the places where his sin had caused harm. He went beyond saying, “I am sorry,” and committed to making things right.

▸ Salvation calls for a personal response. Hearing about Jesus and recognizing our need for forgiveness is not where we stop. God calls us to trust Christ, repent of our sin, and turn toward Him.

▸ Now look at the progression Peter describes in Acts 3:19:

“Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out.” —Acts 3:19, ESV

▸ First, we repent. We acknowledge our sin before God. We stop defending it or making excuses for it. We recognize that we need His mercy.

▸ Then, we turn. We turn away from sin and toward God. Repentance and turning belong together: we surrender the direction we have been going and follow Him.

▸ Then we find the purpose of repenting and turning “that your sins may be blotted out.” As we repent and turn to God, He forgives us. We do not earn forgiveness by making things right. Forgiveness is His gift of grace, received through faith in Christ.

▸ And that brings us back to our responsibility toward others. We cannot save people. Our responsibility is to love them, see them, and point them toward Jesus. Then we trust Him to do what only He can do.

▸ Jesus came to seek and save the lost. That includes people others have written off, people carrying painful reputations, and people nobody expects to change. The people the crowd rejected were the very people Jesus pursued.

Bringing It Together

▸ The crowd saw a traitor. Jesus saw a man who needed grace. The crowd saw his reputation. Jesus saw Zacchaeus. Jesus saw him. Jesus stopped for him. Jesus sat with him.

▸ And Zacchaeus' life was changed. His reputation had walked into every room before he did. But after Jesus entered his house, Zacchaeus would never be the same man walking into those rooms again. That is what grace can do.

Our Response This Week: Stop for One Person

▸ Jesus stopped for Zacchaeus when everybody else wanted to pass him by. And that is the challenge of this message. Not to reach everybody. Not to fix everybody. Not to save everybody. Just to stop for one person.

▸ So I want us to do something right now that may push some of us a little outside our comfort zone. Pull out your phone. Think about one person God has placed on your heart. Not ten people. One.

▸ Maybe it is somebody you have been meaning to check on. Maybe somebody who has grown distant. Maybe somebody going through a difficult season. Maybe somebody who simply needs to know that someone sees them.

▸ Now send them a message. You could say: “I was thinking about you today. How are you doing?” Or: “How can I pray for you this week?”

▸ Do not overthink it. Do not wait until later. Do not talk yourself out of it. You do not have to preach to them. You do not have to fix anything. You do not have to have all the answers. You are simply doing what Jesus did in this story.

▸ You are stopping for one person. So take the first step. Send the message.

Takeaway for the Week: Jesus sees beyond our past, meets us with grace, and changes our lives.

Conclusion

▸ The crowd thought Zacchaeus was the last person Jesus should visit. Jesus thought he was worth stopping for. And somewhere in our community, there are still people watching from a distance.

People carrying a reputation.

People carrying a past.

People wondering whether anybody notices.

▸ Jesus stopped for Zacchaeus. And because we follow Jesus, sometimes the most Christlike thing we can do is simply stop for somebody too. You do not have to reach everybody this week. Stop for one person.

▸ Who is standing at a distance in our community, waiting for somebody to notice them? Jesus stopped for Zacchaeus. Who is He calling you to stop for?