Jesus and Zaccheus

Introduction

Jesus has been making His way down to Jerusalem from Caesaria Philippi since . The pericopes have not necessarily been in chronological order. Rather, it seems that they have been grouped thematically. In , Jesus had His conversation with the rich young ruler and He also approached Jericho and healed blind Bartemaeus. The general theme has been that those would have expected to enter the kingdom of heaven are not the ones who are entering.

The pericope here includes the verse which many hold to be the theme verse of Luke:

Luke 19:10 CSB

For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost.”

Luke 19:1 CSB

1 He entered Jericho and was passing through.

After healing the two blind men on the road to Jericho, Jesus enters Jericho and is passing through. Jericho in that day is known as Herodian Jericho. The city had been built, destroyed, and rebuilt several times by now. We read about it quite a bit in the OT. At this point, the Hasmoneans had built a lavish palace which was destroyed in an earthquake. Herod the Great built a palace before that one was destroyed, and then expanded it after the Hasmonean palace was destroyed. The complex had a hippodrome, theatre, and possibly a gymnasium. Jericho in those days was on the convergance of 3 major routes, therefore, it was big on trading. Tax collectors would have collected tariffs on behalf of Rome during those days. Therefore, tax collecting would have been a very lucrative business in Jericho during those times. This also means that Jericho would have had most, if not all, of the luxuries of a modern Roman city. There probably was a fair amount of debauchery and riotous living as well.

Jesus’ plan was to pass through the city, at least on the surface. They were so close to Jerusalem, perhaps they would be going straight to Bethany with Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. However, there may not be such strong of an emphasis there. Luke may not be trying to convey any more meaning than giving us the setting. Jesus has just entered Jericho and is making His way through the city.

Luke 19:2–4 CSB

2 There was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. 3 He was trying to see who Jesus was, but he was not able because of the crowd, since he was a short man. 4 So running ahead, he climbed up a sycamore tree to see Jesus, since he was about to pass that way.

That was setting number 1. Now, Luke gives us setting number 2. He introduces us to a character named Zacchaeus. His name means “pure.” Luke tells his readers that he was also a chief tax collector and that he was rich. Reading up on the process of tax collecting during this time, it is very much what most Bible teachers say it was back then. Rome had a certain tax amount and they delegated it usually to people who were natives of the country to collect this tax since they knew the people, the customs, and the language. The way that they made their money was by collecting more money on top of the taxes for themselves. They tended to be universally hated. Even most of the Gospel writers lump them together with sinners and prostitutes. They were seen as the scum of the earth. They had sold themselves to the enemy and Zealots would even have seen them as traitors to the state of Israel. In the particular location of Jericho, the primary tax would have been a tariff on goods coming through the city, as it was at the crossroads of 3 major roads. Zacchaeus wasn’t just a tax collector, he was a chief tax collector. This meant that he was overseeing all of the taxes in that particular region. He had several tax collectors under him. Then, Luke adds that he was rich. Normally, this wouldn’t mean much, but if one had become rich through tax collecting, it meant that he had extorted quite a bit of money out of people in order to become rich. I’d imagine that an honest tax collector would not become filthy rich, if he was just collecting what was necessary or proper. However, Zacchaeus had become rich.

After this little introduction to who Zacchaeus was, Luke tells us more about his part in this story. Luke says that he was trying to see who Jesus was (meaning that he probably saw the crowd, but couldn’t see who it was at the center), but he wasn’t able to see Him because of the crowd, since he was a short man. People were generally shorter back then, so, if Zacchaeus was considered short, then he may have even been a dwarf or midget.

So, what Zacchaeus did was to run ahead of the crowd and climb a sycamore tree (which I have pictures of above) to see Jesus, since He was about to pass that way. He had a problem - he was short. The solution was to get a higher vantage point, so he did what was necessary to catch just a glimpse of Jesus. There is an application here. If we have a desire to see Jesus, are we using every tool available to us to achieve that desire?

Luke 19:5–6 NASB95

5 When Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, “Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” 6 And he hurried and came down and received Him gladly.

So, that was the scene that was set up. Jesus is in Jericho, surrounded by a large crowd, and Zacchaeus is hanging/sitting on the branch of a sycamore tree to catch a glimpse of Jesus as He passes by. So, when Jesus comes to the place of the sycamore tree, He looks up and says to him, “Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” So, Zaccheus hurried, came down, and received Jesus gladly. Luke’s readers must have had their preconceived notions of tax collectors and would have surely thought that Jesus would ignore Zaccheus and just keep walking by. They were the scum of the earth! But Luke, by telling the stories of Jesus, is methodically breaking down the barriers of who salvation is for. In essence, Luke is making clear the point that salvation is for everybody! In fact, those people that were thought to be more likely to get into heaven, are oftentimes the least likely to get into heaven. This Gospel is truly a perfect precursor to the book of Acts, as it points out to us that the whole world is ripe for salvation. Salvation is for everyone. It should spur us on to evangelism. If Paul was behind this Gospel, as many people think, then this makes perfect sense. So, Jesus gets to the sycamore tree, looks up, and tells him to hurry down as it is necessary that He stay at his house tonight. Did you catch the small display of His power as well? Nobody had told Jesus Zacchaeus’ name, or at least Luke doesn’t tell us, yet, He called him by name. That must have blown Zaccheus away. Imagine if you were back in the summer where you worked at Disneyland and you saw Kobe Bryant walking through the back of house while you were throwing away the trash. This would be akin to Kobe coming up to you and saying, “Hurry up, Bernardo, and change back into your casual clothes, because my family and I are staying at your house tonight.” First of all, there would be a great sense of honor at the fact that he knew my name. The honor would then be exponentially multiplied as he asked to stay at my house. Zaccheus desired to see Jesus, so he did what he could, and Jesus responded in full force. Jesus will not turn away one who sincerely desires to spend time with Him. In fact, He will come in and have an intimate time of table fellowship with you. He will befriend you and make Himself at home with you.

Zaccheus immediately obeyed and welcomed Jesus into his house with much joy. He was blown away by the great honor that was just shown him. His heart was satisfied. He hadn’t found that fulfillment in his treasures. In fact, his treasures had alienated him from all his fellow countrymen. But now, he got the greatest treasure that any man could have - Jesus Christ.

Luke 19:7–8 CSB

7 All who saw it began to complain, “He’s gone to stay with a sinful man.” 8 But Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Look, I’ll give half of my possessions to the poor, Lord. And if I have extorted anything from anyone, I’ll pay back four times as much.”

Now, we have the 3rd scene - the reaction of the crowds. All the people who saw the interaction that had just taken place began to complain that He’d gone to stay with a man who’s a sinner. As if they had no sin. Do you see the spiritual blindness that is rampant in people? They could clearly see the sin in others, but they fail to see the sin in themselves. They are blown away that Jesus is going to stay with a chief tax collector. Granted, it would be quite shocking. It would be like Pastor James going and staying at the house of prostitutes and meth addicts. We wouldn’t see that in a million years! However, there is a caveat to this. Many Christians will use this as an excuse to go hang out with the wrong crowds. But every time we see Jesus hanging out with sinners, He’s hanging out with those who are seeking repentance. He wasn’t just going and hanging out with sinners for the sake of hanging out. These were people who were genuinely seeking to change and repent, as we will see in a second here. However, the people ignored this and began to complain.

Before Jesus even responds, Zaccheus steps up an gives a response to this. He knows that he is a sinner and he needs to repent. So, what does he do? Standing there, he says to Jesus (Master) that he will give half of his possessions to the poor, Master. And if he has extorted anything from anyone, he’ll pay back four times the amount he extorted. Wow. This was a man who had truly been touched by God, for Jesus said that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Zaccheus was so moved by Jesus, that he truly repented of his sin - the love of money. Whereas the rich young ruler couldn’t give up his possessions to the poor when asked, Zaccheus volunteered to give away half of his possessions to the poor and it is likely that the rest would be given to those he had extorted in the past. Paying back fourfold the amount was the general practice of the time (; ). He was willing to make everything right and was willing to give up that which had hindered him from coming to God.

There is even a chance that Zaccheus did this because he was fearful that Jesus no longer would come and stay with him after He heard what the crowd was saying. Zaccheus didn’t want to risk anything coming in the way of Jesus staying with him. So, he repented on the spot of his sins. Early church tradition even says that he later became the bishop of Caesaria. This was the work of the Holy Spirit, most certainly.

Luke 19:9–10 NASB95

9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

What will Jesus say in response? He responds and declares that this day salvation has come to Zaccheus’ house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham. One would think that Jesus would say that salvation has come to the house of Zaccheus because of his actions that day, but it is not what He says. It is not, necessarily, because of his actions that salvation has come to him, but because of who is is, his identity. Jesus says that salvation has come to his house because he also is a son of Abraham. In this culture, being the son of somebody or something meant that you have all of the characteristics of that person or thing. If your father was a carpenter, then you were a carpenter as well. What was Abraham defined as in his character? He was a man of faith and he was a friend of God. Paul even clarifies later that it is those who are of faith that are truly the children of Abraham. Jesus was saying that Zaccheus’ actions had proved that he was truly a son of Abraham, not just in name, but in deed. Therefore, salvation came to his house because of his great faith.

The reason that this brings salvation is because the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.