Jesus and the Wee Little Man

Before we get to who Jesus is, we need to know a wee little bit about Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus was a chief tax collector, a publican and was wealthy. Here’s the significance of that short statement. He was a tax collector for the Romans. The Romans occupied Israel at that time, not unlike Nazi Germany occupied, Holland or Poland during World War Two.

Zacchaeus’ job was to collect taxes for the Romans, to pay for the soldiers wages, their homes, their travel, you name it. As a chief tax collector, he oversaw many other junior tax collectors and their territories. It was common for tax collectors to charge a fee, or charge extra for their services. Zacchaeus not only got his own fees, but he got a portion of the fees of his juniors. As a result, he was wealthy. Basically, his wealth was at the expense of his fellow countrymen.

Zacchaeus was a wee little man. He probably had little man syndrome, in that what he lacked in stature, he made up for by sticking it to his countrymen. Perhaps it was because he never felt a part of his own nation, that he treated them the way that he did. All we know for sure was that he robbed the poor, and he cheated people.

In essence, Zacchaeus was not much different from any one of us. Oh, certainly none of us is guilty of the same sins he was guilty of, but we are as guilty of sin as he was. We have all sinned against others, and the Lord. In this sense, all of us are wee little men and women.

But God chose Zacchaeus. God worked in him, so that when he heard Jesus was passing through Jericho, he did everything he could to see Jesus.

Who Jesus Is

Who is Jesus? Jesus is the Son of God, the second person of the Trinity, fully God, and fully man. We hear songs about His birth, His incarnation (the taking on of human flesh and blood) at Christmas. He is Emmanuel—God with us. He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. He rules over all creation, in heaven and on earth. He is the one who seeks and saves sinners, as He Himself says in verse 9.

Jesus knew Zacchaeus. Jesus saw him up there in the sycamore tree. He knew all about Zacchaeus, that he was a wee little man, that he was a sinner, that he was hated by his fellow-man. Jesus saw through all the outside appearances, all the negativity concerning him, and saw into his heart. It prompted Jesus to say, “Zacchaeus—He knew his name, without being told—come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.”

Who We Really Are

Jesus is in heaven. Even so, He sees you and me. He knows who we really are. He knows all about our past. He knows all about our present. He knows all about our future. Jesus is God, He is omnipresent. How does that song about Santa Clause go, “He knows when you’ve been sleeping, he knows when you’re awake, he knows if you’ve been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake.” Now, that song is about Santa, a made up fairy tale. The premise of the song, though, is that if you are bad, or if you are awake when Santa comes, you’ll get coal for a present. But if you stay asleep, or if you are good, you’ll get great presents.

Jesus is a bit like Santa. But He knows that since Adam and Eve sinned in the garden of Eden by disobeying God’s commandment, every human being since then, with the exception of Jesus, is guilty of sin—sin because we are born sinners, and we’re guilty of committing sins.

Jesus knows who we really are. We can hide things from coworkers, friends, family members, even some things from parents and spouses. But we can’t hide anything from Jesus, so there’s no point in trying. Jesus knows how good or bad you and I are. He knows. And yet, like Zacchaeus, He comes to us and says, “Come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.”

Maybe we, like Zacchaeus, think we need to elevate ourselves, climb the tree of religion before Jesus will see us. We try to prove ourselves by going to church, by doing things to impress God, or to impress others. We try to hide our sins from others. We try to do the right thing, but we do it not for God’s glory, but for our own benefit. We do it to get a good present at Christmas.

But that’s not what Jesus is looking for. Jesus isn’t looking for us to climb a tree of religious duties and expectations. Jesus isn’t looking for us to try to demonstrate our goodness. In ourselves, there is nothing good (Romans 7.18). Even when we try to do good, the evil we will not to do, we do instead (Romans 7:19). Sin dwells in us, and motivates us to do wrong and not good (Romans 7:20). So there’s only one thing left for us to do, and that is to exercise repentance and belief.

Repentance and Belief

Repentance is simple. It is admitting your sin. It is confessing your sin to God. Evangelist Ray Comfort (you can find several examples of his videos on YouTube) likes to go up and talk to random people on the street. It is really quite fascinating. He’ll go up to someone and ask, “Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?” And most times people say, “No, I don’t mind if you do.” He might begin by asking, “Do you think you’re a pretty good person?” or “Do you think you’ll go to heaven when you die?” Often people will say “yes,” or “I think I’m pretty good.”

Then Ray will ask them by what standard is good. And then he’ll lead them to consider God’s Word, the Bible, which identifies sin, such as lying, stealing, and committing adultery. It’ll often go like this. “Have you ever told a lie?” to which the response is, “Yes.” Okay, the Bible tells us that lying is wrong, it is sin.” Then he’ll follow up with, “Jesus teaches in the Bible that looking at a person lustfully is the same as committing adultery, have you ever looked at someone lustfully?” And the person again will answer, “Yes.” Then he’ll say, “Have you ever stolen something, even a little thing.” And again, the answer will be, “Yes.”

Then, he’ll put it together for them, “So basically, you’ve admitted to being a lying, thieving, adulterer.” And the person will say, “When you put it that way, I guess I am.”

The problem, my friends, is that all of us are guilty. All of us have sinned. We need to repent and believe.

That’s what wee see in Zaccheaus. Maybe Jesus asked Zacchaeus some similar questions. “Zacchaeus, have you ever charged someone more than you were required to charge them for their taxes? Have you ever stolen? Have you ever looked lustfully at a woman? Have you ever…”

Luke doesn’t tell us about the conversation, at least not all the details of the conversation. But he does tell us several important things.

Zacchaeus made haste and received Jesus joyfully. Zacchaeus believed there was indeed something special about Jesus. He’d only dared hope to be able to see Jesus as he walked by under the branches of the tree. But instead, he was overjoyed when Jesus looked up, saw him, and invited Himself over to his house!

The people who saw Jesus’ actions, complained bitterly, because Zacchaeus was unworthy, he didn’t measure up, not physically, not faithfully. He was a sell-out, a Roman sympathizer, a swindler, a crook, a thief, a sinner.

But Zacchaeus didn’t let that inhibit him. Right there, in front of everyone, he gave away half of his goods to the poor. And if he had taken anything from anyone by false accusation, he would repay fourfold.

Brothers and sisters. This is a very unusual response. The Bible speaks of another rich man who thought quite highly of himself, but who went away from Jesus very sad, because he could not part with his riches.

Zacchaeus saw the true treasure that is Jesus. He didn’t see his physical wealth as a blessing from God to be hoarded. No, it was worth giving it all up, in order to receive the true treasure, Jesus Himself.

A Son of Abraham

In this, Zacchaeus proved that he was a true son of Abraham. Now, the Jewish people were very meticulous about their genealogies. They could all trace their lineage back to Abraham. Every one of them, if using Ancestry.com would have had their lineage go back to Abraham.

And yet, they would have looked at Zacchaeus and said, “ Because he is a Roman Tax Collector, he is not worthy to be a son of Abraham. They would have kicked him out of the synagogue and erased his name from the lineage.

But listen to Jesus’ words “Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which is lost.

How could Jesus call Zacchaeus a son of Abraham? Wasn’t he guilty of sin, guilty of treasonous behaviour against his own people? Yes, he was, but by faith, he trusted, he believed in Jesus. He saw Him as his Saviour. He believed and acted on his belief by repenting, confessing, and exchanging his wealth, his treasure for the true treasure, knowing and belonging to Jesus.

Abraham believed God, and it was accredited to him as righteousness. Abraham believed God’s promises and he acted on them. Zacchaeus believed and acted. And thus salvation, through that promise given to Abraham, that through his offspring, that is, Jesus, all nations would be blessed, came to Zacchaeus.

What about you? Have you believed God? Have you believed His promise to send a blessing through Abraham’s seed, Jesus the Messiah from Nazareth? Do you believe Jesus is the Son of God who died on a cross, so that He could pay your penalty, my penalty for all the sinful things we’ve done? Do you believe that He offers His perfect life, His perfect obedience in place of your sin, my sin? And do you believe that in believing, you will have eternal life with Him? Do you believe that He now empowers you to live for Him by keeping all His commandments?

If you answered yes to any or all of those questions, if you are ready to respond to Jesus as Zacchaeus did, by confessing your sin, repenting of your wicked ways, and committing to live for Jesus, by faith, through the Holy Spirit, then Jesus says to me and to you, “Today salvation has come to this house, because you also are a son of Abraham by faith. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Amen.

Dear Father in Heaven, thank you for sending your Son. Thank you for bringing us here into this building this morning, just as surely as You moved Zacchaeus to climb that sycamore tree. Thank you that just as Jesus saw Zacchaeus, so surely He sees us, gathered here today. By the power of Your Holy Spirit, present in this place, move in our hearts and minds to see Jesus, believe He is who He says He is, and to put our faith and our trust in Him. Move in us to respond as Zacchaeus did, to give our lives to you, and for the service of others. In Jesus name, Amen.