Many years ago, I was trudging through downtown Seattle navigating crosswalks, crowds, and traffic trying to get to the baseball stadium where the Seattle Mariners were playing. In front of me were two green luxury cars. In the lead car sat Bill and Melinda Gates. Passerby’s confirmed my suspicions that this was indeed the founder of Microsoft and richest person in the world at the time. “That’s Bill Gates. That’s Bill Gates,” I kept hearing. This sighting occurred over 20 years ago yet I remember it well. It’s not everyday you walk past someone so famous and important, at least in terms of personal computing. In the first ten verses of Luke 19, another celebrity was sighted. Yet this genius didn’t come to put a computer in every home. He came to seek and save every heart.

Verses 1-10.

You may have heard that Zacchaeus was a wee little man who climbed a Sycamore tree but this story is not just about people of small stature catching a glimpse of Jesus. This story highlights genuine repentance marked by joyful self sacrifice. Repentance is not something to be done grudgingly but is actually quite liberating.

After Jesus heals the two blind men while on the road to Jericho, He enters into Jericho and meets Zacheus. We remember Jericho from the Old Testament as being the first city to fall in Joshua’s conquest of Canaan as the walls came tumbling down. The New Testament Jericho was part of Herod the Great’s building projects and was built a mile to the south of its Old Testament location. This prosperous city was known for its balsam groves and a great palm forest, earning its Biblical title as the “City of Palm Trees.” It was also a luxurious winter retreat for the elite, featuring large swimming pools, courtyards, and Roman architecture. Located on a major customs and trade route near the Jordan River, it brought in a lot of money through tax collecting.

Zaccheus was amongst those who fared very well from collecting taxes. As a chief tax collector he most likely bid for the right to collect taxes and then hired another tax collector to actually gather the money. Tax collectors were hated because they tried to shake people down for as much money as possible in order to pad their own pockets after paying the Roman government their share. It seems that Zaccheus was chief among them.

In today’s context, a tax collector could be seen as a corrupt law enforcement officer who takes bribes, or a gangster who requires a fee in order for people to “do business.” While it was legal for Romans to collect taxes, tax collectors took advantage of others, earning their place as “sinners.”

Zaccheus was a man of small stature and he really wanted to see Jesus. So he climbed up a sycamore tree, which was similar to an oak tree with a short trunk and wide branches. Jesus looked up and saw him, “Zaccheus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house” (5). While the rich young ruler walked away sorrowful, Zaccheus hopped down and received Him joyfully.

As we have come to expect, “when they saw it, they all complained, saying, ‘He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner’” (7). Let’s backtrack a few steps. When Jesus neared Jericho, the blind beggar was warned not to cry out to Jesus. Then “they” glorified God after Jesus healed them. A few steps later Jesus enters Jericho and meets this tax collector, and “they” all start complaining. God deals with this fickleness constantly.

After he’s accused of being a sinner Zaccheus makes his case of repentance: “Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusations, I restore fourfold” (8). According to Levitical law, extortion required exact repayment plus an extra twenty percent. Zaccheus repaid those he harmed 400 percent. Not only that, he gave half of all he had to the poor, which was something he wasn’t required to do.

Jesus says three things in response to Zaccheus that could warrant their own sermons. First, “Today salvation has come to this house.” Salvation can also be translated as deliverance, as when Israel was delivered out of bondage in Egypt. In the same way, Zaccheus was in complete bondage to the love of money. Jesus delivered him from that, and the evidence of his repentance was his good fruits of generosity. Whatever stranglehold sin has in your life, know that genuine repentance from that sin is evident by good fruit. In other words, we just can’t believe we’ve been delivered from sin and not change our behavior. Where’s the evidence?

Secondly, Jesus says “because he also is a son of Abraham.” Jericho was a Levitical city and its inhabitants categorized Zaccheus as a sinner, or someone who was not of the chosen lineage. The Jews found great comfort in being a child of Abraham because that means you have eternal life. Remember that at other times Jesus calls those who claim to have Abraham as their father as actually being children of the devil. Just saying you are a believer doesn’t mean it’s true but Zaccheus was a true believer.

Jesus concludes this way: “for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost” (10). Zaccheus was a lost sheep caught in the thickets of greed. He was a lost coin that Jesus recovered for the family of God. He was a lost son caught up in the corruption of the world. Verse ten is a mission statement of Jesus. Think of the many individuals in His ministry that He searched out and rescued, even traveling across the Sea of Galilee to save just one man tormented by demons. Jesus brings salvation to mankind one soul at a time.

If you heard people murmuring that Jesus Christ was passing by, how would you respond? Would you remain unfazed and go about your business? Would you feel insulted? Or would your heart be gripped with an intense desire to see Him and forsake everything to follow Him all the days of your life? If that’s the case, then indeed salvation will come to your house.

Questions:

1. In what ways can we see the genuineness of Zacchaeus’s conversion in verses 1-10?
2. Why does Luke call unbelievers lost? (10)
3. Describe your conversion.