Zacchaeus was a stumpy, rich little extortionist and knew it. I wonder if the tax-collector in the parable in Luke 18:13 was actually him. It was certainly at least true of him. Jesus is coming through Jericho and Zacchaeus is going to miss seeing him if he doesn’t do something quick, so he climbs up a nearby sycamore tree in Jesus’ path. He gets a better view than he expected, though, when Jesus stops at the tree and invites himself to his house for dinner. Then a miracle Jesus has done manifests itself.
Verse 6: “So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully.”
…
Really? The guy that’s been skimming from our taxes all these years? Many of the people looking on see this as reflecting on Jesus’ character.
Verse 7: “they all grumbled, ‘He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.’”
But Zacchaeus has been waiting to meet his Lord, and he is ready to repent. He has been rich through unjust means for a long time, and he knows from first-hand experience that riches don’t satisfy. He wants what does satisfy. He’s willing to give anything for it:
Verse 8: “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 gives it to him:
Verse 9: “And Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham.’”
Now, the ground given for salvation coming to his house sounds a little strange, and it would be even more strange to the Jews looking on. Zacchaeus was chief tax-collector, so he was a Jew in the pay of the Roman empire. Ethnically speaking, he was a son of Abraham. But Jesus stresses it like it’s a new thing, saying he’s going to be saved because he is also a son of Abraham, and the Pharisees (as stated last chapter), aren’t…
The answer is given in Romans 9:6-8. “Not all are children on Abraham because they are his offspring… it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring.” Zacchaeus was a child of God by grace alone through faith alone, and the self-righteous Pharisees were not:
And in John 8:39-47:
39 They answered him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did,
40 but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did.
41 You are doing the works your father did.” They said to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father—even God.”
42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me.
43 Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word.
44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me.
46 Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me?
47 Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.”
Back to the story. We’re at the end now, and Jesus is implicitly explaining why he’s going to eat with this unrighteous tax-collector (ew).
Verse 10: “For ['all this because'] the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
Zacchaeus wasn’t righteous. He’s been stealing from his fellow Jews, and overseeing others doing the same thing. It was accepted that he was a sell-out to the Romans, and that when the Messiah came, these people would be the first to go as he setup his reign on earth and prepared to kick out the oppressors. For many in the crowd, this was the last straw, and confirmation that Jesus couldn’t be the Christ. “The real Christ would be showing me special attention, because I keep God’s law. He would know what this man is.”
But Jesus came to seek and save the lost. Those who think they are made righteous by their works, beware.
Do you think you’re pretty good? Maybe if you had a few small (or big) sins removed you’d be righteous? The Pharisees knew they sinned (nobody’s perfect, right?), but they also “took care of it” regularly with their sacrifices. They were clean, as far as they knew, because of their own obedience.
Jesus was seeking people who were willing to admit they had strayed from the straight and narrow path, and wanted desperately to get back on it. He wanted people who would acknowledge their record and plead for it to be expunged. He wanted broken, humbled, desperate people who knew there was no other way. Those are who the gospel is for (Luke 18:14, Matthew 23:12, Mark 2:17).
“Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.” – 1 Corinthians 10:12