02/28/2022
Zaccheus—a courageous and repentant man.
When I say the name ZACCHAEUS, what comes to mind?
Probably “wee little man.”
Unfortunately, all that most of us remember from that children's song is that Zacchaeus was short and climbed a tree, which is so unfair because once you get to know this guy, he’s going to challenge you as much as any of the great heroes of the Bible.
Luke 19:1-2 (NIV)
Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy.
No one would have wanted a tax collector on their team. Tax collectors hid behind the military might of foreign Roman occupiers to soak their own neighbors. Zacchaeus was a chief tax collector, so probably one of the most hated men in town.
Luke 19:3 (NIV)
3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd.
Notice that interesting phrasing: “He wanted to see who Jesus was.” A literal translation would be: “And he was seeking to see Jesus – who he is.” He’s not just curious to see what Jesus looked like, but to understand who he was, to understand what he was like.
Luke 19:4 (NIV) 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.
This would be very undignified for a grown man to do, but Zacchaeus wanted so badly to see this Jesus that he climbed a tree like a kid.
Luke 19:5a (NIV) 5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him . . .
Jesus halts this whole parade to point out the most despised person in the crowd. I wonder what Zacchaeus thought was about to happen. Here he was, entirely vulnerable - the “wee little man” perched in a tree – with all eyes now on him as the popular guy points at him. I’m sure he felt a flush of hot shame and braced for what usually happens in those situations.
Have you been there? It’s when you are the joke. It’s when the pack of mean girls focuses on you. It’s when everything you hate about yourself is on full display. If you’ve been there, you’ve felt that smallness.
That’s where Zacchaeus is when Jesus points at him, and everyone stops and stares, and the popular guy says to this dirty little traitor, this wee little man: Luke 19:5b (NIV) “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.”
This is another interesting choice of words: “I must stay at your house today.” That’s the Greek word dei (thee). It means necessary, needed, ought. Jesus felt it necessary to do this. It was necessary for Zacchaeus. It was necessary because Jesus came to seek and save the lost.
Luke 19:6-8 (NIV)
6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. 7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a ‘sinner.’” 8 But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”
Half his possessions or goods, not his income. This would be a huge financial loss for Zacchaeus. Think about everything you would have to liquidate if you gave away half of your total wealth. But he gave back what he took plus 400%. Joyfully! That’s what he should be known for. That’s what his song should be about. He wasn’t a wee little man, he was a big-hearted man, a broadly generous man, a courageously repentant man.
Luke 19:9-10 (NIV)
9 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”
We’re not told he left to follow Jesus on to Jerusalem. He apparently does som**hing even more brave: Zacchaeus stays there in Jericho to do the hard work of overcoming his old reputation, making restitution, facing the skeptics and critics, loving his neighbors who are also his enemies.
Nobody would have seen that in Zacchaeus. It would have never happened if Christ had not seen Zacchaeus differently than everyone else. Christ saw the potential in Zacchaeus no one else did. Christ decided he must get to know Zacchaeus, to show concern for the most hated man in town.
Some of the people in your family or your classroom or your workplace may seem hopeless too. You may think they will never come to faith or care about the Bible or turn around their lives. But you never know how God may be working on someone’s heart. So we need to see others like Jesus does. We need to be open to the potential of the most unlikely sinner to be called by Jesus. We need to keep praying for them, keep reaching out, keep blessing them, keep talking to them, because Jesus is seeking them, and God loves them and nothing is impossible with God.
That is the core truth behind how we view everyone. We believe in what God can do in the lives of prostitutes and tax collectors, and m**h heads and dropouts, and hopeless marriages and prodigal children, and with you, and with me.
So we keep hoping, we keep loving, we keep praying.
-from Scott Franks
