Jesus and Zacchaeus

​Luke 19 verses 1 to 10 1 He entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. 3 And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small in stature. 4 So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way. 5 And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully. 7 And when they saw it, they all grumbled, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” 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.” 9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

Luke 18 describes how blind Bartimaeus already "sees" that Jesus is the Son of David, even before he is healed. The next chapter, Luke 19, says that Zacchaeus, the rich tax collector, wanted to "see who Jesus was." Jesus passes through Jericho on his way to Jerusalem, where he will be crucified. He continues to heal and deliver: "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel," Matthew 15:24. See also Ezekiel 34:23. Zacchaeus, too, is such a ‘lost sheep’, a wandering "son of Abraham." Jesus is searching for him. He says in verse 10: “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost.” Jesus’ search precedes Zacchaeus’s “desire to see.” In Jericho, which was on a transit route, the Romans could levy high tolls. Zacchaeus, a Jewish chief tax collector in Roman service, was wealthy. Tax collectors were reviled by the Jewish people because they demanded higher tolls than the Romans claimed and pocketed a portion. In Luke 18, the previous chapter, the question arose whether a rich man could be saved. Wealth can hinder someone from entering the Kingdom of God. But Jesus says about this: “The things that are impossible with men are possible with God.” So even a wealthy chief tax collector like Zacchaeus could be saved. The encounter with Jesus leads Zacchaeus to break with his tax-collecting life. He spontaneously and voluntarily promises to give half of his goods to the poor and to repay fourfold the money he extorted from people. He calls Jesus his "Lord." Jesus promises him salvation. Zacchaeus' life is profoundly changed, and those around him, starting with his own household, feel the consequences.

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