Luke 19:1-10

Luke 19:1-10

1 He entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 And there was a man called by the name of Zaccheus; he was a chief tax collector and he was rich. 3 Zaccheus was trying to see who Jesus was, and was unable because of the crowd, for he was small in stature. 4 So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree in order to see Him, for He was about to pass through that way. 5 When Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, “Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” 6 And he hurried and came down and received Him gladly. 7 When they saw it, they all began to grumble, saying, “He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” 8 Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much.” 9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

People are important to Jesus.  Over and over again, we see Jesus interacting with people who others were avoiding.  This attitude on the part of Jesus caused people to be drawn to Him.  The marginalized people of society wanted to be close to Him because they knew His reputation of accepting those who were like Him.  This is an example of the kind of impact we should have on the world around us.  We are called to show His love to others.  When we do that, we will see that others will be transformed through His work in and through us.

ZACCHEUS IS MOTIVATED BY CURIOSITY: We know several things about Zaccheus.  We know he was a chief tax collector, he was wealthy, he was short, and he was curious about who Jesus was.  Tax collectors were not popular people.  They were seen as traitors because they represented the Roman government.  However, since the position was vital to the Romans, they were well compensated, so these men were generally prosperous.  It was not uncommon for these tax collectors to charge more than was required and pad their pockets with the extra money.  Clearly, not all tax collectors were corrupt, but they were all despised and tended to be lumped together with those who were.  It appears as if Zaccheus was an honest tax collector, which may have been why he was promoted to being a chief.  Had he been habitually dishonest he would have had a hard time repaying four times whatever he had defrauded after giving half of his possessions to the poor.  He had certainly heard of Jesus by reputation and was curious to know more when he heard Jesus was coming to town.  Since he was short, he climbed a tree to try and see Jesus.  As a Jew, he may have been waiting for Messiah and considered that Jesus might be Him.  He wanted to gather more information by observing Him first hand.

ZACCHEUS IS GREETED WITH COMPASSION: It must have surprised Zaccheus when Jesus walked right under the tree he had climbed and then called to him by name.  This was a man he had never met before, but Jesus knew his name and then invited himself over to his home for a meal.  In our culture this may have been considered rude but in eastern culture this was one of the highest honors one could receive.  Zaccheus was used to being marginalized and rejected by his countrymen.  His only hope was to gain a glimpse of Jesus.  Instead, Jesus came to his home for a meal.  The Jewish leaders around Jesus immediately dismissed that Jesus could be Messiah because of this decision.  They had identified Zaccheus as a sinner and, in their minds, Messiah would never associate with a sinner.  Jesus was not at all concerned with what these religious leaders thought.  They were constantly looking for reasons and excuses not to believe.  Zaccheus climbed a tree looking for reasons to believe.  Jesus came to seek and save the lost.  God wants us to communicate love and compassion towards the lost.  We cannot allow the fear of men to intimidate us from reaching out to those who desperately need to hear the truth of God’s Word.

ZACCHEUS IS SAVED BY CONVICTION: It doesn’t look like they even made it to his house before Zaccheus became a believer.  He felt the love of Jesus and was convicted of his own sinfulness and convinced that Jesus had to be the Messiah.  His immediate response was to demonstrate love to others by giving half of his possessions to the poor and then make restitution to anyone he had defrauded.  True faith is always accompanied by repentance and love.  We cannot say that we have truly believed unless that faith produces a transformation in our hearts.  When Jesus sees the results of the faith of Zaccheus, he proclaims that salvation had come to him.  Nobody can be saved by giving half their money away or by making restitution to those we have defrauded.  Those works will never save.  However, when someone truly places their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, repentance, generosity and love will flow through that person’s life.  Every man must come to the realization that they are sinful before God, recognize that Jesus is the Messiah and then trust Him alone to save us from sin.

APPLICATION: All of us have needs we are unable to meet in our own lives.  It is important we recognize those needs and seek Jesus to be able to meet them.  Love is the true mark of a follower of Jesus.  The fear of men will keep us from loving the people who most desperately need our love.  Jesus is the Messiah and wants us to follow the example He has set for us.  That is an example of generosity and love.  If we truly believe on the Lord Jesus Christ we will turn from our sins and show His love to others.