Jesus, The Friend Of Sinners

Loneliness is one of the plagues of our time. With so many things to do, so many diversions-- movies, videos, sports, television, night clubs, amusements, the job, etc.--people still find themselves alone.

Along with loneliness, there is a famine of friends. Someone has said, “Friendship doubles our joy and divides our grief” but in reality we all have plenty of acquaintances but few friends. We have plenty of people in and around our lives that we interact with--co-workers, neighbors, family but few of us have true blue friends.

Social media has afforded many to have hundreds, even thousands of “friends” but within that far-reaching list of pictures and profiles, faces and facts, most people will only have a handful of people, perhaps only one or two, they would consider a close friend.

In our message today we will learn of a man who was virtually friendless until he met Jesus, the friend of sinners. His name is Zacchaeus. In today’s message we are going to look at (1) The person of Zacchaeus, (2) The problem of Zacchaeus, (3) The persistence of Zacchaeus, (4) The position of Zacchaeus, (5) The performance of Zacchaeus, and (6) The proof of Zacchaeus.

I. The Person of Zacchaeus

(Luke 19:1 NASB) And He (Jesus) entered and was passing through Jericho.

(Luke 19:2 NASB) And behold, there was a man called by the name of Zacchaeus; and he was a chief tax-gatherer, and he was rich.

It is interesting that the name “Zacchaeus” comes from the Hebrew root which means “to be transparent or clean.” It also means “innocent.” This must have been a point of mocking by the townsfolk. You see, the Jews lived in a culture where a person’s name was associated with who they were. Zacchaeus’ name meant “transparent” or “clean” but he was far from being innocent. He was a crooked tax-collector, he worked for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) of Rome.

Zacchaeus is called a "chief among the tax-collectors" (vs. 2), because he was hired by the Roman government to be in charge of the collection of taxes from his own people. What made it worse was that they took the tax plus an additional sum to line their own pockets.

Tax Collectors were held in the lowest esteem because of their excessive profiteering. Tax Collectors were considered “sinners” and were placed in the same category as harlots (Matt 21:32).

Because of the nature of his job and his dishonesty, the Bible says Zacchaeus was rich and because he was rich he had no real friends. Yes, he had people who hung around him for the money and the pleasures associated with having money but they were not real friends.

As is often the case with these kinds of people, once the well runs dry they will find some other “cash cow.”

II. The Problem of Zacchaeus

The story of Zacchaeus continues in verse three of our text.

Luke 19:3 NASB) And he was trying to see who Jesus was, and he was unable because of the crowd, for he was small in stature.

In the previous chapter, we are told that as Jesus was approaching Jericho, a huge crowd had already been following Him. By the time Jesus entered Jericho there was such an uproar that Zacchaeus probably heard the commotion from his tax office.

By now Jesus had a big reputation. When someone would mention the name “Jesus of Nazareth” huge crowds would form. This was because Jesus had healed the sick, made the lame walk and fed the multitude from a few loaves of bread and a couple of fish.

I imagine that as Zacchaeus left his office to inquire about the noise—someone in the crowd told him that Jesus of Nazareth was in town. So Zacchaeus tried to get closer but he couldn’t see. Verse 3 tells us that he couldn’t see Jesus for two reasons:

(1) The press of the crowd was too great for him.

Zacchaeus tried to get closer but the crowd was too great. Probably some of the townsfolk noticed that it was “Mr. Rip-off” and purposely moved in his way or shoved him aside.

(2) He was small in stature - he was short.

Each and every time I go to this passage of Scripture and read about Zacchaeus, I cannot help but to think about an actor that would most certainly be chosen to play this man if ever a movie was made telling this story.

Many of us remember a character from the sitcom Taxi named Louie De Palma. His real name is Danny DeVito. A New York Times biography describes DeVito as, “single handedly” portraying characters with mile-long, obnoxious jerk streaks that are nonetheless somehow loveable…DeVito…has made an art form out of playing endearingly loathsome little men.” I’m sorry, but this is the way I see Zacchaeus.