OPEN: The story of Zacchaeus only occurs in the Gospel of Luke. It seems to me that its possible that, as Luke interviewed people for his Gospel, he may have spoken with Zacchaeus - and the man’s story stood out to him. It’s also possible, given that Zacchaeus’ name is used here, that he was known to the early church and may have been an active member of the early congregation in Jerusalem.
It’s an unwritten rule (my unwritten rule) that whenever I preach a sermon on a story that is also part of a famous children’s song, you gotta sing the song. So join with me: “Zacchaeus was a wee little man and a wee little man was he. He climbed up in a sycamore tree for the Lord he wanted to see. And when the Savior passed that way, He looked up in the tree. And said, 'Zacchaeus, you come down! For I'm going to your house today! For I'm going to your house today!'”
Now, QUIZ TIME: What kind of tree did Zacchaeus climb up in? A sycomore Tree. Now we have sycamore trees in Indiana. In fact, the famous song “Down Home In Indiana” mentions sycamore trees in way that makes you realize how highly regarded they are here. As I searched the internet, I found our sycamores described as majestic, fast growing, and attractive. Its wood is sometimes used for things like veneers. In other words, it’s a great tree…. But they’re not as great as the sycomores of the Middle East.
In Africa, for example, those sycomores were called the “Queen of Trees”, and in Egypt they were called the “Tree Of Life.” (They have a tasty fig-like fruit and is praised by many for its medicinal properties). In fact, these trees were so valuable in the days of King David, that David appointed a special caretaker to protect and cultivate them (1 Chronicles 27:28).
So, the tree that Zacchaeus climbed up into was highly regarded and valuable. And in the limbs of this valuable and highly prized tree was ... an unwanted and sinful man.
Zacchaeus was a WEE little man… and he was a tax collector. In the days of Jesus, tax collectors were little better than pond scum. “The Pharisees (complained to Jesus’ disciples) ‘Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?’” (Matthew 9:11) In the Gospels, we’re told no less than 8 times that people complained about Jesus eating with the "tax collectors and sinners." It was like - there were sinners... and then there was this special class of sinners called tax collectors. (PAUSE)
Now, why were they so hated? Well they worked for the Romans. Rome occupied Israel and the land and people were literally owned by them - and the Jews hated that. So tax collectors like Zacchaeus who worked for the Romans were seen as traitors to their nation. But not just traitors – they were also viewed as thieves.
You see, back then tax collectors weren’t paid by Rome. Rome simply said “We need this much tax revenue. You collect that and you can charge an extra percentage on top of the tax for yourselves. And they would often charge whatever they thought the person could pay. A really good tax collector could make a LOT of money. In our text Zacchaeus was called “a CHIEF tax collector and he was RICH.” (Luke 19:2) You know what that means? It means he was REALLY good at his job!
So, if Zacchaeus is so rich and powerful - if he had everything he could possibly want in this world - what’s he doing looking for Jesus? Well, a couple of things. First, I think he’s tired of his life. You see, I believe that Zacchaeus became a tax collector to get revenge. Remember, he was a WEE LITTLE man. People have literally looked down on him all his life. He’d been laughed at and ridiculed ever since he was a child. But all that’s changed now. Now, he’s tax collector. Now, he’s got the power to take revenge - and it’s payback time. If you’d insulted him in the past, may the Lord have mercy on your soul, because he’ll come after you! And you’d have to pay up or move away, because if you didn’t… he was going to get you. And he liked it that way! He liked being feared, he liked having the power, and he liked the money. There’s an old saying “Revenge is sweet,” but – you know - it really isn’t.
ILLUS: About 30 years ago, Dr. Meier of the Minirth-Meier Clinics observed that “Ninety-five percent of all cases of depression is caused by repressed anger.” (Russ Blowers in The Lookout 9/4/1994 p. 9)
That’s why someone once said “Hate is a prolonged form of suicide.” (Doug V. Steere, from Dimensions of Prayer)
There’s a price to be paid for bitterness, and I think that’s where Zacchaeus was at now. Revenge wasn’t nearly as sweet as he thought it would be. He was tired of the anger, tired of the bitterness, tired of the rejection he’s been experiencing. He wants to change… but he’s not sure how.
Then… Jesus comes to town. It’s been rumored that Jesus doesn’t care who you are, or what you look like, or what you’ve done. The rumor was that Jesus has eaten with Tax Collectors, and that He’d told the chief priests that tax collectors would make into heaven before the chief priests did (Mt. 21:31). He was even said to have a tax collector one of his closest disciples.
All of that appealed to Zacchaeus. It gave him hope that this Rabbi might just accept him. That, and the fact that Jesus was said to teach a lot about forgiveness - and Zacchaeus desperately NEEDS forgiveness. He desperately needs to change.
So Zacchaeus rushes to the street. He’s not sure what he plans to do, but he has to see Jesus. If he were to find Jesus, something might be able to change in his life. But he can’t get through. Have you ever been to a popular parade? People pack the street and only little kids are allowed to get up close. It’s often so packed no one can get through. And here, lining the street, no one will let Zacchaeus come up front. Nobody likes him, nobody wants him there. You can see him jumping up and down trying to see if Jesus has come by yet.
And then… he sees this tree. A sycamore tree (we showed the picture of the Zacchaeus Tree that Jericho touts as being the tree Zacchaeus climbed that day). Sycamores have these wide branches which sprouted up from trunk - close to the ground, so even a child can climb up. And he climbs up in the branches and waits.
Then Jesus comes to the base of the tree… and He stops. He looks up right at Zacchaeus and – do you remember the first word out Jesus’ mouth? "Zacchaeus!" Do you realize this is the only time Jesus ever visited Jericho in his entire ministry? It’s true. And this visit to Jericho is the last city on his final trip to Jerusalem where He’ll be betrayed, beaten, crucified… and buried.
And Jesus says his name: “Zacchaeus” just like He was his friend. "Zacchaeus come down from that tree, I want to go and eat at your home." Jesus spoke to him. Jesus wanted to go to his house. Jesus had... offered him hope that maybe he might just get a chance to change.
So, Zacchaeus climbs down out of tree and rushes to his house. He orders servants to prepare the meal and oversees every detail of the preparations. And then he turns (PAUSE) and there is Jesus at his door. This is probably the 1st time, for a long time (if ever), anyone important has wanted to eat at his house.
And suddenly he’s struck by the poverty of his soul. By the shabbiness of his life of selfishness and pettiness.
Now, some people see Christianity as a nice, comfortable religion. Lots of folks come to Christ, but they don’t really change their lifestyle. They did what they wanted BEFORE met Christ, and now they do what they want to do… AFTER they’ve met Christ. They come and sit at church. They sing a few songs, pray a few prayers, and listen to the sermons. But they never change their priorities.
In my 30 plus years of preaching I’ve seen church goers out there who lie, cheat and steal. Church goers who sleep around and say things and do things you know are wrong. I’ve not seen it here… but even in the nicest churches (like this one) it can happen. People like this do what they do because they’ve deceived themselves into thinking they can get away with it. They believe that if they can hide their sins from the preacher/Elders and others they can continue to live like they want. And they can… for a while.
ILLUS: They’re kind of like the little boy who was taking the family dog for a walk and was jerking roughly the leash several time as he’s going around the block. Suddenly his father appeared and accusingly says, "Do you want to tell me how sorry you are?" The boy looked up and said "I can’t do that until I know how much you saw!”
A lot of folks are like that about their Christianity. They’re not sure how much YOU have seen, but they’re hoping it’s not been much. But, of course, the problem is… God sees!!!! And one of these days, people who play that game are gonna be in for a rude awakening. When Jesus comes back it’s not going to be a pleasant experience for them.
God has always called for a change of life. When John the Baptist saw crowds coming out to be baptized by him he shouted, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? BEAR FRUIT in keeping with repentance.” Luke 3:7-8
When Paul stood before King Agrippa, he said ministry had been to tell people “that they should repent and turn to God, PERFORMING DEEDS in keeping with their repentance.” Acts 26:19-20
That’s why, when the crowds at Pentecost asked “What shall we do?” Peter replied: “REPENT and be baptized everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins…” Acts 2:38
Repent means to change. Change your lifestyle, change your priorities. It’s not enough to just give lip service to God, you’ve got to bear fruit in keeping with repentance. Because, if you don’t, there’s going to be a price to be paid… and you are not going to like it.
So, did Zacchaeus do that? Did he repent? Of course he did. When Jesus came to eat with him… “Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Look, I’ll give half of my possessions to the poor, Lord! And if I have extorted anything from anyone, I’ll pay back four times as much!” Luke 19:8 (HCSB)
When Zacchaeus repented… he put his money where his mouth was. Zacchaeus was so repentant he was willing to give half of all he owned to the poor. And that’s pretty significant. But then he declared that if he’d cheated anyone (and he had) he was going to give them back 4 times as much as he took. Under the LAW, if he stole $100, he was required to give $120 to his victim. But Zacchaeus was so changed he offered to give back the original 100 PLUS an additional $300 to whoever he’d ripped off.
Now, did you notice that Jesus didn’t have to say anything. Zacchaeus just realizes he’s in the presence of Christ and that’s all it took. He repented and he sought to bear fruit in keeping with repentance. But not everybody does that. A lot of people try to cover up their sin… and it never works.
ILLUS: Years ago I remember praying to God and remembering something I’d said or done that had caused me shame in the past. And I was almost tempted not to mention it in my prayer. I reasoned “if I don’t tell God, maybe He’ll not know I did it.” (PAUSE) Seriously. I actually thought about that. How absurd is that? But that’s literally how some folks reason.
King David noted: “when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.… (but then) I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,’ and you forgave the iniquity of my sin...” Psalm 32:3-5
David thought he could get away with not telling God what he’d done and it became, after awhile, like he could hardly breath because of God’s hand being upon him day and night. All God wanted was for David to “fess up” and do better. And that’s all God wants from us. Admit when we’ve done wrong and then determine to do better next time. That’s why John wrote to the Christians of his day: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9
God is the God of beginning again. When we were baptized into Christ, our sins were washed away. But once in a while (even after becoming a Christian) we mess up AGAIN, and we need to forgiven… AGAIN. So, what we need to do is to honestly and humbly come back to God AGAIN and ask for a fresh start. And He’ll forgive us… AGAIN.
There’s a poem by Kathleen Wheeler that says it this way: “He came to my desk with quivering lip; the lesson was done… ‘Have you a new leaf for me, dear Teacher? I have spoiled this one!’ I took his leaf, all soiled and blotted and gave him a new one, all unspotted. Then into his tired heart I smiled: ‘Do better now, my child!’
“I went to the Throne with trembling heart; The day was done. ‘Have you a new day for me, dear Master? I have spoiled this one!’ He took my day, all soiled and blotted, and gave me a new one, all unspotted; Then into my tired heart He smiled: ‘Do better now, my child!’”
INVITATION
