As we recall, when Jesus was approaching Jericho, he had an encounter with a blind named Bartimeaus, a poor beggar from the lowest of the social class according to society. As I recap the four conditions that Bartimeaus had. First of all remember he was blind. Then he had his belief. He had his boldness, and his final condition was his blessing. He was bless because the Lord asked him what is it that he wanted from the Lord and his reply was I want to receive my sight and the bible say that he immediately he received his sight and he began to praise God and those that were around him praised God also.
Now, as we look at Luke 19:1, we see that Jesus is passing through Jericho on his final trip to Jerusalem, and he comes in contact with Zacchaeus, a very wealthy government man from the top rung, the top shelf of the economic ladder.
And in verse two, we see that Zacchaeus was a man of some prominence. Even His name in Hebrew language meant, “Pure and righteous,” but he was not thought of as being anywhere close to pure or righteous because of the job he had as a tax collector, notice if you please that he worked for Rome and was considered a traitor by the Jewish people. The fact that he worked for the Roman IRS indicated to others that he was more interested in money than anything else.
Zacchaeus was more than just an IRS agent in fact He was the chief tax collector. He was in charge of all the agents and he was able to take a “cut” of commission from those who he collected taxes for himself. He stood on top of the collection pyramid, stuffing his own pockets with shekels before he sent the required taxes to Rome. So if Rome charged a 5% tax, Zacchaeus may have collected 10% from the people.
Understand that Jericho was a great place to be for Zacchaeus because there were a lot of people coming in and out of the city on their way to Jerusalem for the Passover. Jericho was considered the tax capital of Palestine, the center of a vast trading network that extended from Damascus to Egypt. And Zacchaeus was in charge of one of the three tax offices that was in the entire country; in fact he may have had the best job of them all. The b clause of verse 2 tells us that he was wealthy, or he was rich.
Not only was he wealthy but he was a renegade in the eyes of the religious people. In fact, in the minds of people, tax collectors were often linked with murderers, adulterers, robbers, and other “sinners.” But if we were to look at the connection between Jesus and the tax-collectors, the tax collectors were not new news to Jesus or of the worst people that Jesus has ever attracted or encounter. Because early on in His ministry, Jesus had attracted much worse, and yet in the eyes of the Pharisees, Jesus received them warmly.
To prove my point, if we were to look in Luke 5:30, Jesus was accused by the religious leaders for eating and drinking with the tax collectors and sinners. These two terms were almost synonymous to the Pharisees.
So in verse 3 we notice that while Zacchaeus is very a very wealthy and successful by the world’s standards. Even though he was wealthy and rich, he knew that something was still missing. People today, if they are honest with themselves, they would eventually admit that there’s more to life than just trying to make money and obtain possessions. They would admit that there is more to life than working 12 and 13 hours a day with no time to enjoy what they have earned. There is more to life than working 7 days a week without giving any time to the Lord.
So, if we were to really dissect this scripture, we will notice that it doesn’t say that Zacchaeus just wanted to see Jesus. But it says that He wanted to see who Jesus was. He wanted to figure out what was it that made Jesus different from everyone else. He was drawn to this man who had just given sight to the blind beggar on the outskirts of Jericho. And now he sees this healer the one who healed a blind man walking through his town. He may not have fully understood what was going on in his heart, but Zacchaeus had a desperate need to get to Jesus. He probably couldn’t even explain what drew him to see who Jesus was, but he knew that he wanted to see who Jesus was.
Perhaps that’s how some of us are feeling this morning, we’re drawn to Jesus, we’re intrigued by who He is, and we want to get to know more about Him. And I’ve got to tell you this morning that there is something about the drawing power of Jesus. There is something that is magnetic about Jesus that will pull us closer to him. Even the songwriter said Draw me nearer, nearer blessed Lord, to the cross where Thou hast died; draw me nearer, nearer, nearer blessed Lord, to Thy precious, bleeding side. Jesus has drawing power.
Zacchaeus wanted to see who Jesus was, but Zacchaeus had at least two problems that day. The first problem he had was he was a short man. I can picture him bouncing up and down on his toes, trying to see above the taller people in front of him. And with the crowd pressing in, there was no way for him to get close enough to Jesus. In a large crowd like this, loaded with tax collectors and taxpayers, I wonder if some of the unhappy taxpayers took out their frustrations on Zacchaeus by shoving him to the back of the crowd, whatever the reason Zacchaeus couldn’t see. And there nothing worst then trying to see Jesus and people are blocking your view. You are trying to see Jesus and people are talking to you while the Word is going fourth. You are trying to see Jesus and people are passing you notes, you are trying to see Jesus and people are trying to show you the latest post on Facebook, you are trying to see Jesus and people are texting, and sending you IG messages, Zacchaeus could not see Jesus.
So, not only could he not see Jesus, but his second problem was spiritual his sins were keeping him from Jesus. Isaiah 59:2 says that “our iniquities have separated us from God.”
Not only was Zacchaeus of short stature, but he was some just like us; he was not able to measure up to God’s standards. But, he also came up far short in a spiritual sense of ever entering into a relationship with God, because He was short on integrity and tall on sin.
But can I tell you something? We should never get so high that we forget about Jesus. Our days should never be so full that we don’t have a relation with the Lord. We can’t get so caught up in our daily routine that we forget about God. We’ve got to have a relationship with him.
I love verse 4 because it says that: he couldn’t see “So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.” Zacchaeus was smart and he was resourceful. He ran ahead of the crowd, looking for a way that he could see Jesus. This picture is a bit amusing, because first of all, it would have been considered undignified for a rich man to run. Secondly, I don’t know about you, but it seems funny to me that this wealthy man would be climbing up a tree to see Jesus. He was determined to see Jesus and frankly he didn’t care what others thought. And I believe that’s the point that we got to get to, and that is I don’t care what people think about me I’ve just got to get to Jesus.
Zacchaeus did not allow anything, not the crowd or his condition of being short, to stand between him and his desire to see the Lord Jesus. So what you have a run in your stocking, just get to Jesus. So what your perm didn’t turn out right, just get to Jesus. It does not matter that the barber couldn’t give you a fresh cut. It does not matter how dignified we are.
In verse 5 we see that while Zacchaeus may have been searching, it was really Jesus who was seeking him: because when Jesus reached the spot where he was, Jesus looked up and said to him, ‘Zacchaeus, come down immediately, because I must stay at your house today.”
Jesus took notice of Zacchaeus, although we are not told why. But He stopped, looked up, called him by name, and told him that He must come to His house. And that’s a good thing to know that God knows you by name.
So again we see that while Jesus has set his face toward the Cross, he stops and ministers to a searching sinner. He knew right where Zacchaeus was, He knew all about him and He was filled with compassion toward him. So He then gives Zacchaeus a two-fold command: “Come down immediately.” Get out of the tree. And I’ve notice something here and that is there is always a sense of urgency about following Christ.
And then Jesus gives the second part of the command: “I must stay at your house today.” Why did Jesus express the necessity of going to the house of Zacchaeus? I notice here that Jesus invited Himself to dinner! And this is the only instance in the 4 Gospels where we read of Jesus inviting Himself to someone’s home for a meal. The reason Jesus must stay at his house, because it pictures what His ministry is all about. He came to save sinners from their sins.
So I heard that Zacchaeus didn’t waste any time getting out of the tree. Verse 6 tells us, “So he came down and at once and received him joyfully.” the He was overwhelmed with joy!
The word joyfully carries with it the idea of being glad and full of happiness.” And this is similar to the response of Bartimeaus in Luke 18:43 when it says that he praised God.
When Zacchaeus express joy, we see in verse 7 that the entire crowd began to mutter. As if to say that the crowd was confused about why Jesus was even talking to Zacchaeus, and they wondered why Jesus has invited himself to dinner at Zacchaeus s house. Notice that it wasn’t just some of the crowd. The text says that it was all the people. It may have even included the disciples; it may have included the church folks that walked with him daily. There was a grumble in the jungle, that indicated that they were complaining and finding fault with what Jesus was going to do, but Jesus went on in.
So I heard that after the meal and the conversation with Jesus, we see in verse 8 that Zacchaeus was greatly impacted by the call on his life. Because of what he is about to say. He knew he was a sinner and had come to the Savior for salvation. His conversion is clear because of the life-changes we see.
Zacchaeus pushes himself away from the table and said to Jesus, “Look, Lord! Here and now I’ll 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.”
In other words He was fully sold out to Christ. Because Jesus had changed his heart and now he wanted to demonstrate that change through his actions. And I’ve got to tell you all this, this morning, and that is whenever Jesus meets someone there is always a change. Zacchaeus public confession shows the sincerity of his repentance and was his way of living. Romans 10:10 says:
So, Zacchaeus is now a different man and he declares that he will give half of his possessions to the poor and will make restitution four times the amount to the people that he cheated.
And it was all because he wanted to see Jesus. I see 4 Stages that Zacchaeus went through, which has a direct application to our lives today.
-Curious. He wanted to get to know who Jesus was.
-Considered. He investigated the claims of Christ.
-Converted. The searching Savior saved him and forgave his sins.
-Changed. His life was radically redirected after his conversion.
In other words, God can change anybody, but we’ve got to want be changed.
And that reminds me of a story.
A young couple who had moved into a new neighborhood. The next morning while they are eating breakfast, the young woman sees her neighbor hanging the wash outside.
'That laundry is not very clean', she said. 'She doesn't know how to wash correctly. Perhaps she needs better laundry soap' Her husband looked on, but remained silent. Every time her neighbor would hang her wash to dry, the young woman would make the same comments.
About one month later, the woman was surprised to see nice clean wash on the line and said to her husband: 'Look, she has learned how to wash correctly. I wonder who taught her this?
The husband said, it wasn’t her clothes that were dirty, this morning I got up early and cleaned our windows.'
And so it is with life. What we see when watching others, depends on the purity of the window through which we look. I’m so glad the Lord looked on a sinner like me and saved my soul. I’m so glad that he took this black soul and dipped it in red blood and it became wither than snow.
And it’s all because he died for me.
