Zaccheus

Whatever Jesus did was profound and had a wide impact. If all that Jesus did was written, the world could not hold the amount of books that would be written (John 21:25). 

The main events of Jesus’ life on earth are recorded in the 4 gospels – Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The gospels are like a highlight reel of Jesus’ life and ministry. Whenever Jesus did something particularly remarkable, it was recorded in the gospels. 

We can learn a lot of important lessons from these powerful events.

Zaccheus was one man who was particularly impacted by Jesus (Luke 19:1-10). The popular Sunday school story tells us that Zaccheus was a wee little man who climbed up into a tree to see Jesus and then invite him to his house. 

There’s more to the story, however.

Zaccheus lived in Jericho. In the Old Testament, Jericho was the city that the Israelites marched around and destroyed (Joshua 6:20-21). Since that time Jericho had been rebuilt and become wealthy. 

Jesus wasn’t coming to destroy Jericho, but he was coming to bless Jericho. He didn’t come to destroy men’s lives but to save them (Luke 9:56). 

Zaccheus was the chief tax collector in Jericho. Jericho had a lot of trade, and therefore it had a lot of taxes. Zaccheus took the money from the other tax collectors in the city and sent this money to Rome. Zaccheus was in a high position, and he was one of the richest men in Jericho.

In those days, the Jews hated tax collectors. Jesus referred to tax collectors as the lowest part of society (Matthew 18:17; Luke 18:9-14). Tax collectors were hated because they represented Rome. The Jews were under Roman control, but they hated being subjected to Rome, and they wanted to be independent. Tax collectors took money from the Jewish people and sent it to Rome to support the Roman government, the Roman army, and even the Roman religion. Jews hated this.

In addition, tax collectors were corrupt. They would extort money from people, threatening them and overcharging them. They would pocket the extra money and become wealthy.

As the chief tax collector in Jericho, Zaccheus was possibly the most recognized and hated person in the entire city.

There was a big crowd around Jesus as he walked through the streets of Jericho. People thronged him. They just wanted to see him and touch him. They wanted to be healed. They wanted to hear him talk. They wanted to see the love of God shine from his face. 

The crowd was swelled because it was almost Passover. It was about a week before the crucifixion. Jesus was passing through Jericho on his way to Jerusalem to die. This was the last and final Passover, as the Lamb of God was about to be slain for the sins of the whole world. There would be no more true Passovers after this one. 

Not only Jesus, but many other people were on this road to go celebrate Passover in Jerusalem. The road was clogged with jostling people.

Zaccheus wanted to see Jesus. But he was short and he couldn’t see through the thick crowd. So he climbed up into a tree. 

Jesus and the massive crowd around were passing by below. Suddenly Jesus stopped and saw a man in a tree. He probably knew his name by the Holy Spirit, and he shouted out, “Zaccheus!” Everyone in the crowd would have turned to look. 

There, up a tree, was the most hated man in Jericho. The crowd’s angry eyes glared at him.

Jesus didn’t condemn Zaccheus like everyone else. Instead, he said that he was going to stay at Zaccheus’ house.

The crowd became angry. They all knew what kind of man Zaccheus was. How could Jesus enter Zaccheus’ house and eat with him? How could he stay there? They were indignant.

People often judge others. They look at things according to their own reasoning. They are quick to condemn based on false evidence. They murmur about God or about his people. 

Maybe the crowd thought that Jesus was a bad judge of character and didn’t know how who Zaccheus was. Maybe they thought Jesus just wanted to hang out with rich people – to eat their food and get money from them. Maybe they wondered why Jesus was going to Zaccheus’ house but not coming to their houses. Why would he bless Zaccheus but not them?

Jesus knew the anger of the crowd. He knew that once in Jerusalem some of these same people would turn on him and kill him. 

Yet Jesus loved these murmuring, murderous people. Jesus was going to bless Jericho by rescuing Jericho’s most hated man from his sins. 

With the seething crowd looking on, Zaccheus publicly repented. He promised to change his life and restore things in front of everyone. He said he would give half of his money to the poor, and he would repay the people that he cheated with 4 times as much as he took from them.

Zaccheus would have cheated a lot of people in Jericho. But now the money was going to flow from Zaccheus back to all these people. Imagine the amazement of the crowd when they heard Zaccheus say this. The poor would be fed and have clothing. Cheated people would have their money restored 4 times. The crowd must have become ecstatic. They had probably never seen such a transformation before.

Jesus and Zaccheus, along with the eager crowd, went to Zaccheus’ house. Zaccheus probably had one of the biggest houses in Jericho. This house was going to become a place of blessing. 

That night, there was a party in Zaccheus’ house. The poor, the maimed, the lame, and the blind were invited (Luke 14:13). Jesus was there in the middle of it all. Healing, restitution, love, and life flowed from the house of Zaccheus into the city of Jericho.

The name Zaccheus means “pure.” 

The Bible says, “though your sins be as scarlet, they will be white as snow” (Isaiah 1:18).

Wickedness, cheating, envy, greed, murmuring, complaining, bitterness, strife – all these sins and more were healed when Jesus came to Jericho and showed the love of God to one outcast Jew named Zaccheus.

Jesus can do this much and more, even in our lives.