Zacchaeus

Luke 19:1-10 (ESV)
¹  He entered Jericho and was passing through.
²  And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich.
³  And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small in stature.
⁴  So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way.
⁵  And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.”
⁶  So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully.
⁷  And when they saw it, they all grumbled, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.”
⁸  And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.”
⁹  And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham.
¹⁰  For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

I’ve been looking at Zacchaeus lately.  What an interesting story.  Zacchaeus was the only person mentioned in the Bible to have been saved in the city of Jericho.  But, what a man to save.

According to verse one, Jesus was just passing through Jericho.  It wasn’t His destination but was a major city on the main road from eastern Palestine to Jerusalem.  According to Luke, Jericho was the last city He visited before entering Jerusalem to die on the cross, and Zacchaeus was the last to be saved.  You would think Jesus would make a major push to bring people into God’s Kingdom at the end of His earthly ministry.  But, only one man was saved? 

Zacchaeus was known by everyone in Jericho and by those regularly passing through.  According to Edersheim’s Life and Times of Jesus, there were so many Roman taxes archaeologists still haven’t been able to name them all.  And, Zacchaeus got a cut of everything that was collected.

He says in verse 8 that he would return any money he had received through defrauding taxpayers.  So, he had most likely been a cheat.  Tax collectors were seen as sinners in Jewish life.  Righteous Jews had nothing to do with them.  And Zacchaeus was the chief tax collector.

But, Zacchaeus received salvation this day and the change was obvious.  The man who had defrauded the people of Jericho was now giving half of his wealth to the poor.  Jewish law required a cheat pay back double any money he had made through fraud.  Zacchaeus gave back twice that.  The people of Jericho saw an immediate change in him.  Many must have questioned what caused the change in this chief tax collector.  Imagine the opportunities for telling people about how Jesus had moved in the life of Zacchaeus.

Jesus spoke to great crowds during His earthly ministry: 5,000 men at one time.  But, most often, Jesus shared one-on-one with people.  Individuals were saved and changed.  Others saw the change in them and wanted that new life as well.  Such is God’s plan and the story of our faith.  The gospel is most often shared with individuals.

Paul was saved by an individual encounter with Jesus and millions have found salvation through Paul’s letters.  Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, John Whitefield, John Wesley, D.L. Moody, Billy Sunday, Billy Graham, and Greg Laurie all had personal encounters with Jesus and through them millions have heard the good news God has for them.  Most of these men were led to Christ by an individual Christian.

Who knows, maybe all of Jericho was saved through the witness of Zacchaeus.  Thousands of travelers passed through this great city on their way to Jerusalem.  Think of how many heard the good news from the townspeople.  Jesus wasn’t holding back when He shared with Zacchaeus.  He had a greater plan.  He isn’t holding back with you either. 

We are the Zacchaeuses of our Jerichos.  Those who knew us before we met Christ can see the change.

Keep your eyes open.  You may be a Zacchaeus, or you might be the person God uses to bring one to Christ.