#155 Lu. 19:1-9  JESUS AND ZACCHAEUS

Introduction:

    In a recent text Jesus said that it is harder for a rich man
to enter into the kingdom of God than for a camel to go through
the eye of a needle.  Yet Jesus did not say that it is impossible
for a rich man to be saved.  He can be saved if he will repent of
his sins and trust in Jesus Christ.  The little man, Zacchaeus, in
our text today, is a classic example.

I.  The man, Zacchaeus

    V. 1-2, "And Jesus entered and passed through Jericho.  And,
behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus..."  The word, Zacchaeus,
means "pure, innocent."  Zacchaeus was anything but pure and
innocent.  He was guilty.  He was very guilty.  He was not only
guilty in the eyes of the people who knew him, but he was guilty
in his own eyes and in the eyes of God.  Never-the-less, that was
his name.
    He was not a very well liked Jew.  (V. 2), "...which was the
chief among the publicans..."  The publicans were tax collectors
for the Roman government.  They collected tax money from the Jews
on behalf of the Roman government.  Since Zacchaeus was the chief
among the publicans in the city of Jericho, this meant that he was
in charge of all the other tax collectors in that city and perhaps
in that region.  The other publicans would collect the money from
the residents and from traveling merchants.  They would keep a
sizable portion for themselves and then turn the rest of the money
over to Zacchaeus.  All of the publicans were hated by the Jews.
They thought that a Jew who would take money from Jews and turn
that money over to the Romans were traitors of the worst sort and
sinners of the worst sort.  Since Zacchaeus was the chief of the
publicans they would hate him more than all the others.
    So Zacchaeus lived a rather lonely life.  Outside of the
Romans and the other publicans, he had no friends.  Well, almost
none.  He had one friend that he did not know was his friend right
at that time.  That Friend was Jesus, a friend that sticks closer
than a brother.
    (V. 2), "...and he was rich."  We have reason to believe that
he was very rich.  Even if he had been perfectly honest and had
taken only the salary that he rightly earned, it would not take
him long to become rich in the job that he held.  But, as we learn
from his own words later in the text, he was not honest.  He had
taken advantage of the governmental power and authority which he
had to take more money from the people than he rightly should
have.  For instance, if he had five men working for him collecting
taxes from the people, he could require that each one would
collect and extra ten or twenty or thirty or forty or fifty
percent above what was rightly due and keep all this for himself.
He could get very rich very fast.  And he did.  We do not know
what the percentage was, but we know that he collected more than
was justly due.
II.  Zacchaeus up the sycamore tree

    V. 3, "And he sought to see Jesus who he was..."  Like
everybody else in Israel, he had heard of Jesus of Nazareth.  He
had heard of all the great miracles that Jesus had done.  Now he
heard that Jesus of Nazareth was passing right through his city
and he wanted to see Him.  Luke says that Zacchaeus wanted to see
who Jesus is.  Luke could have meant only that Zacchaeus had never
personally seen Jesus and that, now that the opportunity presented
itself, he wanted to see this great man, Jesus with his own eyes.
    Or Luke could have meant that Zacchaeus wanted to watch Jesus
and see if he could get some clue that Jesus might be the very
Christ of God as he had heard some say that He is.  At any rate,
He wanted to see Jesus and he set about to try to do so.
    (V. 3), "...and could not for the press, because he was little
of stature."  The term, press as used here. refers to the crowd.
Zacchaeus was a very short fellow.  He was so much shorter than
the people in front of him that he could not see over them to see
Jesus.  I am sure that he tried.  He would stretch and try to make
himself taller.  He would rise up on his toes.  I suspect that he
would put his hand on somebody's shoulder and jump trying to get
a glimpse of Jesus, but he couldn't see over.
    Then, too, there were so many people in the crowd around Jesus
and the people were so much larger than he that he did not stand a
chance of pushing his way through so that he could get up close
enough to see.  No doubt, he tried, but he just couldn't get
through.
    V. 4, "And he ran before, and climbed up into a sycamore tree
to see him: for he was to pass that way.  Zacchaeus did not give
up easily.  He just ran ahead and climbed up a sycamore tree that
would give him a good view when Jesus came closer.  I don't know
how old he was.  There was a time when I would have no trouble
climbing a tree, but I'm not so sure I could any more.  But
Zacchaeus just went right up that tree and got in position so that
he would be able get a good view when Jesus got a little closer.
    There is something right here that I want you to see.  This
man was rich.  He had more wealth in his possession right then
than most of us would see in a lifetime.  But his riches had not
really made him happy.  He was still searching for something that
he did not have, something that would satisfy the longing of his
soul.  Riches had not satisfied, but he was hoping that Jesus just
might be able to satisfy his need.
    For one thing, it plagued his conscience that he had taken
money that did not rightly belong to him.  He had done this
repeatedly.  He had tried to pretend that it didn't bother him,
but it did.  He knew that he would have to face God one day.  And
he knew that all that money would not do him any good in the day
of judgment.  He was hoping that Jesus just might be the Messiah
of God and that Jesus could do something for him that all of
wealth had not been able to do.

III.  Zacchaeus called down from the sycamore tree

    V.  5, "And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and
saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus..."  It probably surprised
Zacchaeus when Jesus stopped and looked up at him.  He was not
trying to get Jesus to see him.  He was just trying to see Jesus.
It must have shocked him when Jesus called his name.  "How did He
know my name?"  Big deal, Zacchaeus, He knows everybody's name.
    Then Jesus surprised him again.  (V.  5), "...make haste, and
come down; for to day I must abide at thy house." How badly he had
wanted to see Jesus!  He had been happy just to see Him from the
sycamore tree.  To have Jesus go to his home was certainly more
than he could have dreamed would ever happen.  He would have the
privilege of sitting down with Jesus across the table from him and
conversing with Him.  He would be able to ask Jesus questions
about who He really is.  It was all just more than he could dream.
I think that by now, he must have been saying within himself,
"This really is the Christ.  Otherwise, how would He know my name.
Why would He want to go to my house?  Nobody here likes me.  Why
would He like me enough to go to my house?"
    I think the mind of Zacchaeus must have been all in a whirl
and his hands and his feet were going just as fast.  V. 6, "And he
made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully."  He
joyfully came down that tree.  He joyfully accepted the Lord's
offer to go to his home.  I think that somewhere about this time
he joyfully accepted the idea that Jesus really is the Christ.  He
joyfully accepted Jesus as His Lord and Savior.  If not at this
moment that he came down the tree and accepted the Lord's offer to
go to his home, then he would do so very soon as we will see when
we get down to verse 9.

IV.  Criticism from the crowd

    V. 7, "And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, That
he was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner."  The crowd
of people were not so happy that Jesus would go to the home of a
publican, a tax collector.  They thought of all Jews who became
tax collectors for the Romans as being traitors to their country.
Since Zacchaeus was a chief tax collector, they thought he was
doubly bad.  He was the worst kind of sinner, as far as they were
concerned.  There is nothing in this passage that says that these
people were all Pharisees, but they were certainly thinking like
the Pharisees.  They thought that if Jesus is the Christ He would
surely know that this man is a great sinner and He would have
nothing to do with this wicked sinner.  That just goes to show how
little they knew about the Christ.

V.  Zacchaeus, a changed man

    V. 8, "And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord; Behold,
Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor..."  Zacchaeus was a
changed man.  Do you know what I think?  There is no way of
knowing for sure, but I just think that if Jesus said to Zacchaeus
what He said to the rich young ruler, Zacchaeus would have done
it.  You remember that earlier the rich young ruler had come to
Jesus and Jesus told him to sell all he had and give it all away
to the poor.  Jesus didn't tell Zacchaeus to sell all he had.  He
didn't say anything to Zacchaeus about giving anything away to the
poor.  Zacchaeus just voluntarily said, "I'm going to give half of
all I own to the poor."  I think that if Jesus had said, "No, not
half.  Give it all" that Zacchaeus would have done it.
    And he would not have been giving it away in an effort to get
saved.  He was not giving half of it away trying to get saved.  He
was giving it away because he had already been saved.  At some
point between the time that Jesus had called his name and the time
that he said he would give half of his goods to the poor Zacchaeus
had been saved.  A great change had come in his heart.  At one
time, he lived for little else but to get money.  But now money
was not all that important.  He was giving this money away out of
gratitude for what Jesus had done for him.  Jesus had filled the
void in his heart.  Jesus had given him the happiness that he had
long searched for.  Jesus had satisfied his soul.
    (V. 8), "...and if I have taken any thing from any
man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold."  This was in
addition to what he had already committed himself to give away.
Note something right here.  Under the law of Moses if a man was
caught stealing a sheep that belonged to somebody else he was
required to repay fourfold.  However, if he voluntarily decided to
restore what he had stolen, he was required under the law to pay
only and additional small percentage.  In the case of Zacchaeus,
nobody had come accusing him of stealing from them. He was not
required under law to restore fourfold.  This was far more than
the law required.  This generosity was a result of a spirit of
repentance on his part.  He had repented of his sin and he wanted
to show by his actions that he was sorry for his sin.

VI.  Other sayings of Jesus

    V. 9, "And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to
this house..."  Zacchaeus had been saved.  His soul was saved.  He
was saved from the penalty of his sins.  He was saved from the
danger of going into the fires of hell.  He was saved from the
danger of spending eternity in the fires of hell.  Zacchaeus was
now a saved man.  Salvation had come to his house.
    But note something else.  Jesus implied that not only was
Zacchaeus now saved, but that the way was now open for others in
his household to be saved.  Others, who may have also been
considering the need of their own salvation, may now trust in
Jesus and get saved.  Even if they had not already been thinking
about their need, maybe some of them would do so now that
Zacchaeus was saved.  Especially so since they would now be able
to see such a great change for the better in his life.  Others in
his household may now get saved.
    That's not hard for us to see.  However, Jesus now adds a
statement that may cause us to ponder a while.  Jesus said, (V.
9), "...forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham."  Why would
Jesus make a statement like this?  Why would Jesus say that
salvation is come to this house because Zacchaeus is a descendant
of Abraham?  Is salvation only for those who are Jews?
    Not at all.  The Bible clearly states that salvation is for
all the nations of the world.  John 3:16 says that God so loved
the world, meaning all nations and all races of people, that
whosoever believeth in Him would be saved.  In the Great
Commission God commanded that the gospel be preached to all the
nations of the world.  Salvation is not just for the Jews.  Then
why would Jesus say that salvation has come to this house because
Zacchaeus is a Jew; he is a descendant of Abraham?
    The answer is that salvation is offered first to the Jews and
then to the other races and peoples of the world.  Being a Jew is
not the only reason that Zacchaeus got saved.  There were a lot of
other Jews in that crowd of people who did not get saved.  Even a
Jew has to repent of his sin and trust in Jesus Christ the same as
Gentiles must do.  But Zacchaeus did repent of his sin and he did
trust in Jesus Christ.  The only advantage that being a Jew gave
him was that the gospel was not yet being preached to the
Gentiles.  That would come later.  But it was being preached to
the Jews even then.

Conclusion:

    Listen!  There may be some of you right here in this
congregation who have the same emptiness in your own heart that
Zacchaeus had in his.  You have tried to find satisfaction by
getting material things, but you have found that no matter what
you get, material things still do not satisfy.  The emptiness is
still there.
    You have tried the pleasures of this world, but you have found
that the pleasures of this world do not satisfy.  The emptiness is
still there.
    Also, there is that gnawing feeling of guilt that is inside.
There is that great big sin that you have committed that
constantly bothers your conscience.  Then there are those hundreds
of other sins that you know you have committed even though they
may not bother you like that big one does.  Oh, how you long for
forgiveness of all those sins!  Oh, how you long for peace with
God!  Oh, how you long to be right with God so that if you were to
die today, you would go to be with God in glory.  Oh, how you long
to stay out of the fires of hell!
    Come!  Come and put your faith in Jesus as the Christ of God.
Come and let salvation come to your house today.  Come and trust
in Jesus Christ and be saved.
    There may be others here this morning who need to come forward
for other reasons.  There may be Christians here who are members
of this church who need to come and renew your commitment to the
Lord to live for Him and serve Him faithfully.
    There may be someone here who has been saved, but you have
never united with a New Testament church.  You have never followed
Jesus in baptism.  You know that Jesus would want you to be come
forward for baptism, but somehow you have just never done it.
Won't you come today?
    There may be someone here who is saved and has Scriptural
baptism and you hold membership in a Scriptural church.  But you
stand in need of moving your membership here so that you can more
effectively serve the Lord.  Won't you come today and place your
membership here with us to serve the Lord?