Zacchaeus

Zacchaeus

Don’t you love Zacchaeus?

Most stories have a character arc…an arch like a rainbow. The main player starts in one place and travels along until something major happens. Then, suddenly, he’s different. Often, he becomes the person we want him to be. One of the features we can love about Zacchaeus is the way his story points to Jesus. He doesn’t grow taller physically, but as a person, he grows into a witness to grace.

Children love him, perhaps because he is small in stature like them. Have you ever noticed how little boys and girls show an instant attraction to others who are at their eye level? Also, we have a cute song about Zacchaeus. We don’t know who wrote it, and we’re not even sure how it goes exactly. Like a folk song, it has many versions.

The story of Zacchaeus is a happy one. It’s more about Jesus than it is about Zacchaeus. The setup is an occasion when Jesus enters the ancient town of Jericho. It appears to us that Jesus could have been passing through. Remember that he and his disciples walked everywhere.

“And Jesus entered and passed through Jericho.” (Luke 19:1)

A very rich man named Zacchaeus, who was the chief tax collector, lived in Jericho. We don’t know how big his territory was, but we do know that tax collectors gained their wealth by cheating people. Although many of them were Jewish, they performed dishonest transactions in order to beat their own relatives and fellow countrymen out of money. Zacchaeus was a Jew, a son of Abraham. As the number one neighborhood thief, he must have been lonely.

He wanted to see Jesus, but in the crowd of followers, he couldn’t get a glimpse of the Lord. So, he ran ahead along the road where Jesus walked. At a strategic place in the road, Zacchaeus climbed up into a sycamore tree. This one little man went there alone. He didn’t care what other people thought.

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

The little tax collector didn’t mind finding a seat as just one person, even though the place he sat was on the branch of a sycamore tree. He must have thought everybody would be looking at Jesus and that nobody would notice him in the tree. It must have been comical, though, to see a grown man—a wealthy and well-dressed man—perched on a limb.

It was no coincidence that Jesus looked up as he walked underneath an overhanging branch.  

And as the Savior passed that way
He looked up in the tree,
And He said,
Zacchaeus, you come down,
For I'm going to your house today.

Jesus told Zacchaeus to hurry climbing down. The Lord knew that Zacchaeus would welcome him into his home. Whatever Zacchaeus had done didn’t matter. Even though he was the head tax man, who committed many odious sins, his actions were no worse than anyone else’s in Jesus’ eyes.

Zacchaeus was a wee little man,
But a happy man was he,
For he had seen the Lord that day
And a happy man was he
And a very happy man.

Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem, where many citizens of the city would welcome him, but at that moment in Jericho, Jesus knocked on the door of the heart of just one man.

Zacchaeus scrambled down from the tree and welcomed Jesus joyfully. The onlookers became upset because Jesus went to the home of a notorious sinner.

“And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord; ‘Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken anything from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.’” (Luke 19:8)

He was saved from perdition by the grace of God unto good works, not because of his good works. Possibly, all the people in his family and all the servants working for him also received salvation. They didn’t receive it by being grandfathered in. Each individual was saved by grace through faith.

About the character arc—Zachaeus was at the beginning of the story a vile man, who hurt others for his own benefit. Then he started to change. Out of curiosity, he tried to see Jesus. What a surprise it must have been when Jesus approached him. As a result of the encounter, Zacchaeus changed from a selfish man to one who looked to the needs of others.

As stated earlier, this story is about Jesus, not only Zachaeus. Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. The story of Jesus has no character arc, but it is the sweetest ever told.

The scene concludes with Jesus’ words: “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Luke 19:10)

Zacchaeus was vulnerable, almost childlike. Let’s remember what Jesus taught. “Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein.” (Mark 10:15)