Zacchaeus was chief among the tax collectors, and he was small of stature. He was a wealthy man probably because he had been an extortioner , but really he was a bankrupt sinner and needed God’s gift of eternal life. He was unpopular because the Jews did not appreciate him taking taxes from them to give to the Romans.
Jesus was passing through Jericho for the last time, as He moved on to Jerusalem and the cross. Evidently Zacchaeus had heard of Him, and ‘he sought to see Jesus who he was’, v. 3. This man thought he was seeking Jesus, but in fact it was the Saviour who was seeking him, v. 10. Could it be he had heard that this great teacher could perform the miraculous? Not only was he curious but, when presented with a problem associated with his being small, he displayed not only determination but ingenuity in seeking this vantage point amongst the cover provided by the broad leaves of the sycamore tree. When the Saviour came to the place, He looked up, He saw him, and He spoke to him.
Zacchaeus was to discover that there was now no hiding; the Lord not only knew the place, He even knew his name. Later he was to discover that, like the woman of Sychar’s well, He knew ‘all things that ever I did’, John 4. 29. Here was the Omniscient Christ!
This is the only instance in the four Gospels where the Lord invited Himself to someone’s home. Zacchaeus was obedient; he speedily came down and received the Lord joyfully into his life, as well as into his house. What transpired in the home of Zacchaeus we do not know. However, the reality of his salvation was evidenced in that he brought forth ‘fruits meet for repentance’, Matt. 3. 8.
He was saved not because he promised to do good works but because he responded by faith in the Saviour. He desired to give away half his goods to the poor, and where he had defrauded others he desired to make restitution and restore fourfold. The Lord states that Zacchaeus, ‘is a son of Abraham’, v. 9, indicating that his faith is same as that which characterised and justified faithful Abraham.
