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Little Man Who Became Important
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the branches. As the procession passed below, Zacchaeus scanned
the crowd eagerly to locate the one Person he longed to see.
Suddenly, just beneath the fig tree, the people came to a standstill,
and One looked upward whose glance seemed to read his heart.
Almost doubting his senses, the man in the tree heard Jesus say,
“Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at
your house.”
Walking as if in a dream, Zacchaeus led the way toward his own
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home. But the rabbis, with scowling faces, complained in scorn that
“He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner.”
Zacchaeus had been overwhelmed at Christ’s condescension in
paying any attention to him, so unworthy. Now love to his newfound
Master prompted him to speak. He would make his repentance
public. In the presence of the crowd, “Zacchaeus stood and said
to the Lord, ‘Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and
if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore
fourfold.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this
house, because he also is a son of Abraham.’”
Now the disciples had a demonstration of the truth of Christ’s
words, “The things which are impossible with men are possible with
God.”
Luke 18:27
. They saw how, through the grace of God, a rich
man could enter into the kingdom.
Before Zacchaeus had even seen the face of Christ, he had con-
fessed his sin. He had begun to carry out the teaching written for
ancient Israel as well as for us: “If any of your kin fall into diffi-
culty and become dependent on you, you shall support them; they
shall live with you as though resident aliens. Do not take interest in
advance or otherwise make a profit from them, but fear your God.”
“You shall not cheat one another, but you shall fear your God; for I
am the Lord your God.”
Leviticus 25:35, 36, 17
, NRSV. The very
first response of Zacchaeus to Christ’s love was to show compassion
toward the poor and suffering.
The tax collectors cooperated with one another to oppress the
people and support each other in their fraudulent practices. But as
soon as Zacchaeus yielded to the Holy Spirit, he put aside every
shady practice.
No repentance is genuine that does not result in reformation.
The righteousness of Christ is not a cloak to cover unconfessed and