“Zacchaeus was a little man, and a little man he was. He climbed a sycamore tree because the Lord who wanted to see…”
Who was Zacchaeus? Your Bible Story
Zacchaeus was a tax collector for the city of Jericho and he learned that Jesus the prophet was passing through the city. Since Zacchaeus was “short in stature,” he ran ahead of the crowd and climbed a sycamore tree to get a better view of Jesus. When Jesus arrived, he saw Zacchaeus in the tree and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry up and come down, because I have to stay at your house today.” This made Zacchaeus very happy, but the crowd “groaned” or murmured in a complaint that Jesus “had come in to be the guest of a sinful man.”
Most of us who grew up in the church know this little song, and any mention of Zacchaeus sends it into our brains. The story of Zacchaeus climbing a tree is fun to share with young children; especially since they are also ‘little’ people. However, there is a lot to learn about him beyond the fact that he was a short guy who hung out in trees, and Zacchaeus is someone we adults can relate to too.
Like Zacchaeus, we are also sinful and greedy
“The Pharisee stood alone and prayed, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like the others, thieves, criminals, adulterers, not even like this tax collector” (Luke 18:11).
In addition to his small stature, Zacchaeus was defined by his career as chief tax collector. in Jericho. Those who collect taxes are not popular in any time period, but the loathing was even deeper in 1st century Jewish culture. Zacchaeus was not only the IRS agent of his time, but he was also a traitor to the nation of the.
Even Jesus acknowledges the hatred that the people had for the tax collectors: “If they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them like a heathen or a tax collector” (Matthew 18:17).
Excessive Roman taxes were a hot topic in the days of Jesus, and the tax collectors worked directly for the Roman occupation. There were also no laws to protect contributing workers. People were required to pay large amounts to a cruel foreign government, and tax collectors openly added more for themselves.
Zacchaeus became rich by using his position to take whatever he wanted. This left people overwhelmed and resentful of this man who was stealing from them. And since he had the full support of the Roman authorities, the people were powerless to stop him.
Whether we realize it or not, like Zacchaeus, our natural tendency is to ‘take care’ of ourselves and take what we can get away with. It can be difficult for us to look beyond ourselves to the needs of others. However, as we shall see, Zacchaeus had that potential and he eventually embraced it.
We don’t have to climb a tree to see the truth
We all want to see things that are happening around us. We check social media regularly to see what we’ve missed. We slow down and investigate when we see a crowd. Our nature is to wonder what people are looking at and talking about and to get involved ourselves.
This is the setting when Jesus was walking through Jericho. People gathered around Jesus and, like any of us, Zacchaeus wanted to see what was going on.
How shocking it must have been when Jesus spoke directly to Zacchaeus in the midst of this huge crowd.
Zacchaeus was not a tall man and had to climb a tree to see Jesus. However, in a sense, Zacchaeus already knew who Jesus was and that he was worth seeing. We too, through the word of God, have full access to the full truth of who God is.
We tend to look far and wide for every secret in life that we may be afraid of missing out on. We look through self-help books, we look for hidden messages, and we look for purpose and meaning in all the wrong places.
Figuratively, we can spend our days in the trees.
But there is no need for us to go to extraordinary lengths to find the truth that is written for us on every page of Scripture. Jesus was the complete human representation of the truth, and we need look no further than him.
Jesus comes to our house anyway
It is likely that the people made fun of Zacchaeus as he was doing. climbing that tree. They surely did not want this type of man to interrupt their opportunity to see Jesus and were probably frustrated that he was there. After all, Jesus had come to save them from people like Zacchaeus. It is not like this?
However, Jesus sees Zacchaeus high up in that tree, and, “When Jesus arrived at the place, he looked up and said to him: ‘Zacchaeus, go down immediately. I have to stay at your house today. So he went down at once and received him with joy ”(Luke 19:5-6).
Jesus surprises the crowd by addressing Zacchaeus and then telling him that he must stay home.
Really? will jesus stay with the?
It is as if Jesus had this in mind even before he arrived at Jericho. He does not plan to stay with the local pastor, the mayor, or any other respectable person that we can expect Jesus to stay with. He has a plan to stay with the boy that no one likes. In fact, the must stay there.
We can be purified: the meaning of Zacao’s name
“Even tax collectors came to be baptized. ‘Master,’ they asked him, ‘what should we do?’ ‘Do not charge more than you are obliged to,’ he told them” (Luke 3: 12-13).
The name Zacchaeus means ‘pure’ or ‘innocent’. As a tax collector, Zacchaeus did not live up to his name. It was no secret that his wealth was gained at the expense of his neighbors and countrymen.
However, John the Baptist says that these tax collectors can get things right simply by being honest in their dealings. Zacchaeus does this after meeting Jesus: “And Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord: Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I give to the poor; and if I have taken something from someone with false accusation, I will return it quadrupled” (Luke 19:8).
After Jesus approached him, Zaccheus changed his ways and went further. and beyond to make things right. He finally got over his past and lived up to his name.
Our meaning is found in Christ
Like Zacchaeus, Jesus must visit our home today. He has no requirements for us before coming to visit us. We don’t have to do all the right things with all our deals before we let him in. He already knows who we are and what state our house is in. He wants to be there anyway.
His very presence and his love for us will lead us to do things we never thought we could do: even admit where we’ve been wrong and make things right. We can easily assume that Zacchaeus lived a different and fuller life after this encounter with Jesus. And we can have the same experience.
Jason Sorowski is a homeschooling parent and author of A trip to Bethlehem: inspiring thoughts for Christmas and hope for the new year. He serves as the worship pastor at Calvary Longmont in Colorado and spends his weekends exploring the Rocky Mountains with his family. log in at Twitter, Instagram or in JasonSoroski.net.