Nobody likes the tax man. Ask anyone in the middle of April.
But in Jesus’ day, tax collectors were especially despised. They worked for the Roman occupiers, and they made their living by collecting more than was owed and pocketing the difference. It was legal. It was also legalized robbery.
Zacchaeus wasn’t just a tax collector. He was a chief tax collector. And he was rich.
He was also short.
So when Jesus came to Jericho, and the crowds lined the street, Zacchaeus couldn’t see a thing. Being a resourceful man, he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree.
Picture it. One of the richest, most powerful men in town, hanging from a tree limb like a kid at a parade.
When Jesus reached that spot, He stopped, looked up, and called him by name: “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.”
Out of all the people in Jericho, Jesus picked the most unpopular man in town. And the crowd grumbled.
But something happened to Zacchaeus that day. Before Jesus said a word of correction, Zacchaeus stood up and announced, “Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”
Nobody told him to do that. Nobody made him. His heart had simply changed.
That’s the difference between a changed mind and a changed heart. A changed mind makes promises. A changed heart writes checks.
And Jesus summed it all up: “Today salvation has come to this house… For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
Prayer:
Dear Heavenly Father, thank-you for seeing me, and calling me by name. Thank-you for giving me a changed heart like Zacchaeus, so that I will make right what I have done wrong and share freely with others. In the name of Jesus, Amen.
Wikipedia: Zacchaeus, Tax collector (Publican), Jericho
Look-It Up:
The story is told in Luke 19:1-10.
But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
Free Bonus:
Generations of Sunday School children have sung, “Zacchaeus was a wee little man, and a wee little man was he…”
Paying back “four times the amount” was the same penalty the Law of Moses required for stealing a sheep (Exodus 22:1). Zacchaeus treated himself like a thief.
The sycamore-fig is not the same as the American sycamore. It’s a type of fig tree with low, spreading branches, perfect for climbing.