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Author: Stephen Weller
555 words, 3 minutes read time

Zacchaeus Meets Jesus

Scripture: Luke 19:1-6

With the previous lesson we covered section 162 in which Jesus heals a blind beggar just outside of Jericho. With this lesson we will enter Jericho and spend some time with Zacchaeus.

^{Lk 19:1} “He entered Jericho and was passing through. ² And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. ³ And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small in stature. ⁴ So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way.”

After restoring the sight of a beggar, Jesus enters Jericho with the intentions of passing through, but as is so often the case something is bound to happen, or someone will interrupt his journey. In this case it was a person named Zacchaeus, who was a chief tax collector and as a result he was rich. This is the only place in the New Testament where the title “chief tax collector” is found.

At specific locations on roads coming into a town there would be tax booth to collect taxes on merchandise being brought into that town. For example, if fishermen brought fish or a farmer brought produce from the farm or salesmen had merchandise to sell, there would be a tax collected that was to be paid to Rome.  Zacchaeus apparently was in charge of the tax collectors working in these booths located around Jericho.

Zacchaeus had heard about Jesus and wanted to see him, but because he was a short man, he could not see over those who were taller and maybe many knew who he was and so he was afraid to push his way to the front of the crowd. He runs ahead and climbs up into a sycamore tree, that was near the road, so he could see Jesus when he passed by.

^{Lk 19:5} “And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today. ⁶ So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully.”

A skeptic would disagree that God was at work here, but I believe he ordered the steps of Zacchaeus so that he would be in the tree where Jesus was to pass by so that Jesus could see him and invite himself to stay at his home and speak to him about salvation. As Jesus arrives at the tree where Zacchaeus was, he stops, calls him down from the tree and invites himself to his home. Zacchaeus hearing this request from Jesus, hurries down from the tree and receives him joyfully.

Conclusion

The request from Jesus to go to the home of Zacchaeus would not have gone unnoticed by those in the crowd, especially by those who knew him and his occupation and clearly saw him as a sinner. Zacchaeus was a person who symbolized the authority of a government that was taking the people’s money and oppressing them, and they were probably upset that Jesus was being friendly toward him. We will probably see a reaction towards Jesus in the next lesson.