Key Text: When Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for today I must abide at thy house (Luke 19:5).
Luke records the pilgrimage of Christ who traveled to Jericho with a large entourage toward the Passover in Jerusalem. Jericho, the gateway for Judea and the center of fertile agricultural area for its palm and balsam groves was also the winter capital of Herod the Great and it was where a “crowd” lined the street to see Christ pass through. They had undoubtedly heard about the recent raising of Lazarus in Bethany less than fifteen miles away and Jesus’ statement about “How hard it was for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God” (18:24). Jesus’ fame as a healer and teacher stirred the entire city when word arrived that He was coming.
Even the “chief tax collector” v 2, a chief publican lost in greed, the outcast tax collector, and victim of mammon, Zacchaeus was anxious to see Christ. So, Zacchaeus joined the crowd which gathered to see Christ. Of little stature, he was unable either to see over or to make his way through the press; so, he scaled a sycamore tree. Posed in the tree, Zacchaeus’ mind was not engrossed by material considerations. There he was singled out by Jesus, who said to him, “Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for today I must abide at thy house” v 5. It seems that Zacchaeus’s heart was prepared to accept the invitation even though both the religious elite and the common people hated him. They fail to see beyond their pride, and they refuse to see what possible righteous purpose Christ had in visiting such a notorious sinner: “But He had come to seek and to save the lost” v 10.
The new birth was accomplished in Zacchaeus is testified by his vow to give half of his goods to the poor, and to make fourfold restitution where he had wrongfully exacted, proof that his conversion was genuine. The law required a penalty of one-fifth as restitution for money acquired by fraud and four-fold restitution only when an animal was stolen and killed. If the animal was found alive, only two-fold restitution was required. But Zacchaeus judged his own crime, acknowledging that he was as guilty as the lowest common robber. He found incomprehensible spiritual riches and did not mind the loss of material wealth. This social outcast is numbered among the sons of Abraham and the social outcast of modern life is still a son of God, “within whose heart the spirit of Christ is longing to make its abode” v 10. AMEN!
P.S. See Atlanta New Housing for Homeless on YouTube
What is the difference between restitution and reparations?
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