Today’s Bible Translation

Bible translation used in today’s episode: Ch. 19 NASB, Ch. 20 NLV

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Thoughts

Zacchaeus was a chief tax collector, and the Jews hated tax collectors in general, so as a chief tax collector he probably was especially disdained by them. Tax collectors often got rich by extracting extra taxes from people, over and above what was required by the Roman government. Zacchaeus appears to be one who took full advantage of his position.

Interestingly, the name “Zacchaeus” means “pure one”, which of course, he was anything but pure.

He had evidently heard about Jesus and the miracles he had done, and probably had heard reports of His teachings and the way he dealt with people. So Zacchaeus wanted to meet him, so much so that he ran ahead along the route that Jesus was taking and climbed up a sycamore tree because he was a short man and could not see over the heads of the crowd.

Let’s consider the inclusion of Zacchaeus’ short stature for a moment. While not always true, it is sometimes true that short men develop a personality trait called a Napoleon complex, or short man syndrome. They sometimes have a chip on their shoulder, often as a result of being bullied when they were young. And this might be why Zacchaeus became a tax collector, as a way of getting back at those who bullied him. He may have become driven to achieve financial success, no matter what it took. And this driven personality trait made him a man not to let anything get in his way, so on this day, in order to see Jesus, he set aside personal pride and climbed a tree as a child would do, so that he could achieve the goal of seeing this Jesus that everyone was talking about. I like what the commentator Alexander Maclaren said: “I wish there were more of us who did not mind being laughed at if only what we did helped us to see Jesus.”

So Jesus did walk past the tree where Zacchaeus had perched himself, and He looked up and called Zacchaeus by name! He called him by name. I believe that Jesus had a divine appointment with Zacchaeus that day. This was no chance meeting. Jesus knew that Zacchaeus was waiting to see Him, and that Zacchaeus’ heart was prepared for something special, even if Zacchaeus himself didn’t know it.

“Hurry down from there, Zacchaeus, because I’m coming to your house today!” Jesus said. Can you imagine Zacchaeus’ excitement at those words? The crowd around Jesus is so numerous that he had to climb a tree to even see him, and Jesus singles him out by name and says, “I want to spend some time with you.” Jesus didn’t just want to talk to him, He wanted to have a relationship with him.

In John 10:3 Jesus said, “The one who watches the door opens it for him. The sheep listen to the voice of the shepherd. He calls his own sheep by name and he leads them out.” Jesus knew Zacchaeus’ name, and He knows your name, beloved. Isn’t that marvelous?

Of the billions of people who have ever lived, He knows your name. But of course He does, because He formed you in your mother’s womb. Psalm 139:13 says, “You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb.” I find this to be both humbling and reassuring, don’t you?

So after Jesus called to him in the tree, what did Zacchaeus do? He did what Jesus asked him to do, he hurried down from the tree. And our verse says he “received Him gladly.” Zacchaeus could have stayed in the tree. He could have come down but rejected Jesus inviting Himself into Zacchaeus’ home. But Zacchaeus received Him gladly. The great preacher, Charles Spurgeon, said, “Christ will not force himself into any man’s house, and sit there against the man’s will. That would not be the action of a guest, but of an unwelcome intruder.”

Zacchaeus received Jesus before he knew what Jesus was going to do or say at his house. He just received Jesus, on Jesus’ terms. And isn’t this the way we are called to receive Jesus? Very few of us studied Christian doctrine before accepting Jesus. We just knew that we needed Him. When I was that teenage boy, I had no idea what He would do with me when I accepted Him. I just knew that I needed Him. And guess what. In the fifty-plus years since I gladly received Jesus, there has never been one fleeting moment that I regretted that decision.

We aren’t told what Zacchaeus and Jesus talked about once they got to Zacchaeus’ home, but after spending some time with Jesus, Zacchaeus stopped and told Jesus, “Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham. 10For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

You see, there are no special words you have to say to accept Jesus. It was obvious that Zacchaeus had experienced a changed heart, a changed mind, a changed character. He had become born again. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” NASB

If you have not yet received Jesus, you can do it now. Invite Him in, just like Zacchaeus did. Ask Him to come in, to spend some time with you. And allow Him to do what He will with your life. I promise you will forever be glad you did.