Jesus Loved Zacchaeus
Luke 19:1-10
Luke 19:1-10
Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. He was on his way to that climatic Passover feast when he would give his life as a ransom for many. It was the purpose for his coming, his mission, his reason for being on the earth.
Jesus’s route to Jerusalem took him through Jericho. As he entered the city, he was met by a crowd that clamored to see him, to get close to him, to touch him. His reputation proceeded him. Word had spread that he was on his way to Jerusalem for something big. And just before entering Jericho he healed a blind beggar (Luke 18:35-43). That would have whipped up people’s passion to want to get close to him even more.
As Jesus made his way through the city, surrounded by the jostling crowd, he stopped. I imagine people caught by surprise, bumping into each other, asking, “What’s happening? Why did he stop?” People craned their necks to get a look at what he was doing. Jesus had stopped next to a sycamore tree. He looked up into the tree and there was a man was sitting on a branch looking down at him. “Zacchaeus,” Jesus called out, “hurry and come down, for I must stay your house today” (Luke 19:5).
Jesus was on his way to do the most difficult, and most important thing, that anyone had ever done. We would have understood if his focus on the task before him was such that he paid little attention to people around him. But he stopped and noticed Zacchaeus up in that tree.
We would have also understood that if Jesus were going to pause on his journey to Jerusalem to connect with a resident of Jericho, he might have chosen someone other than Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus was a tax collector.
Tax collectors were Jews who had betrayed their people by collaborating with the hated Roman occupiers. Not only did they squeeze money out of their people that was used to finance the Roman occupation, but they also went beyond what the Romans required and extorted extra funds that lined their own pockets.
Luke tells us that Zacchaeus was not just a tax collector, he was a chief tax collector. And, Luke said, he was rich (19:2). He was rich because of the money he had himself extorted from the people of Jericho and from his cut that he got off the money extorted by the tax collectors under him. Zacchaeus was surely hated by the people of Jericho. He was a wicked man who preyed on his own people.
Of all the people in the city that Jesus could have connected with, that he could have visited, it was Zacchaeus who Jesus chose. He chose Zacchaeus to host him. He chose Zacchaeus to receive him. He Zacchaeus to be with. And the people of Jericho did not like it.
“And when [the people of Jericho] saw it, they all grumbled. ‘He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner’” (19:7). The people didn’t like it, but Zacchaeus was filled with joy (19:6). And he was radically changed.
Zacchaeus had spent his life in the greedy accumulation of money, through the most despicable means any Jew could do. But when Jesus came to him, he was transformed. His selfishness changed to benevolence. “Behold, Lord, half of my goods I give to the poor” (19:8a). He confessed to his crimes and sought to make amends for the harm he had done. “And” he said, “if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold” (19:8b). A fourfold restoration was more than was required by the law. That showed the radical nature of the change Jesus had wrought in Zacchaeus’s heart. He didn’t want to do the minimum that was required of him. He was willing to go above and beyond to make things right.
Zacchaeus had been changed. “Today salvation has come to this house…For the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost,” Jesus said (19: 9-10). Zacchaeus was not saved because of his changed his behavior. His behavior changed because Jesus sought him and saved him.
What do we learn from this passage for our ministry as mentors to prisoners?
Jesus loves criminals. Zacchaeus was a traitor, a collaborator, a thief, and a defrauder. And Jesus loved him. He went to him. Even though Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem to something important, to the climax of his calling, to salvation for the world, he stopped to show love to one seemingly insignificant criminal. He went to his home. He took time to fellowship with him. When we love prisoners, when we go to them, or write them letters, when we fellowship with them, we are being like Jesus.
The “good” people in Jericho didn’t understand. Why would Jesus even speak to Zacchaeus much less go to his home? It made no sense to them. Jesus loved him anyway. We should expect that people won’t understand why we spend time loving prisoners. Last week I reviewed websites from 100 of the 556 churches in Hamilton County as part of my Cultural Renewal Project for the Main and Market Fellows. Of the 100 I reviewed only three mentioned prison ministries. When we are misunderstood for loving prisoners, when it makes no sense to others that we invest our time, treasure, and talents into prisoners, we should love them anyway.
There are no sins too great to be forgiven by Jesus. Zacchaeus’s sins were very great. It’s hard to imagine someone farther from a righteous life than Zacchaeus. Jesus forgave him and changed him. There are no people so far gone that they can’t be saved and changed by the gospel. There are no crimes so great that put prisoners beyond the hope of the gospel. And, that truth applies equally to us as it does to prisoners. Do you have a sin that you can’t shake? Are you weighed down with shame and guilt? You too are welcomed by Jesus. His gospel can change you too. Flee to Jesus. He will receive you and change you, just like he did Zacchaeus.
Let us rejoice that we have the privilege of loving and serving prisoners like Jesus loved and served Zacchaeus, like Jesus loves and serves you and me.
Much love, Barry