Zacchaeus is only mentioned in the Bible in (Luke 19:1-10). The man whose name means “pure” was a wealthy tax collector in the city of Jericho. As a tax collector in that day and time, he was most assuredly a despised man. Tax collectors were seen as traitors because they worked for Rome, and they were known for cheating the people.
The Story Of Zacchaeus
As the story goes in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus was traveling through Jericho. Zacchaeus was wanting to see who Jesus was, but because he was too short he could not see over the crowd. So what does he do? He runs ahead of them and climbs a sycamore tree so that he will be able to see Jesus when he comes by.
As Jesus is walking by, he looks up at Zacchaeus and calls him by his name saying, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” The excited tax collector climbs down quickly and takes Jesus to his house. It does not make the people happy that Jesus has gone to be the guest of a sinner.
While all the people are grumbling about this situation, Zacchaeus stands up and says to the Lord, “I will give half of all my wealth to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much.” Jesus responds, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.” (Luke 19:1-10)
Those words from Jesus were no doubt music to the ears of the short man that we all remember the most for climbing the sycamore tree with a determination to see Jesus no matter what!
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