Lk.19:1- 4 – And Jesus entered and passed through Jericho.
And, behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich. And he sought to see Jesus who he was; and could not for the press, because he was little of stature. And he ran before, and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him: for he was to pass — that way.
If we didn’t know that the scripture was God breathed we would have to think this story about a small man who was a tax collector seems like some sort of made up children’s story. There is a very good chance that Zacchaeus was the richest man in Jericho, after all he was in charge of all of the other tax collectors in this very rich region. After hearing about Jesus he wanted to go see and hear Him for himself. That’s where this story gets really comical; this rich man dressed in the finest clothes available literally climbed up a tree because he was too small to see Jesus because of the crowds lining the streets. So here he was, despised by everyone, realizing money never could satisfy his hungry heart, climbing up a tree in front of all of Jericho. Here is how Barclay describes this scene.
“JERICHO was a very wealthy and very important town. It lay in the Jordan valley and commanded both the approach to Jerusalem and the crossings of the river which gave access to the lands east of the Jordan. It had a great palm forest and world-famous balsam groves which perfumed the air for miles around. Its gardens of roses were known far and wide. It was known as ‘The City of Palms’. Josephus called it ‘a divine region’, ‘the fattest in Palestine’. The Romans carried its dates and balsam to worldwide trade and fame. All this combined to make Jericho one of the greatest taxation centers in Palestine.…. Zacchaeus was a man who had reached the top of his profession; and he was the most hated man in the district.”
The next moment shocked everyone. Jesus stopped right under the tree and told Zacchaeus he was coming to Zach’s house for dinner. Zacchaeus was shocked, the towns people were shocked, and the disciples were shocked, Jesus eating at the home of this horrible man was beyond anything they could imagine.
The outcome of all of this was more shocking. Zacchaeus repented of his sin, gave half of his fortune to the poor, and restored those who he swindled four times what he had stolen. It would take quite a while to do all of that. Repentance is a powerful thing, I’m sure Zach’s story rocked all of Jericho. Our repentance affects more than us, it literally changes our world.
