A man who went to the doctor’s office for a physical. The nurse asked him his weight and he said, “170 pounds.” She had him step on the scales and she said, “You weigh 200 pounds.” The nurse asked, “How tall are you?” He said, “Six feet.” She measured him and said, “You are actually five feet, nine inches.” She started taking his blood pressure and he said, “How can you expect my blood pressure to be normal? I came in here as a tall, slender guy, and you’ve already made me short and fat!”
Zacchaeus knew that he was not going to be able to see Jesus because everyone else is taller than him. Thankfully, we don't read about his weight. Maybe that was not important at that time. So he decided to come up with a plan: to get ahead of Jesus and climb on a tree.
All of us have been to the doctor because we needed help. We may have started with self-medication - taking pills, resting, drinking water - until the point we say, "It’s time I go to see a doctor." We go with expectation that they would be able to diagnose the cause of the illness and prescribe the right medicine. And if they can’t, we are referred to the specialist. They will run a number of tests to determine your problem. These are times of great anxiety, because we do not know what’s wrong with us, and how it can be solved. Our symptoms are just the appearance of what is wrong. Good doctors do not treat just for the symptoms, but they diagnose and treat the disease that is causing the symptom
The meaning of the name Zacchaeus is “righteous” which did not reflect his job. Tax collectors in Jesus’ time were little more than government sanctioned crooks. In the Gospels they were mentioned together with sinners and prostitutes.
The one thing we all know about Zach is that he was vertically challenged —short. But Jesus knew his problem was different. He was short in front of God. We are all short in stature when we are in front of Jesus. The Bible says, “All have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God” ?(Romans 3:23). "We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way" (Isaiah 53:6). When it comes to God’s standard, all have sinned and fallen short. Today, man searches for God. We try all kinds ways to find God. We thought that by our own efforts we could make it to God. Yet the truth is, God is reaching down towards man. God is revealing Himself to us. The Bible revealed that God came down to this world in the Person of Jesus. "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost." (Luke 19:10).
Zacchaeus was more than just a tax agent; he was a “chief” tax collector. He was in charge of all the agents in the district of Jericho and was able to take a “cut” of commission from those who collected taxes for him. He stood on top of the collection pyramid, stuffing his pockets with shekels before he sent the required taxes to Rome. If Rome charged a 5% tax, Zack may have collected 10% from the people. If he had a company it would be called I.R.S., which stood for “I’m Rich and Short.”
Jericho was a great place to be for Zacchaeus because there were a lot of people coming in and out of the city on their way to Jerusalem for the Passover. Jericho was considered the “tax capital” of Palestine, the center of a vast trade network that extended from Damascus to Egypt. Zacchaeus was in charge of one of the three tax offices in the entire country, and may have had the best job of them all. Not surprisingly, the last part of verse 2 tells us that he was wealthy. His wealth or status did not help him to see Jesus. He knew that he would always find himself short before Jesus.
Zacchaeus was desperate to see Jesus. A rich man like him would not do something silly – like climbing a sycamore tree. It may be that he had heard of Jesus through the acquaintance of another tax collector, Levi also called Matthew, had also been a tax collector prior to becoming a disciple of Jesus (Luke 5:27-31). Perhaps Matthew reaching out to his former circle of friends had told Zacchaeus about Jesus and what a change he had made in his life. Another possibility is that Zacchaeus had found his wealth and lifestyle unsatisfying in the middle of his own people rejecting him as a sinner and a traitor.
It is not uncommon to hear of people who seem to have it all together yet find their lives very unsatisfying. You may be experiencing unease; nothing in your life is satisfying. Perhaps like Zacchaeus you lack peace, you lack wholeness, and you need something more than this life can offer. Third, It is very likely that Zacchaeus was tired of being hated. When people hassled him, he deserved what he got, but it no doubt made him miserable. In short Zacchaeus was tired of living his sad little life.
Zach was rich, but he wasn’t happy. There was something missing in his life. The details of this story reveal he was a desperate man. He was rich and dignified, yet he ran down the road to try to get in position. Desperate people run. Desperation leads people to do silly things. Jesus knows where you are, if you honestly seek him, he will come to you. You don't have to climb a tree. None of your works can get you closer to Jesus.
The tree doesn’t matter either. – what kind of tree you climb on. Methodist, Baptist, Charismatic or whatever, no church or religion can get you closer to God. It is a personal decision between you and God. "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." Jeremiah(29:13)
Zacchaeus received Jesus joyfully. “So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully.”
We have reason to believe that Jesus came to Jericho for the purpose of seeking Zacchaeus. Jesus called him by his name and knew what exactly he was looking for. “Fear not for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are mine.” (Isaiah 43:1).
Zacchaeus gave away half of his possessions to the poor. – He became a small man with a big heart.
Kent Hughes says concerning this verse; “Jesus said over and over that it is useless to talk about loving him and trusting him and having the sweet assurance of forgiveness and the glorious hope of heaven unless it makes a difference in our material attachments. .... Jesus’ repeated emphasis is that though generosity is not the means of redemption, it is an evidence of redemption. In fact, generosity and giving are pillars of discipleship.” [Kent R. Hughes. Luke: That You Might Know the Truth. Vol. 2 (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Books, 1998) p. 226]
It was considered extremely generous to give 20% of your money away he gave 50%! When he made restitution four times he was following the standard required in the Jewish law when a sheep had been stolen, and a man was convicted of the theft at a trial (see Exodus 22:1). If he “confessed” it by himself, without being found out, he was only required to restore what was stolen, and add 20% (see Numbers 5:6-7). Zack’s repentance is obvious in that he was willing to respond as if it had been proved against him in a court of law. He knows that his behavior was of the worst kind and was eager to make things right no matter the cost.
There were a lot of Pharisees and religious leaders around Jesus, but Jesus chose to stay in the house of Zacchaeus. Everyone else looked at him and saw a mean, little sinner. When Jesus looked at him in that tree, he didn’t see a crooked tax collector, He saw a man who was the son of Abraham. God sees you not as you are–but as who you can become.
As I was walking on the streets one day, I noticed something shining in the sidewalk. I noticed a small object lying in the street. Curious, I picked up the object and cleaned off the mud. It was a quarter. The coin was no longer shiny and the edges were nicked and scarred. Yet it was still a dime and still worth 25 cents. I kept the coin as a reminder. The more I looked at it, though, the more I saw the coin as a symbol of our banged-up lives. Often the world sees people as having little value. But God sees things differently. Sin and its consequences can also leave us scarred, short or out of shape. Fortunately, God knows our value. My souvenir quarter is a reminder that God is less concerned with our outward appearances than our intrinsic value. To God, every person is of infinite value.
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