Day 89

Luke 19:1–10 (NIV)

¹ Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. ² A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. ³ He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd. ⁴ So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way. ⁵

When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” ⁶ So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. ⁷ All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a ‘sinner.’ ” ⁸ But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” ⁹ Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. ¹⁰ For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”

Pray for God to show you something to use from the passage

Read the Passage

Who is in the passage?

What action verbs do you see?

What other words stick out in your mind

Questions

Are you willing to look foolish to be closer to God?

How does the rich ruler in 18:18 compare to Zacchaeus? Why does Jesus accept Zacchaeus and not the rich ruler?

Is there anyone you have wronged that you need to ask forgiveness of?

Notes

Jesus uses this event to fulfill what he said was possible in 18:23-27. That a rich man can come to God. The contrast between Zacchaeus and the rich ruler in Chap 18 is striking. The rich man considers himself a keeper of the commandments. Zacchaeus is called a sinner because he is a tax collector. The rich man decides he cannot part with his money and Zacchaeus has a desire to do so.

vs 2 Remember how hated tax collectors were by the Jews and for good reason see Day 74 as for why. He had made is wealth cheating the people by skimming off extra taxes.

vs 3-4 How much Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus is clear. For wealthy adult man to climb a tree would be unheard of. Notice Zacchaeus doesn't keep is circumstance (his height and social standing) or others (the crowd both by its size and by its temperament vs 7) from seeing Jesus. It is his purpose no matter what. We aren't told why exactly but it is clear from Zacchaeus' reaction in the story that he wants something to change in his life.

vs 5 - how did Jesus know Zacchaeus' name?

· Could have been told it by the crowd, Zacchaeus in the tree would have been noticed by them and talked about.

· Matthew may have known him

· Could be a spiritual knowledge not unlike John 1:47-48

5-7 However Jesus knew his name Jesus surprises everyone by stating he wanted to stay the night at Zach's house. Jesus had eaten with sinners (5:30-32) and gotten in trouble for it. He had allowed a prostitute to honor him (7:36-48). Now Jesus was inviting Himself to a sinner's house to spend the night. That was just not done by a religious person! This time it is interesting that it is not the Pharisees but the whole crowd who mutter against Jesus. Is this a foreshadowing that everyone will turn against Him?

vs 8 It is irrelevant what the crowd thinks. Jesus doesn't take a poll to see what would make Him popular. He looks at the individual, regardless of how sinful and gives them the chance to repent. By Zach's actions of gladly welcoming Jesus in vs 6 and now getting rid of what he has done wrong Zach makes a statement of belief in Jesus. What the rich ruler couldn't do Zach can!

20% was what someone who was generous would give. To do 50% shows a change that would be impossible to believe. Plus Zach seeks to correct the wrong he has done by going to the highest penalty that one would pay if caught cheating someone. The "if "statement in this section is not a matter of maybe I have; rather it means I will repay those I have cheated.

vs 9-10 - Jesus brings to reality what He had told in parables in Chapter 15. His mission is to find the lost sheep, no matter how lost. While Zach was looked down on by everyone he still was one of God's people who deserved the opportunity of forgiveness.

Once again true faith is shown not by outside actions but rather internal motives. Zach's reaction to Jesus was not just to clean the outside of the cup but also the inside. (11:39-41)