He, too, is a child of God.

Zacchaeus was last, but Jesus made him first.
Luke 19:1-10

In 1^st century Judea, few people were considered more worthy of contempt than tax collectors. They were considered traitors to Israel, and often suspected of embezzlement or pilfering. In this text, we are told that Zacchaeus is a chief tax collector and he’s rich.

So, if run-of-the-mill tax collectors were despised, someone like Zacchaeus would get a double dose. He would have been considered about as low as one could get. So, people probably didn’t hide their contempt for Zacchaeus. I am sure they let him know exactly how they felt about him. Also, as the childhood song reminds us, “Zacchaeus was a wee little man.” He was shorter than others. And add to all that, his name. His name “Zacchaeus” means: “righteous one” or “pure one.” I can imagine, that too was a point of ridicule. “Oh look, there goes Zacchaeus, the righteous one, the pure one who pilfers our tax money and helps the Romans.” So, his fellow citizens had a certain perception of Zacchaeus. They prejudged him. And their prejudgment of him affects how they perceive this exchange between Jesus and Zacchaeus. But, first, let’s back up a bit

Where told Jesus, always followed by a crowd, is about to go through Jericho. In the verses right before this passage we’re told that as he was approaching Jericho a blind man, on the outskirts of town, hears Jesus is coming and cries out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me?” And, the crowd turns around and orders the blind man to be quiet. Happily, the blind man ignores the crowd and begins to shout even louder, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!!” And, while also ignoring the crowd, Jesus comes over and restores the blind man’s sight.

Notice that the crowd functions as an obstacle between Jesus and the person who is seeking him. This is a common theme throughout the gospels: very often the crowd stands in the way. And, what does the crowd represent by standing in-between the person and Jesus? The crowd represents the world, distraction, and obstacle. In this case, the blind man overcomes the crowd by ignoring them and shouting even louder. That’s instructive, I think.

Well, this same crowd will also become an obstacle between Zacchaeus and Jesus. He overcomes the crowd by climbing a sycamore tree. He rises above the crowd. He rises above the world, so to speak. So, both the blind man and Zacchaeus have to overcome the crowd to “see.” And so too in our own lives. We, also have to make an intentional effort to “see” Jesus. We are to make a conscious effort to keep our eyes on Jesus. The world is distracting to us, it gets between us and Jesus. We overcome the obstacle of the world by such things as: regular worship, prayer, study, etc. At any rate, this moment when Zacchaeus runs past the crowd that is blocking his view and climbs a tree so he can see Jesus is important.

In this culture it was undignified for a grown man to run. Children run, not men. And yet, Zacchaeus so badly wants to see Jesus that he not only runs ahead of the crowd, he climbs a tree. Think about that for a moment. Children climb trees. I can only imagine how the crowd must have jeered and laughed at the way this little, chief tax collector was acting so immature, so child-like. And yet, this child-like quality of running to see Jesus, this quality goes back to something Jesus said in a previous chapter. Right? Let the children come…

If you remember, people were bringing their children for Jesus to bless (Luke 18:15-17). The disciples begin ordering them to stop. You know, don’t bother the Teacher. And, Jesus says, “Let the little children come to me…do not stop them…Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” And then, here we have Zacchaeus, appearing very child-like. He is small, he is running, and he is climbing trees. But, he’s also childlike in the way he’s so excited to see Jesus. It’s that childlike joy-that childlike abandonment where children just thrust themselves into the joyful thing they are doing, whatever it is.

Zacchaeus has put aside all pretenses of importance. And, to honest, he probably didn’t have to try all that hard to be humble. The crowd already thinks he has no dignity. And so, he no longer cares what the crowd thinks of him, or what they say about him. Which, again, is a child-like quality. One of the wonderful things about children is they could care-less what people think. If they want to sing at the top of their lungs for no reason at all, they’ll do it. If they want to dance or skip instead of boring old walking, they’ll do it and they could care-less what people think. Zacchaeus is childlike in this sense. Nothing is going to keep him from seeing Jesus, even if he has to act like a little child to do it. He doesn’t care what they think. And why should he? They ridicule him. They reject him. Why should he care if they think he is acting like a child?

So that’s our man, Zacchaeus. And, here’s the thing, not only is Zacchaeus running and climbing trees, doing whatever he can to see Jesus; but Jesus is also seeking Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus is the one lost sheep that the Shepherd leaves the ninety-nine to look for (Luke 15:3-7). The text says: When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.” Notice the very strong language that Jesus uses. He doesn’t say, “Hey Zacchaeus, do you think I could stay at your house today?” or “Zacchaeus, do you mind if I stay at your house today?” No, he says, “I must stay at your house.”

Jesus makes Zacchaeus the number one person in the whole crowd. Why? why does Jesus make him number one? Jesus makes him number one, because Zacchaeus is already last. Zacchaeus is an image of what Jesus means when he says the first will be last and the last will be first (Luke 13:30). It’s not that the other people in the crowd don’t matter, they do. But, if they are going to matter, Zacchaeus has to matter. Salvation starts at the bottom and works up, so that it will be obvious God’s offer of grace and love is to everyone.

So, here’s Zacchaeus, a complete reject, despised by his own community. And, probably not for nothing. Has Zacchaeus done things that are contemptible? I think it’s pretty clear that he has. But this passage isn’t so much about a contemptible person who becomes better. It is that, but only because this passage is first about God who goes all the way to the back of the line and picks that one. What happens here is an image of God’s pure, unexpected love and grace. And, when Jesus treats Zacchaeus with the opposite of contempt, when Jesus treats him as the most important one in town, Zacchaeus is transformed. Zacchaeus’s reaction is perfect. He’s overjoyed. And, of course, he is. Joy is always the proper response to being loved, to being treated with value.

The reality is this: Zacchaeus has been seeking Jesus ever since Jesus came into Jericho. But Jesus, on the other hand, has always been seeking Zacchaeus. As Jesus says in this passage: The Son of Man came to seek out and save the lost. And what happens? Without any prompting from Jesus, Zacchaeus is so overjoyed with the love and grace he is receiving that he joyfully proclaims, “Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.”

Zacchaeus has found that Pearl of Great Price (Matt. 13:45-46). Or better, the Pearl of Great Price has found Zacchaeus. That Pearl of Great Price has come to his house, and so in response Zacchaeus is willing to do whatever. He doesn’t care what people think, he doesn’t care about the world and its distractions, he doesn’t care about possessions. Jesus coming to him, transforms him. Jesus says, “Today salvation has come to this house.” What’s salvation came to his house? Jesus, this revelation of God come to earth, came to his house. Jesus comes and Zacchaeus is transformed.

Finally, notice how the crowd reacts. When Jesus shows love and grace to Zacchaeus, the crowd begins to scoff and sneer, “Look, there goes Jesus again, spending time with sinners.” In their minds, they are the children of Abraham, not Zacchaeus. They belong. He doesn’t. They deserve to be treated with dignity and grace, not Zacchaeus. But what they don’t understand, is that they don’t get to decide who is deserving and who isn’t. God decides that. It is God who humbles the exalted and exalts the humble (Luke 18:14). Who is more humbled than Zacchaeus: rejected, despised, and hated? Who has humbled themselves more than Zacchaeus to see Jesus: running and climbing trees all child-like? Zacchaeus is humble and Jesus lifts him up. Jesus tells the crowd, “He too is a son of Abraham.” Zacchaeus is also a descendant of the faithful one, Abraham. Zacchaeus is also a child of God.