People often had life-changing experiences when they met Jesus. While not everyone responded positively to his ministry, there were many others who left behind their old lives after they met Jesus and chose to follow him. This was especially true of people like Peter and Andrew, who, along with James and John, left behind their fishing businesses to follow Jesus. Then there’s Levi, who left his tax collection booth when Jesus invited him to join his band of disciples, but not before he threw a banquet for Jesus and his friends. Jesus would add seven more members to his inner circle, but there are others who followed him. Luke also mentions the seventy who went out on a mission. Then there were several women who joined his team after they encountered him, including Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna, and others who provided for Jesus through their own resources.
Even if they didn’t join the band, there are many other stories of life-changing encounters. People were healed, and the dead were raised to life. One of the more dramatic encounters took place in the region of the Gerasenes, where Jesus freed a man from the grip of a group of demons who called themselves “Legion.” Luke tells us that this man not only went home in his right mind but returned home with a commission to share the good news with his neighbors about “how much God has done for you” (Luke 8:26-39). Our encounters with Jesus might not be quite as dramatic as this one, but they can also be life-changing.
This morning, our reading from the Gospel of Luke offers us a rather familiar story that we probably learned when we were children in Sunday School. We might have even sung a song about him:
Zacchaeus was a wee little man,
A wee little man was he.
He climbed up in a sycamore tree,
For the Lord he wanted to see.
And as the Savior passed that way,
He looked up in the tree,
And He said, "Zacchaeus, you come down!
For I'm going to your house today,
For I'm going to your house today."
I think this story and the song resonate with children in part because Zacchaeus’ shortness of stature made him more approachable to children. It may also have to do with him climbing a tree, which is something children at least think about doing, even if adults rarely engage in it unless it’s for professional reasons. However, we probably didn’t understand the full implications of the story when we were children.
So, we need to ask why this “wee little man” decided that seeing Jesus was so important that he would climb a tree so he could catch a glimpse of him walking by. After all, it must have seemed rather odd to see an adult man, especially a man of means, climb into the branches of a sycamore tree so he could see this itinerant preacher pass by. Nevertheless, because he risked his reputation and maybe a few bones, his life would change in ways he could never have expected.
While children focus on his shortness of stature, even more important to the story is his wealth. You see, Zacchaeus earned his riches by serving the Roman imperial government as the chief tax collector for the Jericho region. No one likes paying taxes—whether in the first century or today. But first-century Roman tax collectors were even more unpopular because they were seen by their neighbors as Jewish collaborators with an occupying enemy empire. Besides being collaborators with the enemy, they made their money through extortion. The way the tax system worked was a bit different from today. Rome didn’t pay its tax collectors a salary. Instead, they levied a certain amount to be collected, and then the tax collectors took home whatever they could extort from the people beyond the levy. Since the people feared the government, they paid whatever the tax collectors demanded of them. That meant tax collectors like Zacchaeus weren’t very popular with their neighbors. However, they could get rich!
So, why did Zacchaeus seek out Jesus? What did he hope to gain from seeing Jesus? Maybe he went looking for Jesus because he sensed that something was missing from his life that his riches couldn’t fill. Otherwise, why would he put himself in such a humiliating position just to see this itinerant preacher pass by?
As the children’s song reminds us, not only did Zacchaeus see Jesus from his perch in the sycamore tree, but Jesus also saw him. When Jesus spotted him hanging out in that tree, he called out to Zacchaeus, “Come on down so we can go to your house for dinner.”
While normally it’s not polite to invite yourself to dinner at a stranger’s house, when Jesus invites himself over, how do you say no? Of course, not everyone was happy to see Jesus go to Zacchaeus’ house for dinner. Then again, Jesus’ critics often complained that he ate with “sinners and tax collectors.” While he might seem to be a pious religious teacher, you know what they say: “Birds of a feather flock together.” So, maybe Jesus dined with Zacchaeus because, like Zacchaeus, he was also a sinner.
While his critics complained about Jesus’ choice in dinner partners, Zacchaeus was filled with joy. Not only did he see Jesus, but he also got to share a meal with him. Yes, of all the people in Jericho whom Jesus wanted to spend time with, it was this rich but a reviled tax collector, whom Jesus’ critics called a sinner.
Not only did Zacchaeus host Jesus for dinner, but this encounter also changed his life. He told Jesus he was going to give half of his possessions to the poor and pay back the people he defrauded four times the amount. That’s a lot of money to give away!
It’s worth comparing Zacchaeus’ response to Jesus with that of the rich ruler Luke speaks of in chapter 18. This man asked Jesus what he needed to do to achieve eternal life. After the ruler let Jesus know that he had kept the Ten Commandments from childhood, which meant that he, unlike Zacchaeus, was a righteous man, Jesus asked him to do one more thing. While both men were rich, the rich ruler seemed to be more attached to his riches than Zacchaeus was. You see, Jesus asked the rich ruler to sell his possessions and give the proceeds to the poor, and then become his disciple. Unfortunately, Luke tells us that he walked away with deep sadness because he “was very rich.” As he walked away, Jesus told his disciples that it’s easier for a camel to walk through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God. (Luke 18:18-25).
In a world that assumed that wealth was a divine blessing, Jesus’ statement about rich people didn’t make sense. If rich people couldn’t get into the kingdom, who could? Of course, Zacchaeus might have been rich, but he was also a sinner. Nevertheless, due to his encounter with Jesus, Zacchaeus decided to do what the rich ruler chose not to do. Though, like Levi, Zacchaeus first threw a banquet to introduce Jesus to his friends.
After Zacchaeus made his rather radical declaration, Jesus responded by telling him that on that very day, salvation had come to his house. His salvation included being restored to the family of Abraham.
When we read this story, we need to put it into a larger context. When Jesus proclaimed the coming of the kingdom of God, he contrasted two ages. The old age is dominated by oppression and the search for power over others. However, the new age of God’s kingdom is very different because it resists oppression and embraces the power of love and blessing. Before Zacchaeus encountered Jesus, he used his government-backed power to oppress his neighbors. By doing that, he walked away from his heritage as a child of Abraham and Sarah. But when he encountered Jesus, he rediscovered his Abrahamic heritage, which carried a divine promise that the nations would be blessed through the descendants of Abraham and Sarah. While he had lost his way, the Good Shepherd, who is known to leave the ninety-nine to seek and restore the one that is lost, led him back home to the flock so he would once again be numbered among the children of Abraham.
Zacchaeus’ life changed dramatically the day he met Jesus as he passed through Jericho on his way to Jerusalem. Instead of being a slave to his wealth, he began to store up treasure in heaven.
What is interesting about this story is that Jesus didn’t ask Zacchaeus to give away his wealth or even make restitution for defrauding the people of Jericho. Zacchaeus just seemed to know that this was what he needed to do. Perhaps, like the Grinch, his heart grew three times that day as he remembered that he was a child of God. Ron Allen suggests that in this moment Zacchaeus “recovers a fundamental part of his identity which promises to make him more a source of blessing for others, and perhaps, also to feel more blessed in his own life.”
I don’t know if Jesus is expecting us to divest ourselves of our wealth, but this is a good reminder that whatever we have materially should be held lightly and not hoarded so that as children of Abraham by adoption, we can fulfill our calling to be a source of blessing to the nations.
Preached by:
Dr. Robert D. Cornwall
Pulpit Supply
First Presbyterian Church (PCUSA)
Troy, Michigan
Pentecost 21C
November 1, 2025
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