When Zacchaeus met Jesus, he was restored and found a new life. As the chief tax collector in Jericho, he appeared to have it all, yet he may have felt empty inside. When he heard Jesus was passing by, he climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see Him. A spark of hope probably ignited as Jesus called to him, saying, “Come down quickly, I must stay at your house today.”
The Holy Spirit had already been at work in Zacchaeus, and now Jesus planned to visit his home. Zacchaeus walked away with Jesus joyfully despite the crowd’s grumbling. While Jesus aims to restore people and lead them to salvation, the crowd was upset about showing compassion to a well-known sinner. In many ways, all of us are like Zacchaeus. Without the intervention of our Savior, we are lost.
Restoration Changes Us
The restoration of Zacchaeus was evident when his view of his material possessions changed. Luke 19:8 Meanwhile, Zacchaeus stood before the Lord and said, “I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have cheated people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!” [1]
Zacchaeus’ heart changed, and it positively affected the people he had unfairly taxed. Our lives are like ripples in a pond because they’re connected to so many others, like a giant web. This text doesn’t say whether Zacchaeus continued to be a tax collector. If he did, he would have had the opportunity to share with others the grace of God that he received and how it changed his life.
The Gift of Salvation
The greatest gift Zacchaeus received that day was salvation. Luke 19:9 Jesus responded, “Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.” [2] By surrendering his will to the work of the Holy Spirit, Zacchaeus’s life would now be completely different. Instead of building his life on the riches of this world, he was building it on the riches of Christ. This is where Zacchaeus’s life is an example for people throughout the ages.
Without Jesus in our lives, we are empty, but it need not end that way. Philippians 3:9Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ 9 and become one with him.[3]
We need to be like Zacchaeus and lay down what we once treasured and receive the gift Christ freely offers. It is then that we discover a salvation that restores our purpose and fills our emptiness with eternal hope. The same Savior who sought and found him still seeks us today. Jesus is ready to transform every surrendered heart with the incomparable riches of His grace.
To learn more about being restored and found by Jesus, listen here:
https://podpoint.com/light-of-christ-church-podcast/called-to-wholeness-through-faith
[1-3] Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation . Tyndale House Publishers.