Zacchaeus was a publican, which was worse than being called a sinner because he collected taxes on Rome's behalf and swindled all he could manage. But one day he heard that Jesus was coming to Jericho and he was curious enough to climb a sycamore-fig tree to see him, seeing he was short in stature. Jesus surprised him and invited himself over to his house for dinner. Jesus convicted him of his shortcomings and failures as a fallen sinner and he showed genuine repentance by giving restitution and owning up to his cheating, in addition to just confessing it. Zacchaeus wanted to come clean and from what he did, it sounded like he did more than eat his humble pie. He wasn't just seeking fire insurance, but a relationship with Jesus; then he was good to go! He sold out lock, stock, and barrel to Jesus and became a new person. Note that Jesus was not afraid to get down and dirty with the scum of the earth and the most despised. He didn't condone their sin, but welcomed sinners and even ate with them; this infuriated the Pharisees and Jewish hierarchy.
[Repentance is doing a 180-degree turn, an about-face, or a U-turn-- radical turning from sin to God. It means you have stopped trying to save yourself and are willing to trust and obey Jesus as Lord and Savior. Luke 3:8 says that we must bring forth the fruits of repentance. We must turn from dead works to serve the living God. We must not only repudiate and renounce sin but all our sins-- and decide to follow Jesus in obedience to the faith, in the act of abiding in Christ and His Word. It is more than a change of opinion, but a whole change of heart, mind, and will. We must be convicted of our sins, feel sorrow or regret for them, and be willing to turn from them and follow Christ as His disciple.]
There is no saving faith without genuine repentance because they go hand in hand and one is the flip side of the other: one could use the terminology penitent faith or believing repentance. Nevertheless, Zacchaeus' change of heart was real and he knew it. He had changed his way of thinking and was willing to assume all the responsibilities for his errant ways--there is a cost to discipleship: ironically there are the twin truths that salvation is free, but it costs everything, because Christ wants us to surrender to His will--it is no longer a yoke of the Law, but the yoke of Christ's will. I suggest that he had a vacuum in his heart that Jesus filled and he recognized the Savior. He had already come to the conclusion that riches don't satisfy the longings of the soul and one cannot buy happiness or love.
This is an example of how Christ, the Good Shepherd, finds us and brings us to the fold when we are lost; but we must realize we are lost first. He came not to call the righteous (those who think they are okay), but the sinner (who knows he needs God and cannot save himself or has literally given up). What did Jesus save him from? From a life of sin and purposelessness, of pleasing and living for self, and empty meaningless existence. In short, he saved him from his sin (that's why His name is Jesus) and only He has the power to set us free from our sin nature; our sinning doesn't demonstrate our freedom, but proves our slavery!
Being saved doesn't mean we have the freedom to live in the flesh just because we know we are saved, but the power to live in the Spirit. Zacchaeus didn't have to clean up his act or turn over a new leaf to get saved, he got saved first and God changed his from the inside out. God wants us to obey Him out of love and gratitude (he who is forgiven much loves much), not out of slavish fear. Love is the strongest power in the universe and God is love and when we know God we learn to love our enemy, our neighbor, and our brother. You could fulfill the demands of a law, but not of love. Zacchaeus got more than he bargained for, he was just looking for acceptance and answers and found love; no one is looking for God according to Romans 3:11, but the search for God begins at salvation--he finds us, we don't find Him! Pascal said that he would not have found God, had He not first found him.
The lesson of Jesus reaching out to this publican is that no one is too bad a sinner to be saved--we are bad, but not too bad for salvation. We are not to look down on "sinners" because George Whitefield said it well: "There, but for the grace of God, go I," when asked about a condemned man going to the gallows. Zacchaeus was informed and deformed by sin, but meeting Christ transformed him. Once is never the same after meeting Christ--there is no neutral ground; one must decide to be for or against him. The Scripture is right in saying that we must "repent and bring forth the fruits of repentance." We must demonstrate our new faith and if we don't share it we will lose it--we cannot be a secret disciple, but must be willing to confess Him before men openly and without shame. Soli Deo Gloria!
[Repentance is doing a 180-degree turn, an about-face, or a U-turn-- radical turning from sin to God. It means you have stopped trying to save yourself and are willing to trust and obey Jesus as Lord and Savior. Luke 3:8 says that we must bring forth the fruits of repentance. We must turn from dead works to serve the living God. We must not only repudiate and renounce sin but all our sins-- and decide to follow Jesus in obedience to the faith, in the act of abiding in Christ and His Word. It is more than a change of opinion, but a whole change of heart, mind, and will. We must be convicted of our sins, feel sorrow or regret for them, and be willing to turn from them and follow Christ as His disciple.]
There is no saving faith without genuine repentance because they go hand in hand and one is the flip side of the other: one could use the terminology penitent faith or believing repentance. Nevertheless, Zacchaeus' change of heart was real and he knew it. He had changed his way of thinking and was willing to assume all the responsibilities for his errant ways--there is a cost to discipleship: ironically there are the twin truths that salvation is free, but it costs everything, because Christ wants us to surrender to His will--it is no longer a yoke of the Law, but the yoke of Christ's will. I suggest that he had a vacuum in his heart that Jesus filled and he recognized the Savior. He had already come to the conclusion that riches don't satisfy the longings of the soul and one cannot buy happiness or love.
This is an example of how Christ, the Good Shepherd, finds us and brings us to the fold when we are lost; but we must realize we are lost first. He came not to call the righteous (those who think they are okay), but the sinner (who knows he needs God and cannot save himself or has literally given up). What did Jesus save him from? From a life of sin and purposelessness, of pleasing and living for self, and empty meaningless existence. In short, he saved him from his sin (that's why His name is Jesus) and only He has the power to set us free from our sin nature; our sinning doesn't demonstrate our freedom, but proves our slavery!
Being saved doesn't mean we have the freedom to live in the flesh just because we know we are saved, but the power to live in the Spirit. Zacchaeus didn't have to clean up his act or turn over a new leaf to get saved, he got saved first and God changed his from the inside out. God wants us to obey Him out of love and gratitude (he who is forgiven much loves much), not out of slavish fear. Love is the strongest power in the universe and God is love and when we know God we learn to love our enemy, our neighbor, and our brother. You could fulfill the demands of a law, but not of love. Zacchaeus got more than he bargained for, he was just looking for acceptance and answers and found love; no one is looking for God according to Romans 3:11, but the search for God begins at salvation--he finds us, we don't find Him! Pascal said that he would not have found God, had He not first found him.
The lesson of Jesus reaching out to this publican is that no one is too bad a sinner to be saved--we are bad, but not too bad for salvation. We are not to look down on "sinners" because George Whitefield said it well: "There, but for the grace of God, go I," when asked about a condemned man going to the gallows. Zacchaeus was informed and deformed by sin, but meeting Christ transformed him. Once is never the same after meeting Christ--there is no neutral ground; one must decide to be for or against him. The Scripture is right in saying that we must "repent and bring forth the fruits of repentance." We must demonstrate our new faith and if we don't share it we will lose it--we cannot be a secret disciple, but must be willing to confess Him before men openly and without shame. Soli Deo Gloria!