Zacchæus was a politician and a tax gatherer. He had an honest calling,
but the opportunity for “stealings” was so large that the temptation was
too much for him.
The Bible says that Zacchæus was “a sinner”--that is, in the public
sense. How many fine men have been ruined by official position! It is
an awful thing for any man to seek office under government unless his
principles of integrity are deeply fixed. Many a man, upright in an
insignificant position, has made shipwreck in a great one. So far as I
can tell, in the city of Jericho this Zacchæus belonged to what might be
called the “ring.”
They had things their own way, successfully avoiding exposure--if by no
other way, perhaps by hiring somebody to break in and steal the vouchers.
Notwithstanding his bad reputation, there were some streaks of good about
Zacchæus--as there are about almost every man. Gold is found in quartz,
and sometimes in a very small percentage.
Jesus was coming to town. The people all turned out to see Him. Here He
comes--the Lord of Glory--on foot, dust-covered and road-weary, limping
along the way, carrying the griefs and woes of the world. Christ looks to
be sixty years of age, when He is only about thirty.
Zacchæus was a short man, and could not see over the people’s heads while
standing on the ground; so he got up into a sycamore tree that swung its
arm clear over the road.
Jesus advanced amid the wild excitement of the surging crowd. The most
honorable and popular men of the city are looking on, and are trying to
gain His attention. But Jesus, instead of regarding them, looks up at the
little man in the tree, and says:
“Zacchæus, come down. I am going home with you.”
All regretted to see such choice of company.
Zacchæus had mounted the sycamore tree out of mere curiosity. He wanted
to see how this stranger looked--the color of his eyes, the length of his
hair, the contour of his features, the height of his stature.
I see Christ entering the front door of the house of Zacchæus. The King
of Heaven and Earth sits down; and as He looks around on the place and
the family, He pronounces the benediction: “This day is salvation come to
this house.”