'And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up, and saw
him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, and come
down; for to-day I must abide at thy house.'
--LUKE xix. 5.
It is characteristic of Luke that only he tells the story
of Zacchaeus. He always dwells with special interest on incidents
bringing out the character of Christ as the Friend of outcasts. His
is eminently the Gospel of forgiveness. For example, we owe to Him
the three supreme parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the
prodigal son, as well as those of the Pharisee and the publican
praying in the Temple; and of the good Samaritan. It is he that
tells us that all the publicans and sinners came near to Jesus to
hear Him; and he loses no opportunity of enforcing the lesson with
which this incident closes, 'The Son of Man is come to seek and to
save that which was lost.' It is because of the light that it throws
upon that great thought that he tells this fascinating story of
Zacchaeus. I need not repeat it. We all remember it, and the
quaintness and grotesqueness of part of it fix it in people's
memories. We know how the rich tax gatherer, pocketing his dignity,
and unable to see over the heads of the crowd, scrambled up into the
branches of the sycamore tree that overhung the road; and there was
found by the eye of love, and surprised by the words of kindness,
which melted him down, and made a new man of him on the spot. The
story seems to me to be full of teaching, to which I desire to turn
your attention at this time.
I. First, note the outcast, drawn by imperfect motives to Jesus
Christ.
It has been supposed that this man was a Gentile, but his Jewish
name establishes his origin. And, if so, the fact that he was a
publican and a Jew says a good deal about his character. There are
some trades which condemn, to a certain extent, the men who engage
in them. You would not expect to find a man of sensitive honour
acting as a professional spy; or one of earnest religious character
keeping a public-house. You would not expect to find a very good Jew
condescending to be the tool of the Roman Government. Zacchaeus was
at the head of the revenue office in Jericho, a position of
considerable importance, inasmuch as there was a large volume of
trade through that city from its situation near the fords of the
Jordan, and from the fertility of the plain in which it stood. He
had made some money, and probably made it by very questionable
means. He was the object, not undeservedly, of the execration and
suspicion of his countrymen. Italians did not love Italians who took
service under Austria. Irishmen did not love Irishmen who in the bad
old days used to collect church cess. And so Jews had no very kind
feeling towards Jews who became Caesar's servants. That a man should
be in such a position indicated that he cared more for money than
for patriotism, religion, or popular approval. His motto was the
motto of that Roman Emperor who said, 'Money has no smell,' out of
whatever cesspool it may have been fished up. But the consciousness
of being encompassed by universal hatred would induce the object of
it to put on an extra turn of the screw, and avenge upon individuals
the general hostility. So we may take it for granted that Zacchaeus,
the head of the Jericho custom-house, and rich to boot, was by no
means a desirable character.
What made him want to see Jesus Christ? He said to himself, curiosity;
but probably he was doing himself injustice, and there was something
else working below than merely the wish to see what sort of man was
this Rabbi Joshua from Galilee that everybody was talking about. Had
he heard that Jesus had a soft place in His heart for his class? Or
was he, perhaps, beginning to get tired of being the butt of universal
hatred, and finding that money scarcely compensated for that? Or was
there some reaching out towards some undefined good, and a
dissatisfaction with a very defined present, though unnamed, evil?
Probably so. Like some of us, he put the trivial motive uppermost
because he was half ashamed of the half-conscious better one.
I wonder if there are any here now who said to themselves that they
would come out of curiosity to hear the preacher, or from some such
ordinary motive, and who all the while have, lying deep below that,
another reason altogether, a dim feeling that it is not all right
between them and God, and that here may be the place to have it put
right? At all events, from whatsoever imperfect motives little
Zacchaeus was perched up in the sycamore there, he went to
see Christ, and he got more than he went for. Unconsciously we may
be drawn, and imperfect motives may lead us to a perfect Saviour.
He sets us an example in another way. Do not be too punctilious
about dignity in pursuing aims that you know to be good. It would be
a sight to bring jeers and grins on the faces of the crowd to see
the rich man of the custom-house sitting up amongst the leaves. But
he did not mind about that if he got a good look at the Rabbi when
He passed. People care nothing for ridicule if their hearts are set
upon a thing. I wish there were more of us who did not mind being
laughed at if only what we did helped us to see Jesus Christ. Do not
be afraid of ridicule. It is not a test of truth; in nine cases out
of ten it is the grimace of fools.