Gospels · NT
Zacchaeus
The chief tax collector of Jericho who climbed a sycamore tree to see Jesus and came down a changed man.
Zacchaeus was the chief tax collector of Jericho and a rich man — a combination that made him doubly hated by his fellow Jews, regarded as both a traitor to his nation and a profiteer from her oppression. When he heard that Jesus was passing through, he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree, because he was 'small of stature' and the crowd would not let him through.
Jesus stopped beneath the tree, looked up, and called him by name: 'Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.' The crowd grumbled that Jesus had gone to be the guest of a sinner. Zacchaeus stood and made one of the most generous confessions in the gospels: 'Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.'
Jesus' verdict — 'Today salvation has come to this house' — is one of the clearest illustrations of the gospel he summarized in the next sentence: 'The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.'
Key moments
Climbed the sycamore tree
Determined to see Jesus despite his height and his shame.
Welcomed Jesus into his home
An act of public scandal that became public salvation.
Gave half his wealth to the poor
And restored fourfold whatever he had cheated — the legal maximum.
Key verses
"And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and said unto him, Zacchæus, make haste, and come down; for to-day I must abide at thy house."
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"And Zacchæus stood, and said unto the Lord, Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have wrongfully exacted aught of any man, I restore fourfold."
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"And Jesus said unto him, To-day is salvation come to this house, forasmuch as he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of man came to seek and to save that which was lost."
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Frequently asked
Why was Zacchaeus called a 'sinner'?
Tax collectors worked for Rome and were notorious for adding extortionate surcharges. As a chief tax collector, Zacchaeus oversaw others doing the same. To religious Jews he was ritually unclean and morally compromised — exactly the kind of person Jesus was repeatedly criticized for befriending.