An Exegesis of Luke 19:1-10
Jesus predicted His death when He was at Capernaum. From there, He travelled southward and ministered to men of Judea. But instead of entering Jerusalem, where He was supposed to suffer the greatest evil of His time, He travelled for Jericho, skipping Jerusalem. There was one reason, Luke 19:5 says “And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for today I must abide at thy house.” It was a must that He should enter and stay at Zaccheus’ house.
Who is Zaccheus? Verse 2 speaks “And, behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich.” Zaccheus wasn’t just a tax collector like Levi, or Matthew. He was “The overseer and head of the publicans who were there together: for the publicans were divided into companies, as we may gather from many places in the orations of Cicero.” (Geneva Commentaries) During the first earthly incarnation of Jesus, the tax collectors were considered sinners, cheaters and people who took advantage of the subjects of Rome. Zaccheus, nonetheless, was a chief tax collector. He was the “commissioner of customs’. Jericho commanded the trade between the two sides of Jordan.[1] “ (The Gospel according to Saint Luke, Libronix) Therefore, it is safe to say that the Jews hated him and hailed him as a chief sinner.
As Jesus’ fame flied over the land of Israel, and perhaps the entire Roman empire, Zaccheus may have heard about Him. So when it was heard that He was travelling for Jericho, Zaccheus wanted to see Him. Luke 18:43 says that “And immediately he received his sight, and followed him, glorifying God: and all the people, when they saw it, gave praise unto God.” It is possible that Zaccheus may have heard that Jesus was coming to Jericho because of the healing of Bartimaeus as all the people who witnessed it may have talked about it or he probably heard about his arrival at Luke 19:1, “And Jesus entered and passed through Jericho”.
“And he(Zaccheus) sought to see Jesus who he was; and could not for the press, because he was little of stature”, Luke 19:3. He went his way to see Jesus, but his shortness wouldn’t allow him to. So “And he ran before, and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him: for he was to pass that way.”, verse 4. “To see Jesus”, he thought, “I must make ways.” “I must overcome my shortness and try everything to see Him.” So he climbed the sycamore tree to see Him. But to his shock, he just didn’t see Jesus. Verse 5 says “And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for today I must abide at thy house.” Jesus called him by His name and even intended to pay his house a visit. Therefore, there was a mutual intent, Jesus to see Zaccheus and Zaccheus to see Jesus. Though the sycamore tree and his shortness were necessary, they were both means for Zaccheus to be found by the Finder, Jesus. If we would take a closer look, Verse 5 says that “And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him”. This simply implies that Jesus knew where Zaccheus would be. Dr. John Gill explains this better by saying that “Where the tree stood, in which Zacchaeus was. Christ knows where his people are, and where to find them, where they commonly dwell, or where at any time they are, he being God omniscient: besides, the bounds of their habitations are fixed by the determination and appointment of God, and were foreknown by Christ, who, before the world began, was "rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth", where he knew his saints would dwell, who are "the sons of men", with whom his delights were; and he knows where they are, when the time is come to call them: he knew Zacchaeus was in the sycamore tree, as he saw Nathanael under the fig tree, before Philip called him”
“And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully.” Luke 19:6. Zaccheus found his pearl of great price (Matthew 13:45), his hidden treasure (Matthew 13:44). He literally came to his chief and highest end, which is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. He received Jesus into his house joyfully. So joyful that even “they all murmured, saying, That he was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner.” He “but this one thing he (Zaccheus) did, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before”(Philippians 3:13) and “stood, and said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken anything from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.” Verse 8 speaks of Zaccheus as joyfully moved by the awesome call of the Lord to him. Jesus called him, with intent of eating with him and placing him as an important person to visit before His death. Zaccheus was moved to repent. He did it “not to make satisfaction for the sins he had committed, but to testify his sense of them, and his repentance for them, and as willing to do good with what he had gotten; which shows, that the disposition of his mind was altered, and of a covetous oppressor, he was become tender, kind, and liberal.” (John Gill). And more than that, he promised to give more what the law required. Leviticus 6:5 speaks only to return the principal and a fifth part of it but Zaccheus overdid it, not to impress Jesus but to make sense of the change of mind that he had.
“Today salvation has come to this home, because this man is also a descendant of Abraham”, Jesus declared at Luke 19:9. Salvation came not because Zaccheus gave away his wealth but because he was found. Salvation came because he was a “Beloved of God, one that walks in the steps of Abraham's faith: and we gather that salvation came to that house because they received the blessing as Abraham had” (Geneva Commentaries). Zaccheus was converted because “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost” and he was the one the Son of man looked for at Jericho, and he was found.
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