You Don't Have to Be Good Enough for God to Want You

Luke 19 takes the cute flannelgraph picture of Zacchaeus and makes it a lot harder to laugh at. Zacchaeus is not just a “wee little man.” Zacchaeus is the worst guy in town. Jericho would have known him as the rich collaborator, the chief tax collector, the local man who saw Roman oppression and said, “You know what I see here? An opportunity.”

Rome had beaten Israel down, put soldiers in the streets, and made ordinary people live under another government’s boot. Tax collectors were worse than the Romans because they were neighbors who sold out their own people. Zacchaeus did not just collect what was fair. Zacchaeus bought the right to squeeze the people and keep whatever he could take above the contract price. The crowd hated him, and, honestly, they had reasons.

Zacchaeus still wants to see Jesus. The crowd will not let him through. The richest, most powerful, most hated man in town has to run ahead and climb a tree like a child just to catch a glimpse. That tree shows that something has been going on inside him. The man everybody else has written off is desperate enough to look foolish.

Jesus stops under that tree. Jesus looks up. Jesus calls him by name. Jesus says, “Hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” The crowd grumbles because Jesus is going to the sinner’s house. Zacchaeus receives him with joy because the rabbi who should want nothing to do with him has chosen him.

Zacchaeus’ response is not shallow. He calls Jesus “Lord,” gives half his goods to the poor, and promises fourfold repayment to anyone he defrauded. That promise does not buy salvation. That promise shows what has happened in his heart. The guilty man knows who he is, knows what he has done, and sees in Jesus the only one who can rescue him.

Jesus says salvation has come to that house. Salvation means rescue from sin, guilt, judgment, death, and hell. No amount of good can undo rebellion against God. The sweetest person with the best cornbread still stands guilty if judged by actions. But Jesus makes a way for the guilty to be judged by faith in him.

The Son of Man came to seek and save the lost. The crowd is just as lost as Zacchaeus, but Zacchaeus knows it. The danger is not only being awful. The danger is thinking that being better than the worst person is enough. Jesus calls sinners out of trees, and Jesus warns the grumbling crowd that comparison can keep a soul from grace.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Zacchaeus was the worst guy
  Zacchaeus was not a harmless children’s song character. Zacchaeus was a rich collaborator who made money by squeezing his own people under Roman occupation. The weight of the story only lands when his sin is felt as betrayal, theft, and cruelty with a face and an address. [09:14]
• 2. The tree showed desperate hunger
  The tree was not a cute detail. The tree was the place where a powerful man became small, foolish, and childlike because seeing Jesus mattered more than keeping dignity. Hidden guilt can push a person toward strange mercy before that person even understands what is happening. [13:57]
• 3. Jesus called him by name
  Jesus did not wait for Zacchaeus to clean himself up, explain himself, or earn a place in the crowd. Jesus stopped, looked up, named him, and brought fellowship into the house everybody else despised. Grace became offensive because it moved toward the person respectable people had already condemned. [16:12]
• 4. Repentance reached his wallet
  Zacchaeus’ promise did not purchase salvation, but it did expose a changed heart. Repentance did not stay vague, private, or emotional. The man who had stolen with his hands now opened those same hands toward the poor and the defrauded. [21:56]
• 5. Comparison can hide lostness
  The crowd could look at Zacchaeus and feel safe because almost anybody looked better beside him. Jesus’ words expose that kind of safety as dangerous. The lost person who knows guilt is nearer to rescue than the moral person who uses another sinner as a measuring stick.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [01:31] - Zacchaeus, the Worst Guy in Town
• [03:17] - Life Under Roman Occupation
• [05:14] - Why Collaborators Were Hated
• [09:14] - A Chief Tax Collector and Rich
• [10:31] - Zacchaeus Wants to See Jesus
• [12:00] - The Rich Man Climbs a Tree
• [16:12] - Jesus Stops and Calls His Name
• [19:31] - The Crowd Grumbles at Grace
• [21:18] - Zacchaeus Responds with Repentance
• [24:51] - What Salvation Really Means
• [29:19] - The Son of Man Seeks the Lost
• [32:19] - Are You Zacchaeus?
• [34:52] - Are You the Crowd?
• [38:01] - Judgment, Faith, and Rescue

Bible Reading

Luke 19:1-10
“He entered Jericho and was passing through. And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small in stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, 'Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.' So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all grumbled, 'He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.' And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, 'Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.' And Jesus said to him, 'Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.'” [10:10]

John 3:16
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” [26:53]

Romans 3:23
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

Ephesians 2:8-9
“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

Observation questions

1. In Luke 19:1-10, what details show that Zacchaeus was not just wealthy, but deeply unpopular and shut out by the crowd? [10:46]
2. What actions did Zacchaeus take before Jesus ever spoke to him, and what do those actions show on the surface about how badly he wanted to see Jesus? [13:57]
3. What exactly did Jesus say to Zacchaeus in the tree, and how did Zacchaeus and the crowd respond differently? [19:31]
4. What specific promises did Zacchaeus make after Jesus called him, and who would be affected by those promises? [21:56]

Interpretation questions

1. Jesus called Zacchaeus by name and chose to stay at his house before Zacchaeus offered to repay anyone. What does that suggest about how grace moves toward sinners? [16:25]
2. Zacchaeus promised to give half his goods to the poor and restore fourfold to anyone he defrauded. Why does that sound more like evidence of repentance than a way of purchasing salvation? [29:01]
3. Jesus said, “The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” In this story, how were both Zacchaeus and the crowd lost in different ways? [30:21]
4. Romans 3:23 says all have sinned, and Ephesians 2:8-9 says salvation is by grace through faith. How do those verses help explain why being “better than Zacchaeus” would still not be enough? [38:19]

Application questions

1. Zacchaeus was willing to look foolish just to get near Jesus. What might “climbing a tree” look like in real life for someone who knows they need Christ but keeps hanging back out of shame or fear? [33:03]
2. Some people feel more like Zacchaeus than the crowd. Where is there a temptation to think, “Jesus may let me look from a distance, but he would never really want me”? How does this passage push against that? [34:34]
3. Repentance reached Zacchaeus’ wallet and his relationships. If there is a place where sin has done real damage, what would honest repentance look like there instead of vague regret? [22:29]
4. The crowd was sure they were better than Zacchaeus. When is comparison most tempting—at work, in family life, online, or even at church? How can that kind of comparison hide a person’s need for mercy? [35:33]
5. Jesus did not ignore Zacchaeus’ sin, but he did move toward him with grace. Is there a difficult person who is usually viewed only with disgust or anger? What would it look like to want that person rescued instead of merely judged? [36:50]
6. Salvation means rescue from sin, guilt, judgment, death, and hell. When a person thinks about standing before God, what is he or she trusting in most right now: personal decency, comparison with others, or faith in Jesus? [26:47]
7. Jesus came to seek and save the lost. Which danger feels more real right now: feeling too sinful to come to Jesus, or feeling too decent to need him? [37:29]