And Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. And, behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich. And he sought to see Jesus who he was; and could not for the press, because he was little of stature. And he ran before, and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him: for he was to pass that way. 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. And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, That he was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner. And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold. And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
—LUKE 19:1-10When reading Scripture we can often pass over some very important details that the Gospels’ writers have included for us. In light of this particular passage, I want to set up the story of Zacchaeus for a few moments by following Jesus as He makes His way to Jericho. In Luke 18:18, we find Jesus interacting with a “certain ruler” who asked Jesus a question: “Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” Here is a seemingly righteous man asking Jesus a very important question. Jesus engages him by speaking about the law that he was obviously very familiar with, because he answers, “All these things have I kept from my youth up.” But when it came to selling everything and following Jesus, giving up the god he served, the ruler could not. Jesus responds with amazement, “How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” Jesus’ listeners are puzzled: “Who then can be saved?” If this man, who kept the law, cannot enter…. And then Jesus replies, “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.”
Luke introduced this theme of impossibility previously in Luke 1, where the angel announces to Mary that she will give birth to Jesus. Mary asks, “How can these things be?” The angel replies, “For with God nothing shall be impossible.” That is the theme that surrounds Jesus’ ministry to the lost. The lost cannot save themselves, but with God nothing shall be impossible—not the conception of Jesus by the Holy Spirit, not the virgin birth, not the birth of Jesus, and not the salvation of sinners. And now, as Jesus comes near to Jericho, we find Him healing a blind man who cried out for mercy. The impossible is made possible.
But in chapter 19, verse 1, we read that Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. Suspense hangs thickly in the air. What will Jesus do now? Verse 2 introduces us to Zacchaeus: “And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich.” In the space of thirty verses, we are introduced to two rich men and Jesus’ teaching about the rich entering into the kingdom of heaven. Jesus’ interaction with the rich young ruler demonstrates the impossibility of entering into the kingdom of God because of his attachment to his riches. But now Jesus passes through Jericho and he finds another rich man, Zacchaeus. Will the impossible be made possible?
This message will look at the utter impossibility of salvation from Zacchaeus’s standpoint and then at how salvation is made possible from Jesus’ side.
Impossible With Zacchaeus
Imagine for a moment the eye of a needle. It’s a tiny, tiny hole, measuring millimeters. Now imagine a camel. It’s a huge animal; a grown camel is up to seven feet tall at the hump. Now Jesus says that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of that needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. Why does Jesus speak that way? Because He wants us to understand the utter impossibility of entering into the kingdom of God if we worship anything besides Him. It’s not just the rich, though they are vulnerable to particular temptation in having money as their god. This is evidenced by this rich, young ruler, but in our fallen state it is impossible for anyone to fit into the narrow entrance into the kingdom (Matt. 7:14). And that is how we meet Zacchaeus—standing outside the kingdom in all his impossibilities.
From his perspective and from what Jesus has just said about camels and rich men, it is impossible for Zacchaeus to enter into the kingdom of God. Everything is against him.
Zacchaeus’s station is against him. Read in verse 2a, “And, behold there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans.” The irony of the man’s name is not lost. His name actually means “righteous,” and he was the chief tax collector. How can these two things go together? Tax collectors were despised in Israel. They were Jews, but they collected taxes for the Romans—and to add insult to injury, they made money off the backs of their fellow Jews by asking for more tax money than was necessary and keeping the excess for themselves. This extortion did not gain the publicans any favor with their fellow Jews; they were despised. And now we read that Zacchaeus is a chief tax collector. No doubt, he would have made even more money than a regular tax collector. He was the chief, so he could make money not only off the people he collected taxes from, but also from the tax collectors under his authority. Thus he was despised even more by his fellow Jews. He was written off by the Pharisees as irredeemable. It is impossible for Zacchaeus to be saved.
Zacchaeus’s substance is against him. In verse 2b, we read, “And he was rich.” He had amassed a considerable fortune because of his dishonest collecting of taxes. Remember now Jesus’ words regarding rich men entering into the kingdom of God, “How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” He had set his heart on his riches, which proves a great hindrance to entering the kingdom of God. It is impossible for Zacchaeus to be saved.
Zacchaeus’s stature is against him. He wants to see Jesus, but he cannot because he’s too short. “And he sought to see Jesus who he was; and could not for the press, because he was little of stature. And he ran before, and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him; for he [Jesus] was to pass that way” (vv. 3-4). There is curiosity in Zacchaeus’s mind. “I wonder who Jesus is? I’ve heard of Him before, but I want to see Him. I can’t, because I can’t see above the people, I’m too short.” This drives him to climb the tree in order to see who Jesus was. He is physically limited from seeing Jesus. It is impossible for Zacchaeus to be saved.
Zacchaeus’s spectators are against him. When Jesus addressed Zacchaeus and told him He was going to stay at Zacchaeus’s house, the spectators began to grumble. “And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, That he was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner” (v. 7). They all murmured. The same word is used when the publicans and sinners came to hear Jesus in Luke 15, where He speaks to them the parables of the missing sheep, coin, and the prodigal son. The Pharisees murmured then and they murmur now. A rumble of discontentment ripples through the crowd as they witness Jesus and Zacchaeus entering into the tax collector’s home. The Pharisees think that Zacchaeus is not worthy of Jesus’ presence. Rather than rejoicing and encouraging Zacchaeus, they murmur and are against him. It is impossible for Zacchaeus to be saved.
Zacchaeus’s sins are against him. More than anything, this makes salvation impossible for him. This man whose name actually means “righteous” is anything but righteous. His spectators rightly label him a sinner, however graceless their attitude is. The fact that he eventually gives his money to the poor and pays back those whom he defrauded indicates sin in Zacchaeus’s life needed to be dealt with. He is a thief and a fraud, defrauding many for his own millions. This man Zacchaeus is a sinner and because of that it is impossible for him to be saved.
Everything is against Zacchaeus, making it utterly impossible for him to be saved.
What makes it impossible for you to enter the kingdom of God? Is it your station in life that hinders you? Both despised stations and exalted stations can be hindrances from entering the kingdom. Are you a CEO or unemployed? The rich are particularly vulnerable because riches make almost everything in life possible, but the absence of riches can make us murmur and complain and think that it is impossible to be saved. Are you physically or mentally hindered from being saved? Or do you use the excuse of your spiritual inability? Are there people in your life who are making it impossible for you to be saved? Are your sins against you, hindering you from being saved? What are your impossibilities?
Through this passage of Scripture, we are counseled by the Word of God to take our eyes off everything that we would turn to for salvation: our position in life, our substance or lack thereof, our physical or mental or emotional limitations, the spectators in our lives, our sins, our excuses. All these things may be against us, but remember Jesus’ words, “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.”
Possible With God
It would have been easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for Zacchaeus to be saved. But we read that Jesus came to Jericho. Jesus comes wherever you are. He comes in His Word and by His Spirit and says, “All these things that make salvation impossible—every excuse you can muster, every roadblock thrown up in God’s path—God takes away and destroys them, and He saves.” The things which are impossible with men are possible with God. That’s what Jesus displays as He comes to Jericho. He makes the impossible possible. He brings salvation to the house of Zacchaeus. He himself says in verse 10, “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” How?
The Savior shows up. “And Jesus entered and passed through Jericho” (v. 1). This is no mere coincidence. He comes to the city whose builder was cursed and his son died, and brings the great blessing of life to the house of Zacchaeus. There is intentionality in Jesus’ actions as He comes through Jericho to meet with Zacchaeus. Scripture tells us, “And, behold there was a man named Zacchaeus.” Jesus is coming to make the impossible possible. He is going to usher a rich man into the kingdom of heaven. He is going to make Zacchaeus truly righteous.
The Savior sees. News travels that Jesus is coming. Zacchaeus wants to see Him and quickly climbs the tree to see who Jesus is. Christ not only shows up, but He takes immediate stock of the situation. He has seen Zacchaeus from eternity; He knows exactly where he is. In verse 5b we read, “And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him.” Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus, but we don’t read that he actually saw Jesus—only that Jesus saw him. What a blessing when Jesus looks upon us in His tender mercy! He sees us where we are. He sees sinners. He sees the impossibility of Zacchaeus’s situation. This little man is up in the tree because he couldn’t see above the heads of the crowd. The pursuit of wealth was his besetting sin, and that makes it impossible to enter the kingdom. But when Jesus takes notice of sinners, when He sees them, He sees them to save them. He sees the things which are impossible and He makes them possible so that sinners who are saved confess:
I sought the Lord, and afterward I knew
He moved my soul to seek Him, seeking me.
It was not I that found, O Savior true;
No, I was found of Thee. [1]
The Savior speaks. Jesus not only shows up and sees Zacchaeus in the tree, but He begins to shake things up by speaking first: “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down; for today I must abide at thy house.” He speaks with knowledge. He knows who Zacchaeus is; He addresses him by name. “O righteous one!” Do you sense the irony? A sinner up in the tree whose name means “righteous one,” and Jesus, the only Righteous One who would become sin for this man. He comes and calls him by his name, Zacchaeus. Through the gospel preached to all of you, Jesus is calling by name. Do you hear Him?
He speaks authoritatively, “Make haste and come down.” “Hurry and come down, Zacchaeus. Do you want to know who I am? Hurry and come down.” Jesus does not want Zacchaeus to remain where he is. He must come down and converse with Jesus. He must come down, not just physically from the tree, but from his self-exalting position, leaving behind his desire for riches.
Jesus speaks a divine command and when He does so, sinners take notice. Have you ever heard His commanding voice? Make haste and come down. Jesus is here; don’t delay. He cuts through all the impossibilities with this command. Zacchaeus is not really any different from the blind man that Jesus had recently healed; both are incapacitated and both need the command of Jesus to enliven them. And you and I are the same. He commands us to come down from our sin and pride and meet with Him. He commands us to come down from our hiding place in the tree and stand before Him with our sin so that we can be saved.
Jesus speaks with purpose. “For today I must abide at thy house.” There is a divine necessity in these words. Was it because Jesus is so hungry and tired from the journey? Was it because He merely wanted to converse and have a time of fellowship with Zacchaeus? No, He has come to save Zacchaeus. He has come to show that the things which are impossible with men are possible with God. Zacchaeus, the rich man, will be brought into the kingdom. It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of the needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God, but when Jesus speaks a rich man will enter the kingdom at His command.
And Jesus speaks invitingly. Jesus doesn’t ask, “Zacchaeus, may I come to your house today?” Rather, He says, “I must come to your house today.” Just as Zacchaeus desired to know who Jesus was, he finds himself face to face with Jesus in a way that he never thought he would see Jesus. He doesn’t see Him just from a tree, but he will witness Him in his own home. He will experience Jesus’ transforming power in his soul.
The Savior saves. Jesus not only shows up, sees, and speaks, but He also saves. That is the whole purpose of His coming to Jericho: to make the impossible possible. He has come to save Zacchaeus. Everything was previously against Zacchaeus, but now Jesus sees him and speaks with him and saves him. Now everything is for Zacchaeus because Jesus is for him, and if Jesus is for Zacchaeus, who can be against him? That is true for sinners today, too, whose impossibilities are erased through the power of the Son of God. “If God be for us who will be against us” (Rom. 8:31)?
We see evidence of Jesus’ work in Zacchaeus’s response. In verse 6, we read, “And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully.” When Jesus commands sinners to make room for Him in their hearts, they are constrained to obey. Jesus does not force Zacchaeus against his will, but bends his will so that Zacchaeus responds. This is by no means free will or a self-help gospel. When the Son of man enters our lives, we will know it in our response to Him. Zacchaeus made haste and came down. He obeyed Jesus’ command. That is the best evidence of Jesus’ work in our lives—obedience to His Word in all its aspects.
And alongside obedience is another evidence: a newfound joy and desire in Zacchaeus’s life as he comes face to face with the Savior. This is no chance meeting. This is no small talk. This is life and death, and Jesus has just saved this man from certain death. This man was just saved from sin. As a result, he received Jesus with joy into his heart and into his home. He receives Jesus as the Savior.
So often we are afraid of using the question, “Have you received Jesus as your personal Savior?” because it implies that we are doing something. But we always are doing something with Jesus. We either reject Jesus or we receive Jesus. We see the same in Luke’s narrative: there are two rich men, and they have two different responses to Jesus. The one rejects Jesus; the other receives Him. Zacchaeus received Him with joy. Here is a sinner receiving Jesus because all the impossibilities have been removed. Have you received Jesus? He makes the impossible possible.
And if that is not enough for Zacchaeus, Jesus goes on. He confirms that Zacchaeus is indeed saved through the work that He was about to perform in Jerusalem in His death on the cross. He had taught His disciples about this work earlier, and now we find Zacchaeus believing on Jesus as the One who was to be crucified. “This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham” (v. 9). Salvation is come to this house—the house of a despised tax collector which now receives the blessing of salvation. Earthly riches have been superseded by riches of a heavenly kind. Perishable goods have been replaced by imperishable. A treasure on earth is surpassed by a heavenly treasure. Salvation has come to Zacchaeus’s house.
Where is your heart being drawn? Are you being pulled to Jesus who removes all impossibilities to salvation, or toward a counterfeit god who continues to make things impossible for you?
This Zacchaeus, who had made money on the backs of his fellow countrymen and was no longer considered a rightful Jew, is declared a son of Abraham. Jesus demonstrates that a true son of Abraham is not one who necessarily physically descends from the line of Abraham, but one who lives out of the promise made to Abraham that Christ would come. Here is a man who did the works of Abraham: he repented, he received Jesus, and he now lives by faith in the Son of God. Zacchaeus was disowned by his fellow Jews as a natural son of Abraham, but through Jesus he is made a true son of Abraham. That is what Jesus still does. Even as Jesus confirms the salvation of Zacchaeus, He condemns those who were murmuring about his dining with Zacchaeus. To those who were Jews and who lived uprightly, thinking they were the sons of Abraham, Jesus points out the real issue to be the heart and not the outward actions only. A true son of Abraham would recognize Jesus as the Messiah as Zacchaeus did. When the Pharisees in John 8:39 said, “Abraham is our father,” Jesus gave this answer in return: “If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham.” Are you a son of Abraham, living by faith?
Jesus further confirms Zacchaeus’s salvation by speaking of His work in saving the lost. He says, “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which is lost” (v. 10). Zacchaeus was truly lost. Salvation was utterly impossible, and yet here the Son of man comes seeking and saving this lost sinner. This is the chief work of Christ in the lives of sinners who are hopelessly, helplessly, and impossibly lost. He comes to show that there are two very different responses to the gospel from two wealthy men. The one went away grieving because Jesus was not enough. The other, Zacchaeus, obeyed the gospel call and received Jesus with joy. And Jesus says, “This is what I’ve come to do. What is impossible with you is possible with Me. I have the power to save sinners; I am come to seek and to save those who are lost.”
Is there a Zacchaeus who reads this sermon? Is everything against you? Salvation is an utter impossibility, but here is Jesus. He shows up in His Word. He sees you in all your impossibility and He calls you to bring that to Him. He wants you to acknowledge the impossibility from your perspective. He speaks. He commands. He invites. “Make haste and come down. I must come to your house today.” He saves. He saves the chief tax collector. He saves the chiefest sinner today. He remakes sinners into sons.
The Savior sanctifies. Jesus not only saves, He also sanctifies. Zacchaeus is a changed man. Salvation issues forth in sanctification, in holy living, in obedience to the commandments of God. “And Zacchaeus 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” (v. 8). Throughout the course of the conversation with Jesus, Zacchaeus must have been convicted of this chief sin, and now he is responding in obedience to the call of Jesus upon His life, demonstrating what obedience looks like in the kingdom of God. Promising that he won’t defraud anyone anymore or ignore the poor is not enough; he is determined to put off this sin and put on behavior that reflects a man declared righteous by Jesus.
Notice the resolve of Zacchaeus. At first it seems like he is bragging. But no, Zacchaeus has been changed and the sins that affected him most were the areas where sanctification first evidences itself. He takes aim at the sin of greed; he takes aim at the snare of riches. Half of his goods are distributed to the poor, and the money he has gained by fraud is returned fourfold to the people from whom he stole. This is not superficial. He doesn’t just make an empty promise that he will turn his life around and no longer steal. Rather, he makes restitution. This is not a case for socialism so that the rich will be forced to redistribute their wealth. It is a case that proves that the impossible is made possible: Jesus has ushered a rich man into the kingdom of God. A rich man is convicted of his sin of greed. A rich man is powerfully converted and obeys his Master, not just in coming down from the tree and receiving Jesus into his house, but in demonstrating obedience by giving away half his wealth to the poor and making restitution.
It’s not just the riches that concern Jesus. These riches are Zacchaeus’s idol, and that makes his sin transferrable to all of us. Jesus wants us to see that it is impossible to enter the kingdom of God while we cling to idols. It is the kingdom of God alone, not the kingdom of God and of idols. It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. It is easier for a camel than for Zacchaeus. It is easier for a camel than for you. You really are lost if you are being drawn away from God by anything besides Jesus.
But have you heard about Jesus? Jesus has come to seek and to save those who are lost. He has come to make possible what we have made impossible. He shows up in His Word. He sees sinners and knows you by name. He speaks with power and authority, commanding sinners and changing their wills to receive Him. The things which are impossible with men are possible with God. We can never hide behind our impossibilities when Jesus has shown that even a rich man can enter the kingdom of God.
Are you sorrowful because you have to give up too much to follow Jesus? Or will you receive Jesus with joy, giving up what you cling to and clinging only to Jesus?
Notes
- Anonymous, written circa 1880.
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