Story: Zacchaeus the Tax Collector

In Luke 18:11 it is written, “The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people — robbers, evildoers, adulterers — or even like this tax collector,’” Zacchaeus, as a tax collector, was thought of as a sinful and greedy man by the people. Collecting taxes was a career that had a negative reputation, and people hated tax collectors because they asked for money from people and took more than was required by the Romans.

In scripture, Jesus had also compared tax collectors to pagans, “If they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.” This same perspective could have been found in the crowd in this story. But just as the crowd saw Zacchaeus’ sin, we tend to see others’ mistakes more than we do our own.

Despite his selfish and sinful nature, Zacchaeus was trying to find meaning in his life through Jesus. He was eager to know the truth about life. When Jesus told Zacchaeus that He was to stay at his house, Zacchaeus became very happy and opened his doors immediately, showing that he was a man ready to be saved and to serve. What really caught the attention of Jesus was Zacchaeus’ passion to be seen, and it is important that we try to show ourselves to Jesus even if we know that He already sees us.

Jesus decided to come to the house of Zacchaeus even though he was a sinner. He looked up and said to him, ‘Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.’ This is an example of how Jesus obligates us to focus on Him during the times that we need Him the most. His words “I must stay at your house,” were not a request, but more of a command. Jesus already knew that Zacchaeus needed to invite him to stay, not just into his home, but into his heart. After all, Jesus came to the world to save us from our sins so we could stay with Him forever.