A Different Man

Luke 19:1-10

1 He entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 And there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. 3 And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small of stature. 4 So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way. 5 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. ” 6 So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully. 7 And when they saw it, they all grumbled, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner. ” 8 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. ” 9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. ” 

Zacchaeus was a success by worldy standards. He had position and wealth, but these two things were of little use to him in his desire to see Jesus. They did not prevent him from climbing a tree to see past the crowd. From that position in the tree he could see and Jesus could as well. I imagine that Zacchaeus did not anticipate what then happened.

Jesus looked up and said, "hurry and come down", calling him by name. 

Zacchaeus did just that. He came down from that tree a different man.