“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

Matthew 11:28

They scorned his name in his town, despite his wealth. As a chief tax collector, Zacchaeus made money helping Rome extract heavy taxes from his people; that alienated him from them. His diminutive size didn’t help either. He got pushed around in crowds. On this Thursday morning, something puzzled him. Zacchaeus had no peace in his heart. He had never given serious thought to his sinful life, but this morning, he felt the weight of it.

Suddenly, the noise of a rushing crowd.

“What could that be?”

He heard the name of Jesus.

“This is the man I need to see. If only I could talk to him.”

Unable to make his way to Jesus, Zacchaeus ran ahead of the crowd and perched in a sycamore-fig tree, making sure no one saw him.

“Zacchaeus come down immediately. I must stay in your house today” (Lk. 19:5).

“How did He know my name and my hideout?”

He hurried down and gladly welcomed Jesus to his home (6). His curiosity had earned him the privilege of playing host to the Messiah.

 “What! How could Jesus go into the house of a sinner like Zacchaeus,” the people derided? 

Poor human beings! How judgmental and accusative, while we sit uneasily on our messy seats!

“Look, Lord! Here and now, I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount”, Zacchaeus shocked the people into a hush (v.8). What a man!

There is not a soul that genuinely receives the grace of God through Jesus and remains the same. His presence transforms the soul, and His grace brings it in conformity to His nature through faith (Eph. 2:8-9). Perspective and attitudinal changes are their results. Zacchaeus started the day a wretched soul, but ended it as a transformed believer.

Do you know a Zacchaeus in your neighborhood? Have you noticed their curiosity? Don’t you see how your co-worker eavesdrops on your conversation with your Christian friends but looks away when you notice? Can’t you feel the emptiness consuming them? Why not bring them to Jesus, that they may experience the transforming power of His grace and the assurance of eternal life in Him.

Isn’t that your commission (Matt. 28:19-20)?