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Jesus was passing through Jericho. There was a chief tax collector there named Zacchaeus, who was rich. Zacchaeus was a little man, and wanted to see Jesus, so he climbed a sycamore tree. Jesus looked up and said, “Hurry down, Zacchaeus, because I must stay in your house today.” The people started grumbling because Jesus was going to the home of a sinner. However, Zacchaeus promised to give half his belongings to the poor and pay back four times as much to anyone he had cheated. Jesus concluded by saying “The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

Background

Tax collectors were not popular in Jesus’ day and were commonly regarded as sinners.

Tax collectors worked for the Romans, the occupying force in Palestine at the time. They collected taxes from people to give to the Romans and were regarded as traitors. Most people resented the Romans and did not want to pay taxes to them.

Tax collectors were not paid a wage. They were expected to pay their own wages by taking extra money from people. Such a system was open to exploitation and tax collectors had a reputation for being very dishonest. They often became rich at the expense of those they collected taxes from.

Understanding the text

Zacchaeus was especially unpopular as he was a chief tax collector in Jericho and a wealthy man. However, he must have realised that his life needed to change and he was determined to see Jesus – even though this meant climbing a tree.

Zacchaeus showed he was willing to change by offering half of his belongings to the poor and paying back four times as much to anyone he had cheated. This amount was what the Old Testament law demanded as a repayment for dishonesty.

Jesus’ final comment highlights that although he has brought salvation for all people, those who are sinners are most urgently in need of this message. It is wrong to think he is only interested in so-called ‘respectable’ people.