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 sycomore 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. Luke 19:1-5

 What would you do to get close to Jesus? Here we meet a man named Zacchaeus, what we know about this man , was he was the chief tax collector , he was rich,and he was short. Now we must remember, tax collectors were considered the greatest of all sinners to the Jewish people. These were people, who were typically Jewish, and would work for the Roman government and enforced the oppressive tax laws on the Jewish people that kept them enslaved to the Roman empire. 

So the fact Jesus actually acknowledged Zacchaeus and wanted to dine at his house, angered the Jews in the crowd. But Jesus came to save the sinners and not the righteous, this is what the people didn’t understand. 

Notice the faith Zacchaeus demonstrated on trying to seek Jesus, he knew he was too short to see over the crowd, so he climbed a tree and Christ saw him. This is the faith we need to demonstrate, find a way to Jesus! Jesus saw Zacchaeus in the tree, Christ saw the faith and choose him

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 19:6-10

Zacchaeus was remorseful and demonstrated fruits of repentance, he told Jesus he would give half of everything he owned to the poor and repay everyone fourfold that he ripped off. There should be fruit of our own repentance also, a dog shouldn’t keep returning to its own vomit (Proverbs 26:11)

The day of salvation came to the house of Zahaeus, why? Because he repented and put his faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God. There is no other reason why Zacchaeus should be saved except Christ alone. I know many in that crowd would wish to see Zacchaeus thrown into Hell, but God is merciful 

Jesus said “He came to seek and save the lost” Christ came to set us free from our sin and death. Even if you’re a chief of sinners like Zacchaeus, seek Christ and He will save you Amen!