Zaccheus was not very tall, perhaps about as tall as you are, though he was not a child but a man. He would never be any taller.
Zaccheus wanted to see Jesus, who He was. Lots of other people that day in Jericho, wanted to see what Jesus looked like, and they crowded the road where He was to pass. But the little man wanted to see who He was, and that is something quite different. Perhaps you can tell a great deal about the things He did, but it may be that you, like Zaccheus, have not yet learned who He is.
Well, Zaccheus climbed a sycamore tree to get a good view of Him, over taller people’s heads. He settled himself there among the branches before Jesus came, but how could he tell who Jesus is, by just seeing Him?
But Jesus knew all about Zaccheus. He stopped under that very tree and called the little man down. “Zaccheus,” He said, “make haste, and come down; for today I must abide at thy house.” And he made haste and came down and received Him joyfully.
How much more that little man got than he ever expected when he pulled himself up into that tree! You also, little cne, if you want to know who Jesus is, will never go away disappointed. Who is He? He is God the Son, the only Saviour, the Crucified One, who died that we might live with Him forever!
The crowd complained because Jesus had gone to be a guest with a man who was a sinner. How much better if they had taken the sinner’s place, and welcomed Jesus as Zaccheus did. Zaccheus was a rich man, but it was not the luxury of his house that made the Saviour abide there. No indeed. The Lord Jesus knew far better than the crowd did, that this man was a sinner. Zaccheus knew it too, and his conscience had already set him to work repairing the wrongs he had done. He had already restored every stolen penny four times over, but all this did not save him. He was still lost.
Jesus said, “This day is salvation come to this house, forasmuch as he also is a son of Abraham.” It was not because of any patching up of past sins, that Zaccheus was saved that day, but because, like Abraham, he believed in the Lord. The Lord Jesus Himself saved Zaccheus.
Dear reader, has He saved you? If we ask you who He is, will you take the sinner’s place and answer joyfully, “He is my Saviour?”
ML 02/21/1954