A sermon preached at Covenant Presbyterian Church of Fort Smith, Arkansas on July 26, 2026.
He entered Jericho and was passing through. And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small in stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way. 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.” So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all grumbled, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” 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.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” (Luke 19:1–10).[1]
Before we dive into our passage today, I want to go back to a previous passage for perspective, when a ruler came to Jesus asking, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” (Luke 18:18). This man was religious, moral, respectable, and extremely rich. But when Jesus exposed the idol of his heart by calling him to sell his possessions and distribute the proceeds to the poor, this rich ruler became very sad. What Jesus called him to, he would not do. And so, Jesus said, “How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God”. (18:24-25). Yet Jesus immediately added, “What is impossible with man is possible with God” (18:27).
And it is this truth that helps us better understand our passage today, in which we encounter another rich man. But rather than a rich ruler, he was a tax collector. He was not respected but despised. He didn’t come asking what he must do to inherit eternal life. He simply wanted to see Jesus and so climbed a tree. But by the end of the day, Jesus could declare, “Today, salvation has come” (19:9).
In this man, J.C. Ryle says, “We see ‘the camel passing through the eye of a needle,’ and the ‘rich man entering the kingdom of God.’ We behold a plain proof that ‘all things are possible with God’” (216). Here is a sinner, considered lost and unreachable by everyone, sought and saved by the Son of Man. And this is where I want us to begin in our passage.
The Seeker Who Was Sought
Luke writes, “[Jesus] entered Jericho and was passing through. And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich” (19:1-2). The tax collector, in first-century Israel, was despised, first because he worked for the Roman government, and second because his profession was notorious for corruption and even extortion. Tax collectors commonly enriched themselves by collecting more than Rome required and keeping the excess at the expense of their neighbors. They were regarded as traitors by their countrymen and notorious sinners before God. And Zacchaeus, Luke tells us, was not only a tax collector but a chief tax collector.
But Jesus’ arrival in Jericho had drawn a crowd and sparked the interest of Zacchaeus. Luke tells us, “He was seeking to see who Jesus was” (19:3). Perhaps Zacchaeus had heard about Jesus’ teaching and miracles, or perhaps he had heard that Jesus had just restored the sight of a blind beggar outside the city. Whatever the reason, he wanted to see Jesus.
But given the size of the crowd, seeing would be difficult for a man of Zacchaeus’ stature. And so, Luke tells us, he ran ahead of the crowd, climbed a low-limbed tree, and waited to see Jesus (19:4). It sounds silly to read, and it was probably silly to see, the wealthy chief tax collector of Jericho perched up in that tree. But silly or not, he had readied himself to see Jesus, and he did.
As Luke tells us, “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’” (19:5). Out of all the places for Jesus to stop in Jericho, he chose this tree. Out of all the people in Jericho, Jesus chose this man and called him by name. Before Zacchaeus saw Jesus, Jesus saw Zacchaeus. Before Zacchaeus ever knew the Lord, the Lord knew him. And Christian, the same is true of you. You did not first introduce yourself to the Lord. Before you ever sought him, he knew you, loved you, and purposed to make you his own. As we sing in one of our old hymns:
I sought the Lord, and afterward I knew
he moved my soul to seek him, seeking me;
it was not I that found, O Savior true;
No, I was found of thee.[2]
Zacchaeus may have been seeking, but he was seeking because the Shepherd was already seeking him. Long before this day, God had spoken through Ezekiel concerning the unfaithful shepherds of Israel who had neglected and scattered his flock. The Lord promised, “Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock . . . I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered” (Ezek. 34:11-12). And on this day, God the Son walked through Jericho, stopped beneath a tree, looked up, and called one of his lost sheep by name. Zacchaeus may have thought Jesus was simply passing through Jericho, but actually the Savior had come intentionally to rescue this one lost sheep.
And so, the great Shepherd of his sheep commands, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today” (19:5). And Zacchaeus obeyed: He did hurry, he did come down and received Jesus “joyfully” (19:6). And isn’t this a fitting picture of what our Shorter Catechism calls effectual calling—the work of the Spirit by which he convinces us of our sin and misery, enlightens our minds in the knowledge of Christ, renews our wills, and persuades and enables us to embrace Jesus Christ, freely offered to us in the gospel?[3] And when we do, like Zacchaeus, we receive Jesus joyfully!
The Sinner Who Was Saved
How does the crowd respond when Jesus calls Zacchaeus and enters his house? Luke tells us, “And when they saw it, they all grumbled, ‘He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner’” (19:7). They were willing for Jesus to pass through their city, but they objected when he entered the wrong house. There is something in the sinful heart, I think, that enjoys grace in theory but resents it when given to someone we consider unworthy. We are grateful that God saves sinners but troubled when he saves that sinner. We may outwardly celebrate the doctrines of grace and yet privately consider some too wretched for God to save, like Zacchaeus the “sinner.”
Of course, the crowd was right: Zacchaeus was a sinner. In this, their diagnosis was right, but their conclusion was wrong. They concluded that because Zacchaeus was a sinner, Jesus should avoid him. But Jesus entered his house precisely because he was a sinner, not because sin doesn’t matter but because it does.
Consider, for example, the testimony of the apostle Paul. He had once been a blasphemer, persecutor, and opponent of Christ and his Church. And yet, he could confess, “The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost” (1 Tim. 1:15). Jesus came into the world not to admire sinners, not to excuse sinners, not to leave sinners as he found them, but to save sinners. “I received mercy for this reason,” Paul explains, “that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience” (1 Tim. 1:16). In his perfect patience, God saves sinners like you, like me, even the chief of sinners, and chief tax collectors too.
God’s perfect patience should also teach us that there are no impossible cases for God. There may be someone whose life appears too disordered, whose sin seems too deeply rooted, whose hostility seems too entrenched. There may be someone who has disappointed you so often that you no longer believe he or she can change. Or perhaps you believe that person is you. Your past may be shameful, your sins many. Your conscience may accuse you and your reputation haunt you. But the same Christ who saved Zacchaeus can save you. The same mercy given to Paul is still offered to sinners. Let us never forget this gospel truth: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.
The Salvation That Was Seen
The salvation Zacchaeus received could not remain hidden. It became visible in repentance and new obedience, as Luke tells us: “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’” (19:8).Luke does not tell us what Jesus said inside the house, but he reveals the result. His calling Jesus “Lord,” together with what follows, reveals the new authority of Christ over his life.Though his wealth represented his success, his security, his status, he now says, “The half of my goods I give to the poor.”This is what grace does: It changes our master, and therefore it changes our relationship to everything else.
To be clear, Zacchaeus does not give away his possessions in order to persuade Jesus to save him but as evidence of his repentance unto life. Our Shorter Catechism describes repentance unto life as “a saving grace, whereby a sinner, out of a true sense of his sin, and apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ, doth, with grief and hatred of his sin, turn from it unto God, with full purpose of, and endeavor after, new obedience.”[4]In Zacchaeus’ case, his repentance also meant restitution, but his works were not the root of his acceptance but the fruit of his conversion.
We are justified by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. Our obedience adds nothing to the perfect righteousness of Jesus. We cannot purchase pardon, earn adoption, or repay the debt we owe to God. But the faith that receives Christ never remains alone. Grace that pardons also transforms. The Christ who justifies also sanctifies.
Jesus then declared, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham” (19:9). We hear the word “today” repeatedly in Luke’s Gospel, announcing the arrival of God’s saving promise. At Jesus’ birth, the angel declared, “Unto you is born this day…a Savior” (2:11). In Nazareth Jesus said, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled” (4:21). And from the cross he would promise the repentant thief, “Today you will be with me in paradise” (23:43). Where Jesus comes in grace, the day of salvation has arrived.
And with that salvation came a new standing and identity. The crowd had called him “a sinner,” but Jesus called him “a son of Abraham.” They regarded him as a traitor and an outsider, but Jesus publicly identified him as one who belonged to the people of promise, not merely by natural descent, but as one who shared the faith of Abraham. As Paul later explains, “It is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham” (Gal. 3:7).
Jesus then explains both the source and the purpose of this salvation: “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (19:10). The eternal Son came from heaven to earth and took to himself a true human nature. He entered our fallen world not merely to inspire or instruct the lost, nor merely to provide an example for the lost, but to save the lost. He came not because sinners had climbed high enough to reach him but because we could never reach him. Apart from Christ, we are guilty sinners, condemned, spiritually dead, under the wrath of a holy God. We cannot save ourselves.
Zacchaeus could climb a tree, but he could not climb into heaven. He could restore money to his neighbors, but he could not atone for his sins. He could open his home to Jesus, but only Jesus could open the kingdom of heaven to him. This is why the Son of Man was going to Jerusalem. He would seek the lost by going to the cross to save them. There the Good Shepherd would lay down his life for the sheep. There the sinless Son of God would bear the guilt of sinners. And on the third day he rose from the dead, having accomplished salvation for all who trust in him.
Perhaps this morning you are still only trying to see who Jesus is. You have listened from a distance, but you have never received him by faith. Do not suppose that you must first repair your life or make yourself worthy. Come to Christ as the sinner you are. The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.
Or, perhaps this morning, you know the Lord. If so, then remember what you were by nature when Christ sought you. This should keep us from grumbling when grace comes to someone else’s house. It should keep us from deciding who is beyond hope. It should give us patience with small beginnings and courage to take the gospel to unlikely people. We must never become a crowd that prevents sinners from seeing Jesus. We are those who were once lost and have been found. We are sinners who have received mercy. And so we should welcome those who want to see Jesus, speak the gospel to those still far away, and rejoice whenever salvation comes to another house.
Therefore, let no sinner despair, let no believer stop praying, and let no church grumble when grace reaches the undeserving. For “the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” Amen.
[1] Unless referenced otherwise, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version
(Wheaton: Crossway Bibles, 2001).
[2] “I Sought the Lord, and Afterward I Knew,” https://hymnary.org/hymn/TH1990/466
[3] Westminster Shorter Catechism Q. 31, https://opc.org/sc.html
[4] Westminster Shorter Catechism Q. 87, https://opc.org/sc.html
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