Luke 19:1-10 - True Repentance

Both the conversion of Bartimaeus, the blind beggar and Zaccheus, the chief publican, took place in Jericho. One was extremely poor and the other extremely rich. But both found faith in Jesus and were saved. They were among the lost that Jesus came to seek and find. Luke 19:1-10 give us the account of Zaccheus' conversion. He was a Jew. His name means "the just" or "pure." It sounded like a mockery. Because in practice he was far from just or pure. In fact he was mean and exploitative. From what was described of him, we can conclude that he was a little man full of eagerness, but cunning and energetic.

Luke 19:1 says he was the chief tax collector. His main job was to collect tax on the behalf of the Roman authority. In doing his task, he would exploit his fellowmen by collecting more than what was due from them. That explained how he became rich. Hence, he was despised and hated by the Jews. As far as they were concerned, he was an outcast. In verse 3 we are again introduced to the common scene wherever Jesus went: a crowd gathered. Being small in built, Zaccheus was unable to see Jesus because the crowd had occluded him. But being eager, he refused to give up. So he ran ahead of Jesus and ingeniously climbed up a sycamore tree to catch a glimpse of Him. This was truly undignified of a person of his position. But who cares about dignity when confronted by the need to see Jesus!

Discerning Zaccheus' readiness for Him, Jesus stopped right under where he was perched. He looked up and told him to come down. Amazingly, the Lord invited Himself to his house to spend the night there. What an honor Zaccheus must have felt! Notice in verse 6, how he hurried down and gladly received Jesus. The Pharisees as usual had nothing positive to say. They failed to see the mission of Jesus. So they became critical and grumbled, saying, “He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” Obviously Zaccheus was convicted of his wrong doing and repented. As signs that he had repented, he offered to give fifty percent of his possession to the poor. As if that was not enough, he offered to make restitution to all that he had defrauded, offering to pay four times what he had taken from them. This act tells us that true repentance always expressed itself in restitution. Jesus commended his act and declared him saved. He truly belonged to the legacy of Abraham - a child of faith. With that statement Jesus reiterated the mission He came to do: to seek and save the lost.

Where do we go from here? When we turn to Jesus, we make a round-a-about turn from our past. We must be prepared to lay everything at His feet. Be prepared to withhold nothing from Him. We put all that we are at His disposal. Are there areas in our life that God is now dealing with?  Would we go to the person we have wronged and sincerely apologize? To whom much is given, much is required!