Who Was Zacchaeus in the Bible?

You must not have spent a week of your summer break in a musty old church with shag carpet, paneled walls, stale cookies, and enthusiastic old ladies. If you had, you’d already know that Zacchaeus was a “wee little man and a wee little man was he, he claimed up in a sycamore tree, the Savior for to see.”

If that’s not quite enough information for you, keep reading and we’ll discover more about the story of Zacchaeus from Luke 19.

Who Was Zacchaeus? 

All that we know about this guy comes from Luke 19:1-10. There are a few details there which can help us to fill out a bit more of his story. First, he was from Jericho. That’s a wealthy city due to its strategic location as a trade hub. If you were a chief tax collector—as Zacchaeus was—then you’re going to be making bank.

Zacchaeus wasn’t just a run of the mill tax collector either. He was the chief tax collector. That means he was the regional tax supervisor, overseeing other collectors. And per his confession, he was a pretty bad dude. He took tons of money from his own people.

He was also short of stature. We might chalk this up to Luke just giving us an unimportant detail — or explaining why he was up in a sycamore tree. But Luke doesn’t usually give us these details for no reason. His height likely mirrors his status within society. Sure, he is powerful and rich, but he was despised. Nobody liked the guy. He was just another no name sell-out. His physical smallness perhaps reflects his smallness of character, and thus his social standing.

Luke loves to flip our expectations. You’d expect the rich young ruler (Luke 18) to be the guy who ends up a disciple. He had all the things you’re looking for as a first-round pick when it comes to getting people to follow your movement. But Jesus lets him walk away. Which leads the disciples to think, “if this guy can’t be saved, who can?” (Luke 18:26-28).

The gospel writer weaves together stories to answer that question. He follows up the story of the rich young ruler with a blind guy named Bartimaeus and now a filthy, stinking no-good short-of-stature tax collector.

But it also brings into focus the climbing of the sycamore tree.

Zacchaeus’ Desire to See Jesus and Unexpected Visitation

The text doesn’t tell us why Zacchaeus was so determined to see Jesus. Maybe it was sheer curiosity. But he was a wealthy man. Why didn’t he try to buy some time alone with Jesus? Is it possible that there is a spiritual curiosity here, but one where Zacchaeus wants to keep some distance just in case? Maybe that tree is a little safer than a face-to-face meeting.

Did he hear about how Jesus had previously interacted with tax collectors? Perhaps he was longing for acceptance. He might have wanted a change in his life. Was he wondering if all they said about Jesus was true? Would Jesus accept someone like him?

We don’t know the answer to these questions, but what we do know is what Luke is doing in this story. Luke contrasts both Zacchaeus and Bartimaeus with the religious leaders (or the rich young ruler) and their lack of spiritual curiosity. They key here is wanting to see.

Luke wants us to know that there is a way of looking straight at Jesus and missing him. There is a way to have sight but not really see. The crowd is all huddled around Jesus, but they are shutting the kingdom off from people like Bartimaeus and Zacchaeus. But these two guys won’t be stopped — they must see. And that’s a picture of discipleship.

We see the same thing here that was present in Luke 4 when Jesus announced His kingdom from Isaiah the prophet, rolled up the scroll, and then sat down. This is good news for the poor. The weak. The vulnerable. The desperate. Those like Zacchaeus and Bartimaeus.

And He singles them out. Zacchaeus doesn’t get to stay up in that tree and be unnoticed. He’s invited to dinner. That’s astonishing. It gets the religious leaders all upset. If Jesus were a prophet, he wouldn’t have people like this at dinner. What we see, though, is that this is less about their seeking and more that they are being sought. They were desperate to see the One who already sees them.

When Zacchaeus meets Jesus, everything changes for him.

Zacchaeus: A Picture of Radical Transformation

He’s a picture of radical transformation. It’s meant to be a contrast to the rich young ruler. He can’t sell his stuff. He can’t depart from money. To him, Jesus isn’t enough of a treasure to do that for. His real treasure is in his stuff. That’s not the case with Zacchaeus. No, he believes Jesus is the one who is worth abandoning everything.

When I was preaching through Luke and came to this passage, I took a one-week detour into Mark 14:1-11. That’s the story of the lady who breaks up that alabaster jar of perfume to anoint Jesus. And her story is juxtaposed with the grumbling religious leaders. I made the point that the idolatrous heart will always bust up Jesus to worship their idol. That’s what we see in the story of the rich young ruler. And it’s also what is happening with the grumbling religious leaders.

But it’s also true that the Jesus-captured heart will always bust up lesser loves to worship Jesus. That’s why she broke that jar of perfume. It was as nothing to her in the presence of Jesus. And its why Zacchaeus would walk away from all of his wealth — give back anything he’d ever stolen — because Jesus was the most valuable. His heart is captivated.

This is a picture of the radical transformation that Jesus brings to every disciple. Even today.

What Does This Story Mean for Us Today?

You know the story of Zacchaeus and his transformation also explains those old ladies with stale cookies enthusiastically singing this silly song to a 7-year-old me. (I call them “old ladies,” but truth be told they might have been in their thirties. Or nineties. It’s all the same when you’re seven.) No matter their age, they likely were giving up something (a night of their week, or maybe even a vacation day) to share the gospel with kids.

They wanted us to know about Zacchaeus because his story tells us some really important things. First, nobody is too far gone. The religious leaders and the people within the community had written tiny Zacchaeus off as a good-for-nothing tax collector. But Jesus called him by name, pursued him, and changed his life. He can do the same for all of us.

And even though we were only kids, it was still important for us to learn that true discipleship means letting go. Maybe it was letting go of my GI-Joe’s. Or maybe it was letting go of the bitterness I had that my cousin not only had Castle Grayskull but also Snake Mountain in his Masters of the Universe toy collection. (I promise I’m over it). But we learned important lessons in discipleship: Jesus is more valuable than all that stuff.

Today it’s not about giving up childish toys but bigger toys — and also worries and griefs and anger. It’s giving up sin that promises fleeting pleasure. It’s about trusting that Jesus is greater and accepting His invitation for fellowship.

The story of Zacchaeus still has relevance for today. That is, if we want to see…

Photo credit: ©Getty Images/mgstudyo