Zacchaeus the Tax Collector (Journey to the Cross): What was Jesus’ main mission in life? To be a great teacher, healer, prophet, priest, or king? Many people were confused about that in his day; many are still today. Despite the opinions and expectations of others, Jesus actually came to seek and to save the lost. Recorded on Mar 8, 2026, on Luke 19:1-10 by Pastor David Parks.
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This sermon is part of our Journey to the Cross: Lenten Reflections from the Gospel According to Luke series. “As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.” (Lk 9:51). The cross of Christ wasn’t an embarrassing accident or tragic defeat. While his enemies opposed him and his disciples were confused about him, Jesus was very clear about his identity and intentional about his mission. He had come to seek and to save the lost through his death and resurrection — as had been foretold. This would become clear to anyone with spiritual eyes to see. But when you understand who Jesus is and the nature of his kingdom, it changes everything! Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!
Sermon Transcript
Well, we spent a mere 25 weeks going through our sermon series on the life and legacy of King Solomon. And I do hope that series was helpful to you. It’s always a little bittersweet for me when a longer sermon series comes to an end. But last week, while Holly and I were enjoying some time away together, Pastor Nate very capably started our Lenten series, Journey to the Cross. If you missed any of those sermons, you can always go back and watch or listen to the podcast if you’d like. But today, we’re continuing to follow Jesus as he set his face toward the city of Jerusalem and made his history-shaping journey to the cross. You see, the death of Jesus wasn’t an embarrassing accident or a tragic defeat. And while others, including even the disciples of Jesus, could not see or understand who Jesus was or what he had come to do, the cross was the culmination of God’s plan for salvation, resulting in his resurrection from the dead in glory! We’re excited to celebrate this beautiful truth on Easter Sunday in just a few weeks. But until then, Lent is a time of personal preparation leading up to this joyful moment. Lent can be a time of reflection and repentance, prayer and fasting, worship and serving those in need, and more. This year, we’re following the journey of Jesus from the gospel according to Luke, and we’re picking up the story in Luke chapter 19 — if you have your Bible/app, you can start heading there now. But who was Jesus, and what did he come to do? These questions, if Jesus is who he claimed to be, are of infinite importance. Today, in the famous story of Jesus and Zacchaeus, we’ll see: Despite the opinions and expectations of others, Jesus actually came to seek and to save the lost. He didn’t come to be a political revolutionary. And he didn’t come to be a great teacher, or even a great prophet, priest, or king. But seeking and saving. In this encounter with Jesus, we’ll see three things: 1) who Jesus sought to save (and the problems that caused), 2) how Jesus sought people, and 3) we’ll see some clues about what happens when the lost are found. Let’s jump in.
Luke 19:1–4 (NIV), “1 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. 3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.” Now, I’m not sure if you grew up in the church as I did, but if you did, there’s a really good chance you sang a kid’s song about a wee little man at some point. If you didn’t, it was a banger. But here, Dr. Luke gives us the context of this meeting with Zacchaeus: Jesus was passing through Jericho. Why? Because he had his face set toward Jerusalem, and Jericho was on the way. But even with such determination, Jesus was still willing to be interrupted. And who was there in Jericho? A man named Zacchaeus, a chief tax collector, who was a little desperate just to see Jesus. The problem was, there were big crowds around Jesus; he was very popular with people, who, as we saw last week, had all kinds of opinions/expectations about what he was there to do. But Zacchaeus knew he wouldn’t be able to see. So he ran ahead. He didn’t walk in some dignified, stately manner; he ran. Now, maybe someone here wants to know more about Jesus. Maybe someone here is curious about who he is or needs to know if what he did really happened, if it was really true. Here’s what I would say to you: RUN! Don’t delay. Don’t look to anyone else. Don’t pay any attention to how dignified you may or may not be or what anyone else thinks about it. RUN to him! I promise you’ll never be sorry you did. But listen, if there’s even a chance that Jesus Christ is who he claimed to be, then he’s of infinite importance. Don’t you think you should figure out if any of this is true? Anyway, back to our story: running around and climbing a sycamore-fig tree would’ve been a bit unusual for any adult, but especially for a man like Zacchaeus. The reason being that he was a chief tax collector, a position of leadership and responsibility in the Roman Empire-occupied land of Judea. It was an important job, so he was an important guy. Can you imagine the head of the IRS or the US Treasury Secretary up in a tree like that? Maybe you can. Well, I know no one really likes paying taxes, even in the best of circumstances, but we really don’t have the social stigma around tax collectors in our culture today that they had back in Zacchaeus’ day. You see, the Romans were pretty savvy at managing conquered kingdoms. And one thing they figured out was if they picked someone from the local population, someone who knew the language and customs, someone who knew who had money and who didn’t, and they put them in charge of taxation—someone like Zacchaeus—they were able to be much more thorough in their work. They had every incentive to be, because in exchange for making sure every last penny got to Rome, tax collectors could demand whatever they wanted on top of the taxes for their own compensation. It was something like legal extortion. Don’t like it? Zacchaeus wouldn’t come alone; you’d have the Roman army coming with him to ensure there wouldn’t be any lost revenue. People hated that, as you might imagine. So Zacchaeus was wealthy, but not well-liked. Lots of money, but no friends. Or at least none of the “good” people would have wanted to be his friend. How would Jesus respond to such an immoral sell-out? Probably more than a few others in the crowd would have loved to have seen Jesus blast a guy like Zacchaeus.
Luke 19:5-7 (NIV), “5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. 7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.” So Jesus obviously didn’t have a problem being associated with a guy like Zacchaeus, so much so that he invited himself over to his house. So first, we see who Jesus sought to save. And who did Jesus seek to save? This guy! A guy like Zacchaeus. Not the person with the best reputation. Not someone who was obviously good or religiously devout. An outsider, and for good reason! He wasn’t, maybe, on the wrong track; everyone knew he was a sinner. Really, Jesus? This is the guy you want to hang out with? Yes! Jesus said, “I must stay at your house today.” Amazing! Jesus really accepted everyone, didn’t he? That wouldn’t create any problems, right? How intolerant all the others were that day, including, no doubt, his disciples, as everyone muttered about this. But wait. Why were these people muttering, again? Because Zacchaeus had stolen from everybody! His wealth came out of their pockets, and they couldn’t do anything about it. And every day, he reminded them they were under the oppressive boot of Rome. The muttering of the crowd was for liberty and justice. Was Jesus overlooking this injustice? Was he soft on crime? Did he not know who this man was? He knew his name; surely, he knew his reputation. Well, let’s come back to this. But before Jesus gets to Zacchaeus’ house, the second thing we see here is how Jesus sought people. Let’s break down this little interaction, because it’s classic Jesus (and it’s awesome). Luke says that Jesus looked up at Zacchaeus. Remember, back in chapter 1, it says that Luke did a careful investigation into Jesus, interviewing eyewitnesses to his life and ministry, and this sounds like an eyewitness detail to me. I wonder if Luke interviewed Zacchaeus. Either way, there were plenty of eyewitnesses there that day who saw that the first gift that Jesus gave Zacchaeus was his attention. Jesus noticed him. How many of you feel ignored, unseen, or like an outsider at times? Jesus notices; he sees. One of the first names anyone gives God in the Bible comes from Hagar, a woman of very low status, who calls God El Roi, meaning “the God who sees.” You can’t have any kind of healthy relationship with someone who never pays any attention to you. But Jesus did more than notice Zacchaeus. He knew who this man was. He called to him by name, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately.” How do you think this unpopular man felt when he realized Jesus knew his name? Embarrassed? Surely he knew his own reputation. And here he was up in a tree of all places! Maybe he felt honored? Maybe a bit of both? If you were in the tree that day, how would you feel if Jesus looked up at you and called to you by name? (“Laura!” “Bill!” “David…”) Jesus never dealt with people in general. He always dealt with people as individuals, never having the same conversation twice. He met people where they were at. He asked specific questions to reveal what was going on in that specific person’s heart. But you can’t have any kind of healthy relationship with someone who doesn’t know you personally or deal with you as the individual you are. But then, notice Jesus didn’t say, “Pardon me, Mr. Important Official, but would it be ok with you if I stopped by sometime, maybe?” That’s just not how Jesus rolls. But if Jesus is the Son of God, the King of all Creation, and the Savior of the world, would he be meek and mild about something like that? I doubt it. Of course, if you’ve been a Christian for any amount of time, you know what happens when Jesus comes into your life: He takes over! Your life becomes his life (and his life becomes your life), in the best way possible. But look how Zacchaeus responded in v. 6, “…he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.” This is so good. Zacchaeus gladly obeyed the word of the Lord. He wasn’t embarrassed anymore (if he ever had been to begin with); he was thrilled! But everyone muttered. Why would Jesus, an influential religious leader who many people thought might be the messiah, go to the house of a sinner?!? If you were running PR for Jesus, this was not a good look. Back in those days, hospitality was a very big deal. And if you invited someone into your home, it made a public statement that you were willing to identify with that person. It was like Olive Garden used to say—when you’re here, you’re family. Even though hospitality isn’t as big a deal in our culture, I think this is still pretty much true. Good people didn’t invite obviously sinful people into their homes. And I’m sure the feeling was mutual. But if you were willing to associate with sinners or criminals, people like that, then how could you be trusted? Wouldn’t you eventually be corrupted like them? Or at the very least, wouldn’t it look like you were affirming of their immoral lifestyle? Following the conventional wisdom, Jesus would’ve been crazy to pick Zacchaeus to identify with, but he did anyway. Why would he do this? Was there something Zacchaeus could do for Jesus? We might cynically wonder, “Could Jesus leverage Zacchaeus’ wealth for his ministry?” And if so, did the ends justify the means, or was Jesus maybe not who everyone thought he was?
Luke 19:8–10 (NIV), “8 But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” This is God’s word. So Jesus wasn’t there, rubbing shoulders with slimy characters to raise money, or for any other selfish reason. Jesus was there to seek and to save Zacchaeus. And he really didn’t care what anyone else thought about him or his motives. This is why Jesus had come; this was his mission. “Today salvation has come to this house,” he said. But, you might wonder, why did Jesus refer to himself as the Son of Man? Why not just clearly say, “This is why I came!”Well, as Pastor Nate taught last week, the title “Son of Man” was one Jesus took for himself. In fact, it’s the title Jesus used the most. But why? Well, the Son of Man was a title rooted in the Old Testament, but, and I think much more importantly, it didn’t have the political baggage that the titles of Messiah or Christ would’ve had in their day. Many Jewish people expected the Messiah to be a political liberator who would lead them to overthrow the Roman Empire. But that was not why Jesus had come. He actually had a much bigger mission than one of mere political power and liberation. The Son of Man was also, of course, a far less inflammatory title than the Son of God. Now, Christians today believe that Jesus legitimately deserves all of these titles (Messiah, Savior, Son of Man, Son of God, Lord, King, Christ, and God!), but the full picture was somewhat obscured at this time. Before the cross and the empty tomb, people just couldn’t fully understand who Jesus was or what he had come to do, even though he had repeatedly told them! His mission defied their expectations. No one expected a suffering and dying Messiah, especially one who would endure the pain and shame of crucifixion. This is why Jesus referred to himself and his mission using a title that people didn’t have as many preconceived ideas about. It was like an empty container that he could fill with his words and works. Which brings us back to our big idea for the day: Despite the opinions and expectations of others, Jesus actually came to seek and to save the lost. We cannot make Jesus into whoever we want him to be. And we can’t make his purpose any cause we want. We can receive his identity and mission by faith or reject it in disbelief, but we must do so on his own terms. Did you know that pretty much every religion in the world teaches the value of prayer, worship, caring for the poor, and following certain moral commands that define what’s right and wrong? Pretty much everybody has a theory of why the world is how it is and what, if anything, we can do about it. But does that mean that all religions are the same? Not at all. Because every other religion rejects Jesus’ own identity and mission. Only Christians believe that salvation is found by faith in the person and work of Jesus. Only Christians believe that Jesus died on the cross for the sins of the world, and that he rose again from the dead, forever breaking the power of sin and death, of hell and grave. Only Christians believe in anything like the grace of God because in Jesus, God is able to be gracious in salvation, not requiring us to earn our salvation by being good people and doing good works, but because of the perfection of Jesus. Last week, we saw the irony of a blind man who could spiritually see who Jesus was. This week, for those with eyes of faith, we see what Jesus came to do. We’ll close today by considering some clues about what happens when the lost are found. First, we’ve already observed that going from lost to found starts with the attention of Jesus, leading to a personal relationship with him (he knows you by name). Second, when you have a personal relationship with Jesus, he comes into your house/life and starts making all kinds of changes. We see this in the text in Zacchaeus’ pledge to give half of his possessions to the poor, and pay back anyone he had cheated by four times the amount. Now, this was extremely generous! The Law of Moses only required that he give back what he stole, pay 20% restitution, and make a sacrificial offering for his sin. But Zacchaeus was offering 400% pay back! His heart was profoundly moved. C.S. Lewis, in his book Mere Christianity, writes about this intrusive work of God in our lives, borrowing, I believe, from George MacDonald. Lewis writes this, “Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently he starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of—throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.” (Lewis, C. S.. Mere Christianity (C.S. Lewis Signature Classics) (p. 205). (Function). Kindle Edition.) Lewis is exactly right about Jesus, and we see this dynamic at play with Zacchaeus. And now we are finally ready to come back to the muttering of the crowd. Was Jesus overlooking injustice? Was he affirming this immoral lifestyle? Not at all. He would personally die to pay the price for Zacchaeus’ sin. His sin was so bad that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, would have to die for it. But the heart of God is so good, and his desire is not to condemn; it’s that no one would perish, so Jesus went to the cross willingly. Why? Because, despite all the confusion, the mission of Jesus was to seek and to save the lost. Jesus came for the rich sinner and the poor sinner, the popular sinner and the unknown sinner, the old sinner and the young sinner; he came for everyone. And Jesus meets us right where we’re at. He comes into our house, as it were, before we have time to clean up. He doesn’t demand that Zacchaeus repay everyone before he comes in. It’s in the context of a relationship with Jesus that Zacchaeus starts to change and be transformed. Only after a relationship with Jesus does Zacchaeus start to do the right thing when it comes to his money. So how about us? And what about our church? Will we care about the lost as Jesus does? Will we give them our attention, and will we seek to build healthy relationships with them as Jesus does? And will we help them learn and grow and experience all the love, joy, and peace that only a relationship with Jesus can bring? I sure hope so. This is why we exist as a church: to help people come to faith (and grow in their faith) in the truth of who Jesus is and what he came to do, and see the gospel of Jesus Christ transform people in every way. This Lenten season, and for the rest of our lives, may we never get tired of that. And let’s do it with all the energy that Christ works so powerfully within us. Let us pray.
