Gospel Reading: Luke 19:1-10

He entered Jericho and was passing through it. A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was rich. He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. 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 down and was happy to welcome him. All who saw it began to grumble and said, “He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.” Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.” Then Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.”
 

Sermon: Jesus and Zacchaeus

Today we are going to talk about the “wee little man” Zacchaeus. We find his remarkable story in Luke 19. Jesus touched his heart, turned his life around. This gives us all great hope! 

Somewhere back there in the past, Zacchaeus had gotten off the track. The children sing, “Zacchaeus was a wee little man and a wee little man was he.” Well, he was “a wee little man” all right, not only in physical stature, but also in spirit.

Bad habits had evidently taken root in his heart-greed, selfishness, the lust for power, prestige, and money had possessed him. And they were destroying him. Zacchaeus, too, had a diseased heart, and his sick heart was cutting him off from other people and from God.

But, then, along came Jesus, and when Jesus touched his heart, look what happened to Zacchaeus. We see in his experience the drama of redemption, conversion, and the miracle of the transformed heart.

When the light of Christ spilled into his life, Zacchaeus was exposed in all his littleness. Perhaps for the very first time, Zacchaeus saw himself as he really was: greedy, self-centered, a traitor, a cheat, a con man. Zacchaeus didn’t like what he saw. He was ashamed and remorseful. 

The Zacchaeus story sheds God’s light on our diseased hearts. So what happens to Zacchaeus? Hold on for a surprising ending. 

Blessings on the journey!