Zacchaeus Rewarded

Luke 19: 1-10

Zacchaeus the Tax Collector

19 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.

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.”

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.”

Notice the zeal, sincerity and enthusiasm of Zacchaeus: he climbs a tree like a kid for a better view of Jesus, he welcomes him gladly, he confesses that he gives half his possessions to the poor, and will repay (the Greek word indicates that he already does) four times the amount of overpaid taxes... A good man, no wonder Jesus wants to eat at his house! It is a fitting reward for his goodness.

Would that we could "boast" of such good deeds as Zacchaeus performed...but perhaps we do or can do right now.  What is holding us back? 

Bro Rene