Zacchaeus [Zăcchae'us]—pure or justified.

The Man Who Overcame Obstacles

Zacchaeus was the wealthy man of Jerusalem who gathered revenue for the Roman government, but who became a disciple of Christ (Luke 19:1-10). A “chief publican,” Zacchaeus might have been of a higher grade than Matthew.

Although not one of Christ’s expected converts, Zacchaeus had heard much about Christ and was determined to see Him for himself. When ultimately Christ came his way there were two obstacles in his way—the crowd, and his own short stature. But he quickly overcame both hindrances.

I. The crowd. It is strange that those who were enthusiastic about Christ were the very people blocking Zacchaeus'view. What a lesson for our hearts can be gleaned from this fact!

II. The short stature. The other difficulty was Zacchaeus himself. His native hindrance was his small stature, which he quickly overcame. Up the tree he climbed and had the best view of Jesus that day. If we would see Jesus we too must scramble higher than ourselves.

III. The call to discipleship. Our Lord called Zacchaeus down and invited Himself to his house. Zacchaeus was a sinner and Christ saved him. Quickly Zacchaeus revealed the depth of his surrender to his newly found Master. There came an immediate and generous restitution.