ZACCHAEUS ză ke’ əs (Ζακχαῖος, G2405, derived from the Heb. זַכָּ֔י, meaning “pure or righteous one”). A wealthy Jewish tax-collector of Jericho, known for his short stature, who became a disciple of Jesus under most unusual circumstances (Luke 19:1-10).

Luke is the only evangelist who records the exciting Zacchaeus pericope. One is amazed that the story is not included in the gospel according to Matthew, the publican’s gospel written for Jews, but the episode fits the dominant note of Luke’s “Gospel for the Gentiles” very well and no doubt Luke included it to show that the Gospel is for all those estranged from God. Luke makes a special point that Zacchaeus was a chief or head tax-collector (architelones) and that “he was rich.” No doubt he was sort of a district tax commissioner who had purchased the Jericho tax franchise from the Rom. or provincial government which he then farmed out to subordinate tax agents who did the actual tax collecting, all of them reaping huge commissions and getting rich off poor and rich alike. Jericho was known for its palm groves and balsam (Jos., Antiq., xv, 4. 2.) and was on the main load of traffic between Joppa, Jerusalem and the country E of Jordan. It was easy to amass a fortune there. It is possible he was one of the most hated men in Jericho and it was natural that the people who witnessed the incident murmured against Jesus: “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.”

When Jesus, His disciples, and a crowd of followers, the sick and the curious, came through Jericho on the way to the Passover in Jerusalem, it must have formed quite a commotion. Perhaps on that day Zacchaeus happened to be walking in the street or his place of business which was nearby, and he wondered who could be attracting such a crowd during the middle of the day. There is no indication that he had personally met Jesus before, because “he tried to see who Jesus was.” Because of his short build he could not see over the multitude. He anticipated that Jesus, who was moving slowly along with the crowd, would pass along his street, so he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree common in the Jordan Valley. Zacchaeus certainly must have been surprised—and, one should comment, a bit embarrassed with the whole crowd looking up in amazement at the chief tax collector of Jericho up in a tree—when Jesus stopped, looked up, and called out to him over the noise of the crowd. What He said is part of the divine prerogative of knowledge and purpose which permeates the entire story: “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down: for I must stay at your house today.” The omniscient Lord knew the heart of Zacchaeus as He once knew Nathanael’s (John 1:48).

The conversion which followed must have caused quite a stir in Jericho. A hated tax collector, a collaborator with the oppressive Romans, had become a disciple of Jesus. Thousands of conversions during Jesus’ ministry are not recorded, but that of Zacchaeus will always be remembered. Here great opposites met, the chief of sinners and the Chief of Love, and love is triumphant. This is the message and thrust of the Gospel: “The Son of man came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10). The conversion of the little Jew is exemplary of all true Christian re-birth; he scrambled with haste down the tree and stood before Jesus with great joy of faith, and immediately began to show tangible evidence of his faith and repentance. His life was completely transformed through Christ. Spontaneously he openly confesses the sins of his evil life. His words reveal what his sin was: “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor.” Now he would do the opposite of what he once did, showing that all believers rich and poor are one in Christ. Jewish custom was that one fifth of man’s annual income should be given for works of love, but Zacchaeus went far beyond this. Secondly, because he knew that he had not gotten all his wealth through just means—and how much had not his henchmen stolen from the people through misrepresentation, pressure and extortion?—he said: “And if I have defrauded any one of anything, I restore it fourfold.” Bible students have noted that he did not say “When I die,” but now I give it (didomi). According to the law he offered twice the restitution which thieves must make under Jewish law (Exod 22:1; Num 5:6).

Jesus’ pronouncement of remission, “Today salvation has come to this house” (Luke 19:9), included not only Zacchaeus himself but all the members of his household. The expression finds its meaning in the Jewish concept of the family under the Old Covenant. Now Zacchaeus was a true son of Abraham, a child of the promise, and the blessings of Abraham were fulfilled for him in the forgiving Christ, even those who by their profession were considered heathen (Matt 18:17).

The Clementine Homilies (3:63) state that Zacchaeus later became a companion of Peter and bishop at Caesarea but the remark is not based upon fact.