19:1–4 Jesus is traveling through Jericho on the way to Jerusalem and has a divine encounter with Zacchaeus, a head tax collector, likely one the Romans had assigned to be a tax farmer, collecting fees from others. “The Romans auctioned off the collection of individual taxes (tolls, tariffs, and customs) to the highest bidders.”229 Zacchaeus is “either the head of a group of partners who joined together to obtain the contract, the sole owner of the contract, or someone hired by the partners to supervise the operation.”230 He would be hated because of his collaboration with the Romans. It is not surprising that he has become wealthy, as it is well known that tax collectors skimmed money off the top to their own advantage. Still, Zacchaeus is like the blind man in that he wants to see Jesus. The crowds are large, however, and Zacchaeus is short, and thus he is concerned that he will be unable to see the Lord. Zacchaeus is enterprising and determined to see him, however, and thus he runs ahead and climbs a sycamore tree so that he can see Jesus as he passes.

19:5–6 Jesus “came to seek and to save the lost” (19:10), which includes tax collectors and sinners (5:27–32), sinful women (7:36–50), prodigal sons (15:11–32), poor men like Lazarus (16:19–31), Samaritans (17:11–19), those dependent as children (18:15–17), and those who are blind (18:35–43). On this day, identified as “today” (19:9), Jesus is seeking Zacchaeus. Jesus supernaturally knows Zacchaeus’s name, underscoring his divine intention to save him. Jesus carries out God’s plan in staying at Zacchaeus’s house, for he “must” (Gk. dei) meet with him, and thus he enjoins Zacchaeus to hurry and descend from the tree. Nothing would delight Zacchaeus more, since a visit with Jesus far exceeds anything he has dreamed of, and he hastily gets down from the tree, welcoming Jesus with joy (cf. 5:29).

19:7–8 All of the bystanders complain that Jesus is lodging with a man who is a known sinner (cf. 5:30). But Zacchaeus vindicates Jesus’ decision, as he stops and exclaims that he is giving half of what he owns to the poor and is repaying fourfold all who have been cheated (cf. Ex. 22:1; 2 Sam. 12:6). Becoming Jesus’ disciple does not necessarily mean one must give up everything one owns (cf. Luke 12:33; 14:33; 18:22; Acts 5:3–4), but it does mean that riches are no longer one’s treasure (Luke 12:15–21) and that one gives generously to others (16:19–31). This is not a formula here for what it means to be a disciple, but disciples live generously and righteously. Zacchaeus is making up for what he has done wrong by restoring what he has extorted from others and by charging from now on only what is proper (cf. 3:12–13). We must recognize that Zacchaeus’s repentance is a response to Jesus’ seeking him, for Jesus said to Zacchaeus that he was going to stay at his house, and thus Jesus took the initiative.

19:9–10 Jesus declares that salvation has come to the house of Zacchaeus today. We have seen earlier that the word today plays a significant role in Luke and has salvation-historical significance. Isaianic prophecies have been fulfilled “today” in Jesus’ ministry (4:21), and the healing of the sick and casting out of demons also occur “today” (13:32–33). In the same way, the thief on the cross will be with Jesus “today” in paradise (23:43). Just as the crowd tried to deter the blind man, so they also discourage Jesus from being with Zacchaeus, but salvation is granted to Zacchaeus as a son of Abraham.

Fitzmyer thinks the point of the story is that Zacchaeus was already saved since he was a son of Abraham, and he interprets Zacchaeus to say that he has regularly been giving half of what he owns to the poor and recompensing those defrauded by agents under his charge.231 But this reading is unpersuasive.232 First, the word “today,” found twice in the text (19:5, 9), suggests that his salvation is a present reality, not a past one. Second, the people identify Zacchaeus as a sinner, and such a judgment does not square with giving half of his possessions to the poor or restoring what was extorted. Third, the point of the story is that Jesus as the Son of Man “came to seek and to save the lost.” The most natural way to read the account is that Zacchaeus is part of the lost that Jesus has come to seek and to save, which fits with his being a tax collector. The story closes, then, with a declaration that summarizes well Jesus’ entire ministry, for he came to call not the “righteous but sinners to repentance” (5:32). He seeks the lost, just as a shepherd seeks for the lost sheep (15:3–7), the woman for the lost coin (15:8–10), the father for the lost son (15:11–32).