Luke chapter nineteen records the encounter Jesus had with a man named Zacchaeus (vs. 1-10). Our children sing about Zacchaeus as the wee little man who climbed up in the sycamore tree to see Jesus as He was passing by. Luke tells us he was a chief tax collector and was a wealthy man.

As Jesus passed through the crowd, He looked up and saw Zacchaeus in the tree and told him to come down, "for today I must stay at your house" (v. 5). Zacchaeus responded to the command with great joy, but the people complained, saying Jesus was going to the house of a sinner. The Jews viewed all tax collectors as sinners. Not only were they collecting taxes for Rome, but it was the practice of many tax collectors to collect more taxes than actually owed to Rome and keep the surplus for themselves. They were not only "disloyal" to their brethren the Jews, but they were also thieves - sinners.

Luke records Zacchaeus' response to the crowd's accusation: "Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, 'Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold'" (v. 8). Many people (including myself in the past) have taken this as a statement of Zacchaeus' repentance. That is, he has had a change of heart and is telling Jesus that he will immediately give half his goods to the poor and will make restitution for his sinful practices of overcharging taxpayers by restoring four times the amount taken.

However, I believe a closer look at the passage will reveal that Zacchaeus is not repenting. He is defending his character. He is saying he is in the practice of giving half his goods to the poor. He is a very generous man. Also, he is already in the practice of correcting any "overcharges" to taxpayers. If anyone can prove he has taken more from them than what was really owed, he restores the amount to them fourfold. If this is a statement of repentance, Zacchaeus is not a very bright man. The math does not add up in his favor. If he was in the practice of overcharging people for their taxes he could not afford to pay them all back fourfold.

While there are many great accounts of repentance in the Bible, I do not believe this is one of them. Instead, it offered great lessons for those in the crowd; and for us as well. First, we cannot paint people with such a broad brush. The crowd had already decided Zacchaeus was a sinner, not based upon his actions, but upon their opinion of his profession. People need to be judged on their own merit and proven character. Second, Jesus vindicated Zacchaeus before the crowd by stating he was a "son of Abraham" (v. 9). What made him a son of Abraham was not his bloodline, but his faith (he climbed up in a tree to see Jesus) and his character. Likewise, we are sons of Abraham if we share the faith of Abraham (Gal. 3:7, 29). Finally, Jesus said that salvation had come to Zacchaeus' house (v. 9). This challenged the beliefs of the Jews. They had already dismissed him as a sinner, but Jesus offered Him salvation, going on to add, "for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost" (v. 10). Like the Jews, could we be guilty of dismissing and condemning those who Jesus has come to save?

Think about it.