Luk 19:1-9 | Barnes | STEP | Verse 1. And Jesus entered , &c. . This means, perhaps, he was passing through Jericho when Zaccheus saw him. His house was in Jerico. (b) "Jericho"

Luke 19:1-9

Verse 1. And Jesus entered, &c. Mt 20:29.

This means, perhaps, he was passing through Jericho when Zaccheus saw him. His house was in Jerico.

(b) "Jericho" Josh 6:26, 1Kgs 16:34 Verse 2. A man named Zaccheus. The name Zaccheus is Hebrew, and shows that this man was a Jew. The Hebrew name properly means pure, and is the same as Zacchai in Ezr 2:9, Neh 7:14. The publicans, therefore, were not all foreigners.

Chief among the publicans. Who presided over other tax-gatherers, or who received their collections and transmitted them to the Roman government

He was rich. Though this class of men was despised and often infamous, yet it seems that they were sometimes wealthy. They sustained, however, the general character of sinners, because they were particularly odious in the eyes of the Jews. Lk 19:7. The evangelist has thought it worthy of record that he was rich, perhaps, because it was so unlikely that a rich man should follow so poor and despised a personage as Jesus of Nazareth, and because it was so unusual a thing during his personal ministry. Not many rich were called, but God chiefly chose the poor of this world. Compare 1Cor 1:26-29. Verse 3. Who he was. Rather what sort of person he was, or how he appeared. He had that curiosity which is natural to men to see one of whom they have heard much. It would seem, also, that in this case mere curiosity led to his conversion and that of his family. Comp. 1Cor 14:23-25. God makes use of every principle--of curiosity, or sympathy, or affection, or hope, or fear --to lead men in the way of salvation, and to impress truth on the minds of sinners.

The press. The crowd; the multitude that surrounded Jesus. Earthly princes are often borne in splendid equipages, or even carried, as in Eastern nations, in palanquins on the shoulders of men. Jesus mingled with the multitude, not seeking distinctions of that sort, and perhaps, in appearance, not distinguished from thousands that followed him.

Little of stature. Short. Not a tall man. Verse 4. A sycamore-tree. Lk 17:6 Verse 5.Abide at thy house. Remain there, or put up with him. This was an honour which Zaccheus did not expect. The utmost, it seems, which he aimed at was to see Jesus; but, instead of that, Jesus proposed to remain with him, and to give him the benefit of his personal instruction. It is but one among a thousand instances where the Saviour goes, in bestowing mercies, far beyond the desert, the desire, or the expectation of men; and it is not improper to learn from this example that solicitude to behold the Saviour will not pass unnoticed by him, but will meet with his warm approbation, and be connected with his blessing. Jesus was willing to encourage efforts to come to him, and his benevolence prompted him to gratify the desires of the man who was solicitous to see him. He does not disdain the mansions of the rich any more than he does the dwelling-places of the poor, provided there be a humble heart; and he did not suppose there was less need of his presence in order to save in the house of the rich man than among the poor. He set an example to all his ministers, and was not afraid or ashamed to proclaim his gospel amid wealth. He was not awed by external splendour or grandeur.

(b) "saw him" Ps 139:1-3 (c) "abide at thy house" Jn 14:23, Rev 3:20 Verse 7. Murmured. Found fault, complained.

To be a guest. To remain with, or to be entertained by.

A man that is a sinner. All publicans they regarded as great sinners, and the chief of the publicans, therefore, they regarded as peculiarly wicked. It would appear also from Zaccheus' confession that his character had been that of an oppressive man. But the people seemed to forget that he might be a penitent, and that the Messiah came to save that which was lost.

(d) "That he was gone" Mt 9:11, Lk 5:30 Verse 8. The half of my goods I give to the poor. It is not necessary to understand this as affirming that this had been his practice, or that he said this in the way of proclaiming his own righteousness. It may be understood rather as a purpose which he then formed under the teaching of Christ. He seems to have been sensible that he was a sinner. Of this he was convinced, as we may suppose, by the presence and discourse of Jesus. At first, attracted only by curiosity, or, it may be, by partial conviction that this was the Messiah, he had sought to see the Saviour; but his presence and conversation convinced him of his guilt, and he stood and openly confessed his sins, and expressed his purpose to give half his ill-gotten property to the poor. This was not a proclamation of his own righteousness, nor the ground of his righteousness, but it was the evidence of the sincerity of his repentance, and the confession which with the mouth is made unto salvation, Rom 10:10.

And if I have taken. His office gave him the power of oppressing the people, and it seems that he did not deny that it had been done.

By false accusation. This is the same word which in Lk 3:14 is rendered "neither accuse any falsely." The accusation seems to have been so made that the person accused was obliged to pay much greater taxes, or so that his property came into the hands of the informer. There are many ways in which this might be done, but we do not know the exact manner.

I restore him. We cannot suppose that this had been always his practice, for no man would wantonly extort money from another, and then restore him at once four times as much; but it means that he was made sensible of his guilt; perhaps that his mind had been a considerable time perplexed in the matter, and that now he was resolved to make the restoration. This was the evidence of his penitence and conversion. And here it may be remarked that this is always an indisputable evidence of a man's conversion to God. A man who has hoarded ill-gotten gold, if he becomes a Christian, will be disposed to do good with it. A man who has injured others--who has cheated them or defrauded them, even by due forms of law, must, if he be a Christian, be willing, as far as possible, to make restoration. Zaceheus, for anything that appears to the contrary, may have obtained this property by the decisions of courts of justice, but he now felt that it was wrong; and though the defrauded men could not legally recover it, yet his conscience told him that, in order to his being a true penitent, he must make restitution. One of the best evidences of true conversion is when it produces this result; and one of the surest evidences that a professed penitent is not a true one, is when he is not disposed to follow the example of this son of Abraham and make proper restitution.

Four-fold. Four times as much as had been unjustly taken. This was the amount that was required in the Jewish law when a sheep had been stolen, and a man was convicted of the theft by trial at law, Ex 22:1. If he confessed it himself, without being detected and tried, he had only to restore what was stolen, and add to it a fifth part of its value, Nu 5:6,7. The sincerity of Zaccheus' repentance was manifest by his being willing to make restoration as great as if it had been proved against him, evincing his sense of the wrong, and his purpose to make full restitution. The Jews were allowed to take no interest of their brethren (Lev 25:35,36), and this is the reason why that is not mentioned as the measure of the restitution. When injury of this kind is done in other places, the least that is proper is to restore the principal and interest; for the injured person has a right to all that his property would have procured him if it had not been unjustly taken away.

(e) "I give to the poor" Ps 41:1 (f) "by false accusation" Ex 20:16, Lk 3:14 (g) "restore him four-fold" Ex 22:1, 2Sam 12:6

Verse 9. Salvation is come to this house. This family. They have this day received the blessings of the gospel, and become interested in the Messiah's kingdom. Salvation commences when men truly receive Christ and their sins are pardoned; it is completed when the soul is sanctified and received up into heaven.

Forasmuch. Because. For he has given evidence that he is a new man, and is disposed to forsake his sins and receive the gospel.

The son of Abraham. Hitherto, although a Jew, yet he has been a sinner, and a great sinner. He was not worthy to be called a son of Abraham. Now, by repentance, and by receiving the Christ whose day Abraham saw and was glad (Jn 8:56), he has shown himself to be worthy to be called his son. Abraham was an example of distinguished piety; the father of the faithful (Rom 4:11), as well as the ancestor of the Jews. They were called his sons who were descended from him, and particularly they who resembled him. In this place the phrase is used in both senses.

(h) "son of Abraham" Lk 13:16