Repentance Involves Action!

Luke 19:8-9: Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, 'Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.' Jesus said to him, 'Today salvation has come to this house . . . '"

The story of Zacchaeus is noticeably distinct from the story of the rich young ruler in the previous chapter. Zacchaeus was one of the CHIEF tax collectors, which means that after he collected what the Romans expected in revenue, he was able to extort a lot more money from the people of Palestine for himself (with the backing of the Roman government). Scripture tells us that Zacchaeus was quite wealthy, but the people hated him for his abuses of power. In fact, the community was quite astonished that Jesus would choose to stay at the house of such a "sinner." No good Jew would think of associating with such a debased person as a tax collector, and Zacchaeus would have been seen as the chief of the reprobate for his position and abuses. Of course, many of us know the story of the short-statured Zacchaeus climbing the sycamore tree to get a glimpse of the Savior. What is fascinating with his encounter with Jesus was in the way that Jesus responded to him. When Jesus looked at Zacchaeus in the tree, he said that he MUST say at his house. The Greek word for "must" is a strongly emphatic word, suggesting utter necessity. Thus, Jesus was quite intentional at communicating that his staying with Zacchaeus was of utmost importance, and I believe that Jesus knew that salvation was soon to come to this man of such poor reputation.

Zacchaeus was so overwhelmed at this initiatory prompting by the Lord, that he immediately recognized his sins of abuse toward the people and responded to his guilt with corrective action. The chief tax collector gave half of his possessions to the poor and indemnified those whom he had extorted money four times over. Even the law of Moses only required that a person who had stolen money from another give the amount back plus 20% (Numbers 5:7). Zacchaeus was willing to give the stolen money plus 300% extra!

Jesus' reply was declarative . . . He exclaimed that Zacchaeus had received salvation from his sin. Now, this passage does not suggest that Zacchaeus' deeds of restitution saved him, for we know that salvation is solely the work of Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9); still, we see from this passage that a truly transformed person cannot help but produce the fruit of repentance through his deeds/works. In other words, though works are not necessary for one's salvation, they are the necessary product of salvation (see Matthew 7:18-20 for further support of this truth).

If one contrasts the response of Zacchaeus with the rich young ruler of Luke 18, one will see a telling difference. The rich young ruler refused the invitation of the Lord for eternal life, for he craved the benefits and privileges of his wealth; in effect, the rich young ruler worshipped his earthly treasures above the Lord. As he turned away from the Savior (most likely for the last time before his judgment), Jesus said that it is quite difficult for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. Jesus was keenly aware that people of wealth can fall prey to the personal adulation that affluence affords to the rich, and are therefore unwilling to surrender that "god" to the One True God. Zacchaeus however was different. He knew that wealth had a stranglehold on him, and thus he renounced his allegiance to it by giving much of it away. Zacchaeus was saying to the Lord, "nothing I am or have shall take priority over you as my Lord . . . I surrender it all to you."

May we all reflect upon our lives, and like Zacchaeus rid ourselves of anything that we are apt to worship as our god over Jesus Christ. He alone is to be worshipped. When we renounce our allegiance to the feigned substitutes that have taken priority over God in our lives, we demonstrate by our actions that we have been transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit, bringing salvation to our souls.