If you speak English and grew up in the church, or even having gone to church as a child, I would guess that you probably know this song:
Zacchaeus was a wee little man
And a wee little man was he
He climbed up in a sycamore tree
For the Lord he wanted to see
And as the Savior passed that way
He looked up in the tree
And he said, “Zacchaeus, you come down!”
For I’m going to your house today
For I’m going to your house today
That’s a well-known kid’s song, and in truth, it is probably still the main reason that I remember the story of Zacchaeus’s encounter with Jesus.
Jesus was passing through Jericho and found Zacchaeus, this short little guy who was also a tax collector, up in a tree because he was curious about Jesus and wanted to see him as he passed through his town. Jesus, this famous teacher who does all of these miracles that only God can do, calls Zacchaeus down and tells him that he wants to be a guest at his house. Whoa, what an honor! This guy that I have heard about wants to come to my house? Incredible!
So Jesus goes, and he stays there as a guest in Zacchaeus’s house. Here Jesus is, yet again, spending time with the sinners. All of the people knew who Zacchaeus and his friends were and they most certainly comment that Jesus is with the sinners.
But it is this next part that I find incredibly interesting.
Zacchaeus knows who he is. He knows that he is a sinner and has betrayed his own people by working for the Roman government. Beyond that, he knows that, as a tax collector, he has charged more than what he has needed and pocketed the rest, effectively also stealing from his own people for his own gain. And he knows how the people think of him. He knows that he is hated.
And now, with Jesus having come to his house, he wants to make it right. The Lord has come to him and he wants to come to the Lord.
So Zacchaeus repents. He repents quickly, and fully:
But 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.”
Luke 19:8
His repentance is going to cost him. For him, it isn’t just a matter of saying “I’m sorry” and praying a prayer. No, it is going to cost him. He isn’t going to be the person that he has been. He is going to be the person that God wants him to be.
And that is a true picture of repentance. That is what it looks like. In a moment, his heart was changed and he truly wanted to give his life, his whole life, his entire life to Christ, such that what he has been, he no longer wanted to be. Instead, he would give his possessions and then much more, to completely change his life.