Luke 19:5

Luk 19:5-8. And when Jesus came to the place he looked up, into the tree, and saw him — Zaccheus came to look upon Christ, and resolved to take particular notice of him, but little thought of being noticed by Christ. That was an honour too great, and too far above his merit, for him to have any thought of. Observe, reader, how Christ prevented him with the blessings of his goodness, and outdid his expectations; and see how he encourages very weak beginnings, and helps them forward. He that desires to know Christ shall be known of him: he that only desires to see him, shall be admitted to converse with him. And said, Zaccheus, make haste and come down, for to-day, &c. — Jesus had never seen him before, yet he called him by his name, and by what he said intimated that he knew his house was farther on the road. What a strange mixture of passions must Zaccheus have now felt, hearing one speak as knowing both his name and his heart. Zaccheus might ask, as Nathaniel did, (Joh 1:48,) Whence knowest thou me? But before he climbed the sycamore-tree, Christ saw him and knew him. And he made haste, &c., and received him joyfully — Overjoyed to have such an honour put upon him and his family. And his receiving him into his house was an indication of his receiving him into his heart. And when they saw it — When the multitude saw him enter the house of Zaccheus; they all murmured — Were very much offended at the particular regard that Jesus showed him; saying, he was gone to be a guest, παρα αμαρτωλω ανδρι, with a sinful man — And were not they themselves sinful men? and was it not Christ’s errand into the world to seek and save sinful men? But they seem to have thought that Zaccheus was a sinner above all men that dwelt in Jericho; such a sinner as was not fit to be conversed with. He, however, soon gave proof, that though he had been a sinner, he was now a penitent, and a true convert. Zaccheus stood, and said to the Lord — He makes his declaration standing, not only that he might be seen and heard by those who murmured at Christ for coming to his house; but that he might show by his posture his deliberate purpose and ready mind; and express himself with solemnity, as making a vow to God. Behold, Lord, half of my goods I give to the poor — He does not say, I will give it by my will when I die; but I give it now. Though hitherto I have been uncharitable to the poor, now I will relieve them, and give so much the more for having neglected the duty so long. He does not expect to be justified by his works, as the Pharisee did, who boasted of what he had done, but by his good works he purposed, through the grace of God, to evidence the sincerity of his faith and repentance, and he here signifies that this was his purpose. He addresses himself to Christ, in making this declaration, and not to the people, who were not to be his judges: and he stands, as it were, at Christ’s bar. The good that we do, we must do as unto him: we must appeal to him, and approve ourselves to him in our integrity, in all our good purposes and resolutions. If I have taken any thing by false accusation — Or by any kind of injurious charges, or oppressive claims, as the word εσυκοφαντησα, according to Heinsius, may very properly signify. He seems to have meant, by any unjust exaction of the taxes. I restore him four-fold — “This was the utmost that the Jewish law required, even in cases of fraudulent concealment and conviction; (unless where an ox had been killed or sold, and so its labour lost to the owner, and the discovery rendered more difficult: Exo 22:1;) for the phrase of restoring seven-fold, (Pro 6:31,) seems only proverbial, to express making abundant satisfaction. But if a man, not legally convicted or accused, voluntarily discovered a fraud he had committed, besides his trespass-offering, he was to add to the principal only a fifth part, Lev 6:5. Zaccheus therefore shows the sincerity of his repentance by such an offer. Some commentators have remarked, that oppressive publicans were by the Roman law required to restore four- fold; but this was only after judgment obtained, where they had been guilty of extorting by force; whereas, before conviction, it was enough to make restitution of what had been taken; and even after it, in common cases, all that the law required was restoring twice as much.” — Doddridge.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Luke

MELTED BY KINDNESS

Luk 19:5.

It is characteristic of Luke that only he tells the story of Zacchaeus. He always dwells with special interest on incidents bringing out the character of Christ as the Friend of outcasts. His is eminently the Gospel of forgiveness. For example, we owe to Him the three supreme parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the prodigal son, as well as those of the Pharisee and the publican praying in the Temple; and of the good Samaritan. It is he that tells us that all the publicans and sinners came near to Jesus to hear Him; and he loses no opportunity of enforcing the lesson with which this incident closes, ‘The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.’ It is because of the light that it throws upon that great thought that he tells this fascinating story of Zacchaeus. I need not repeat it. We all remember it, and the quaintness and grotesqueness of part of it fix it in people’s memories. We know how the rich tax gatherer, pocketing his dignity, and unable to see over the heads of the crowd, scrambled up into the branches of the sycamore tree that overhung the road; and there was found by the eye of love, and surprised by the words of kindness, which melted him down, and made a new man of him on the spot. The story seems to me to be full of teaching, to which I desire to turn your attention at this time.

I. First, note the outcast, drawn by imperfect motives to Jesus Christ.

It has been supposed that this man was a Gentile, but his Jewish name establishes his origin. And, if so, the fact that he was a publican and a Jew says a good deal about his character. There are some trades which condemn, to a certain extent, the men who engage in them. You would not expect to find a man of sensitive honour acting as a professional spy; or one of earnest religious character keeping a public-house. You would not expect to find a very good Jew condescending to be the tool of the Roman Government. Zacchaeus was at the head of the revenue office in Jericho, a position of considerable importance, inasmuch as there was a large volume of trade through that city from its situation near the fords of the Jordan, and from the fertility of the plain in which it stood. He had made some money, and probably made it by very questionable means. He was the object, not undeservedly, of the execration and suspicion of his countrymen. Italians did not love Italians who took service under Austria. Irishmen did not love Irishmen who in the bad old days used to collect church cess. And so Jews had no very kind feeling towards Jews who became Caesar’s servants. That a man should be in such a position indicated that he cared more for money than for patriotism, religion, or popular approval. His motto was the motto of that Roman Emperor who said, ‘Money has no smell,’ out of whatever cesspool it may have been fished up. But the consciousness of being encompassed by universal hatred would induce the object of it to put on an extra turn of the screw, and avenge upon individuals the general hostility. So we may take it for granted that Zacchaeus, the head of the Jericho custom-house, and rich to boot, was by no means a desirable character.

What made him want to see Jesus Christ? He said to himself, curiosity; but probably he was doing himself injustice, and there was something else working below than merely the wish to see what sort of man was this Rabbi Joshua from Galilee that everybody was talking about. Had he heard that Jesus had a soft place in His heart for his class? Or was he, perhaps, beginning to get tired of being the butt of universal hatred, and finding that money scarcely compensated for that? Or was there some reaching out towards some undefined good, and a dissatisfaction with a very defined present, though unnamed, evil? Probably so. Like some of us, he put the trivial motive uppermost because he was half ashamed of the half-conscious better one.

I wonder if there are any here now who said to themselves that they would come out of curiosity to hear the preacher, or from some such ordinary motive, and who all the while have, lying deep below that, another reason altogether, a dim feeling that it is not all right between them and God, and that here may be the place to have it put right? At all events, from whatsoever imperfect motives little Zacchaeus was perched up in the sycamore there, he went to see Christ, and he got more than he went for. Unconsciously we may be drawn, and imperfect motives may lead us to a perfect Saviour.

He sets us an example in another way. Do not be too punctilious about dignity in pursuing aims that you know to be good. It would be a sight to bring jeers and grins on the faces of the crowd to see the rich man of the custom-house sitting up amongst the leaves. But he did not mind about that if he got a good look at the Rabbi when He passed. People care nothing for ridicule if their hearts are set upon a thing. I wish there were more of us who did not mind being laughed at if only what we did helped us to see Jesus Christ. Do not be afraid of ridicule. It is not a test of truth; in nine cases out of ten it is the grimace of fools.

II. Then, further, notice the self-invited Guest.

When the little procession stopped under the sycamore tree, Zacchaeus would begin to feel uncomfortable. He may have had experience in past times of the way in which the great doctors of orthodoxy were in the habit of treating a publican, and may have begun to be afraid that this new one was going to be like all the rest, and elicit some kind of mob demonstration against him. The crowd would be waiting with intense curiosity to see what would pass between the Rabbi and the revenue collector. They would all be very much astonished. ‘Zacchaeus! make haste and come down. To-day I must abide at thy house.’ Perhaps it was the first time since he had been a child at his mother’s knee that he had heard his name pronounced in tones of kindness. There was not a ragged beggar in Jericho who would not have thought himself degraded by putting his foot across the threshold that Jesus now says He will cross.

It is the only time in which we read that Jesus volunteered to go into any house. He never offers to go where He is not wanted, any more than He ever stays away where He is. And so the very fact of His saying ‘I will abide at thy house,’ is to me an indication that, deep down below Zacchaeus’ superficial and vulgar curiosity, there was something far more noble which our Lord fosters into life and consciousness by this offer.

Many large truths are suggested by it on which we may touch. We have in Christ’s words an illustration of His individualising knowledge. ‘Zacchaeus, come down.’ There is no sign that anybody had told Christ the name, or that He knew anything about Zacchaeus before by human knowledge. But the same eye that saw Nathanael under the fig-tree saw Zacchaeus in the sycamore; and, seeing in secret, knew without being told the names of both. Christ does not name men in vain. He generally, when He uses an individual’s name in addressing him, means either to assert His knowledge of his character, or His authority over him, or in some way or other to bespeak personal adhesion and to promise personal affection. So He named some of His disciples, weaving a bond that united each single soul to Himself by the act. This individualising knowledge and drawing love and authority are all expressed, as I think, in that one word ‘Zacchaeus.’ And these are as true about us as about him. The promises of the New Testament, the words of Jesus Christ, the great, broad, universal ‘whosoevers’ of His assurance and of His commandments are as directly meant for each of us as if they were in an envelope with our names upon them and put into our hands. We, too, are spoken to by Him by our names, and for us, too, there may be a personal bond of answering love that knits us individually to the Master, as there certainly is a bond of personal regard, compassion, affection, and purpose of salvation in His heart in regard of each single soul of all the masses of humanity. I should have done something if I should have been able to gather into a point, that blessedly pierced some heart to let the life in, the broad truths of the Gospel. ‘Whosoever will, let him come.’ Say to yourself, ‘That is me.’ ‘Whosoever cometh I will in no wise cast out.’ Say to yourself, ‘That is me.’ And in like manner with all the general declarations, and especially with that chiefest of them all, ‘God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish.’ Read it as you may-and you will never read it right until you do-’God so loved me’-John, Mary, or whatever be your name-’Jesus so loved me that if I believe upon Him I shall not perish, but have everlasting life.’

Then, note, further, how here we get the revelation, in a concrete form, of Christ’s perfect willingness and desire to make common cause, and dwell with the most degraded and outcast. I have said that this is the only instance in which He volunteered to be a guest. Pharisees asked Him, and He did not refuse. The publican’s dwelling, which was tabooed, He opened the door of by His own hand. And that is what He always does.

This little incident may be taken to be, not merely a symbol of His whole dealings, but an illustration, in small, of the same principle which has its largest embodiment and illustration in the fact of His Incarnation and Manhood. Why did Jesus Christ take flesh and dwell among us? Because He desired to seek and to save that which is lost. Why did He go into the publican’s house, and brave the sneers of the crowd, and associate Himself with the polluted? For the same reason. Microscopic crystals and gigantic ones are due to the same forces working in the same fashion. This incident is more than a symbol; it is a little instance of the operation of the law which finds its supreme and transcendent instance in the fact that the Eternal Son of God bowed the heavens and came down ‘and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory.’

His example is our pattern. A Christian church which does not imitate its Master in its frank and continual willingness to associate itself with the degraded and the outcast has lost one of the truest signs of its being vitalised with the life of Christ. There is much in this day in the condition of Christian communities to make men dissatisfied and fearful. But there is one thing which, though in all its developments one cannot sympathise with it, is in its essence wholly good, and that is the new and quickened consciousness that a church which does not address itself to the outcasts has no business to live; and that Christian people who are too proud of their righteousness to go amongst the unclean and the degraded are a great deal more of Pharisees than Christians, and have need to learn which be the first principles of the religion which they profess. Self-righteousness gathers up its skirts in holy horror; perfect righteousness goes cheerily and without fear amongst the outcasts, for where should the physician go but to the sick, and where should Christ be found but in the house of the publican?

Further, the saying of our Lord suggests His recognition of the great law that ruled His life. Chronology here is of much importance. We do not generally remember that the scene with Zacchaeus was within about a week of the Crucifixion. Our Lord was on that last journey to Jerusalem to die, during the whole of which there was over His demeanour a tension of holy impatience, altogether unlike His usual manner, which astonished and amazed the disciples as they followed Him. He set His face like a flint to go to Jerusalem; and strode before them on the way as if He were eager to reach the culmination of His sufferings and of His work. Thus borne on the wings of the strong desire to be perfected on the Cross, He is arrested on His path. Nothing else was able to stop Him, but ‘To-day I must abide in thy house.’ There was a soul to be saved; and the world’s sacrifice had to wait till the single soul was secured. Christ hurrying, if I may use the word, at all events steadfastly and without wavering, pressing towards the Cross, let His course be stopped by this need. The highest ‘must’ was obedience to the Father’s will, and parallel with that need there was the other, of rescuing the Father’s prodigal sons. So this elder Brother owned the obligation, and paused on the road to Calvary, to lodge in the house of Zacchaeus. Let us learn the sweet lesson, and take the large consolations that lie in such a thought.

Again, the utterance of this self-invited Guest suggests His over-abundant fulfilment of timid, half-conscious desires. I said at the beginning of my remarks that only curiosity was on the surface; but that the very fact that our Lord addressed Himself to the man seemed to imply that He descried in him something more than mere vulgar curiosity. And the glad leap with which Zacchaeus came down from his tree might have revealed to Zacchaeus himself, as no doubt it did to some of the bystanders, what it was that he had been dimly wishing. So with us all there are needs, longings, half-emerging wishes, that have scarcely come into the field of consciousness, but yet have power enough to modify our actions. Jesus Christ understands all about us, and reads us better than we do ourselves; and is ready to meet, and by meeting to bring into full relief, these vague feelings after an undefined good. Brethren, He is to us, if we will let Him be, all that we want; and He is to us all that we need, although we only half know that we need it, and never say to ourselves that we wish it.

There is a last thought deducible from these words of our Lord’s; and that is, His leaving a man to decide whether he will have Him or no. ‘Make haste and come down, for to-day I must abide at thy house. Yes! but if Zacchaeus had stuck in his tree, Christ’s ‘must’ would not have been fulfilled. He would have gone on to Jerusalem if the publican had not scrambled down in haste. He forces Himself on no man; He withholds Himself from no man. He respects that awful prerogative of being the architects of our own evil and our own good, by our own free and unconstrained choice.

Did you ever think that it was now or never with this publican; that Jesus Christ was never to go through the streets of Jericho any more; that it was Zacchaeus’ last chance; and that, if he had not made haste, he would have lost Christ for ever? And so it is yet. There may be some in this place at this moment to whom Jesus Christ is now making His last appeal. I know not; no man knows. A Rabbi said, when they asked him when a man should repent, ‘Repent on the last day of your lives.’ And they said, ‘But we do not know when that will be.’ And he said, ‘Then repent now.’ So I say, because some of you may never hear Christ’s Gospel again, and because none of us know whether we shall or not; make sure work of it now, and do not let Jesus Christ go out of the city and up the road between the hills yonder; for if once the folds of the ravine shut Him from sight He will never be back in Jericho, or seen by Zacchaeus any more for ever.

III. And so, lastly, notice the outcast melted by kindness.

We do not know at what stage in our Lord’s intercourse with the publican he ‘stood and said, Half of my goods I give to the poor,’ and so on. But whensoever it was, it was the sign of the entire revolution that had been wrought upon him by the touch of that loving hand, and by the new fountain of sympathy and love that he had found in Jesus Christ.

Some people have supposed, indeed, that his words do not mark a vow for the future, but express his practice in the past. But it seems to me to be altogether incongruous that Zacchaeus should advertise his past good in order to make himself out to be not quite so bad as people thought him, and, therefore, not so unworthy of being Christ’s host. Christ’s love kindles sense of our sin, not complacent recounting of our goodness. So Zacchaeus said, ‘Lord! Thou hast loved me, and I wonder. I yield, and fling away my black past; and, so far as I can, make restitution for it.’

The one transforming agency is the love of Christ received into the heart. I do not suppose that Zacchaeus knew as much about Jesus Christ even after the conversation as we do; nor did he see His love in that supreme death on the Cross as we do. But the love of the Lord made a deep dint in his heart, and revolutionised his whole nature. The thing that will alter the whole current and set of a man’s affections, that will upset his estimate of the relative value of material and spiritual, and that will turn him inside out and upside down, and make a new man of him, is the revelation of the supreme love that in Jesus Christ has come into the world, with an individualising regard to each of us, and has died on the Cross for the salvation of us all. Nothing else will do it. People had frowned on Zacchaeus, and it made him bitter. They had execrated and persecuted him; and his only response was setting his teeth more firmly and turning the screw a little tighter when he had the chance. You can drive a man into devilry by contempt. If you want to melt him into goodness, try love. The Ethiopian cannot change his skin, but Jesus Christ can change his heart, and that will change his skin by degrees. The one transforming power is faith in the love of Jesus Christ.

Further, the one test of a true reception of Him is the abandonment of past evil and restitution for it as far as possible. People say that our Gospel is unreal and sentimental, and a number of other ugly adjectives. Well! If it ever is so, it is the fault of the speakers, and not of the Gospel. For its demands from every man that accepts it are intensely practical, and nothing short of a complete turning of his back upon his old self, shown in the conclusive forsaking of former evil, however profitable or pleasant, and reparation for harm done to men, satisfies them.

It is useless to talk about loving Jesus Christ and trusting Him, and having the sweet assurance of forgiveness, and a glorious hope of heaven, unless these have made you break off your bad habits of whatsoever sort they may be, and cast them behind your backs. Strong emotion, sweet deep feeling, assured confidence in the sense of forgiveness and the hope of heaven, are all very well. Let us see your faith by your works; and of these works the chief is-Behold the evil that I did, I do it no more: ‘Behold! Lord! the half of my goods I give to the poor.’ There was a young ruler, a chapter before this, who could not make up his mind to part with wealth in order to follow Christ. This man has so completely made up his mind to follow Christ that he does not need to be bidden to give up his worldly goods. The half given to the poor, and fourfold restoration to those whom he had wronged, would not leave much. How astonished Zacchaeus would have been if anybody had said to him that morning, ‘Zacchaeus! before this night falls you will be next door to a pauper, and you will be a happier man than you are now!’ So, dear friends, like him, all of us may, if we will, and if we need, make a sudden right-about-face that shall alter the complexion of our whole future. People tell us that sudden conversions are suspicious. So they may be in certain cases. But the moment when a man makes up his mind to change the direction in which his face is set will always be a moment, however long may be the hesitation, and the meditation, and the preparation that led up to it.

Jesus Christ is standing before each of us as truly as He did before that publican, and is saying to us as truly as He said to him, ‘Let Me in.’ ‘Behold! I stand at the door and knock. If any man open . . . I will enter.’ If He comes in He will teach you what needs to be turned out if He is to stop; and will make the sacrifice blessed and not painful; and you will be a happier and a richer man with Christ and nothing than with all beside and no Christ.

Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

19:5 Zacchaeus! . . . I must be a guest: Jesus knew Zacchaeus’ name and invited himself to Zacchaeus’ home, emphasizing his divine authority and that this appointment was made by God.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Luk 19:5. Ζακχαῖε, Zaccheus) Zaccheus could not but both have wondered and rejoiced at his being thus addressed by name.—σήμερον, to-day) See Luk 19:9.—οἴκῳ, at thy house) See again Luk 19:9.—δεῖ με, I must) for the sake of thy salvation. See Luk 19:10.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Luk_19:5-7. Whether Jesus had any personal knowledge of Zacchaeus, is a matter which could be decided only by circumstances unknown to us; and hence to bring in the higher knowledge of Jesus (Olshausen), as seeing him nevertheless directly in his inner nature, is in the case before us a course without sufficient justification, although Strauss, I. p. 575 f., builds thereon the view that the history is a variation of the theme of the intercourse with the publicans. According to Paulus, some one named the man to him.

σήμερον] emphatically, comp. Luk_19:9. This day is the day so important to thee, when I must abide in thy house (stay the night, Joh_1:39). δεῖ is spoken from the consciousness of the divine appointment (Luk_19:10), as if He could not dispense with Zacchaeus, whom, nevertheless, everybody else avoided as a great sinner (Luther, Predigt.).

Luk_19:7. The murmurers (διεγογγ., see on Luk_15:2) are Jews, who accompanied Jesus to the house of Zacchaeus, situated (Luk_19:1) before the city on the way towards Jerusalem, and here at the entrance, probably in the forecourt where the publican came to meet Jesus, saw how joyously he receives Him. Comp. on Luk_19:11.

παρὰ ἁμ. ἀνδρί] belongs to καταλῦσαι.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Luk 19:5 . Ζακχαῖε : Jesus knows his name, how not indicated. σπεύσας , etc., uttered in cordial tone as if He were speaking to a familiar friend whom He is glad to see and with whom He means to stay that day. What a delightful surprise that salutation, and how irresistible its friendly frankness, Luk 19:6 shows.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

looked up,--in the full knowledge of who was in the tree, and preparatory to addressing him.

Zaccheus--whom he had never seen in the flesh, nor probably heard of. "He calleth His own sheep by name and leadeth them out" (Joh 10:3).

make haste, and come down--to which he literally responded--"he made haste and came down."

for to-day, &c.--Our Lord invites Himself, and in "royal" style, which waits not for invitations, but as the honor is done to the subject, not the sovereign, announces the purpose of royalty to partake of the subject's hospitalities. Manifestly our Lord speaks as knowing how the privilege would be appreciated.

to-day . . . abide--(Compare Joh 1:39), probably over night.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 5. Make haste, and come down] With this invitation, our blessed Lord conveyed heavenly influence to his heart; hence he was disposed to pay the most implicit and cheerful obedience to the call, and thus he received not the grace of God in vain.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(5) To day I must abide at thy house.—The words gain a fresh significance, if we remember that Jericho was at this time one of the chosen cities of the priests. (See Note on Luk_10:30.) Our Lord passed over their houses, and those of the Pharisees, in order to pass the night in the house of the publican. There, we may believe, He saw an opening for a spiritual work which He did not find elsewhere.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

5. Zaccheus, make haste] Zacchaeus was so prominent a person in Jericho that we can see no difficulty in his being known to Jesus by name.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And he made haste,.... Such power went along with the words of Christ, that they immediately reached his heart, awakened his conscience, affected his mind, and drew his soul to Christ, and knit him to him, that be made all imaginable haste to be with him. So souls sensible of their dangerous state and condition by nature, and apprehensive of impending ruin and destruction, and having some intimation of safety and happiness in Christ, and being filled with love to him, and a liking of him flee with all haste to him for refuge, for righteousness, peace, pardon, life, and salvation:

and came down; from the tree he had climbed, merely to indulge his curiosity, little thinking that he should be called by name by him; that he should have him a guest at his house, and have such a knowledge of him, and familiar acquaintance with him: so souls, when called by Christ, and made sensible of their need of him, and the worth there is in him, quit their former post and place, part with their carnal lusts and sinful companions, and renounce their own righteousness and works, and come as sinners, humble and lowly, and venture upon Christ:

and received him joyfully; not only into his house, but into his arms and heart: Christ was a welcome guest to him, as he is to every sensible sinner, who by faith receives him, as the Father's free gift; as the alone Saviour and Redeemer; as the great Mediator, in all his offices, of prophet, priest, and king; and in every relation and character he bears; and embraces his doctrines, and submits to his ordinances, and that with, the greatest joy; as there is reason for it, since with him, he receives the free and full forgiveness of his sins, a justifying righteousness, an abundance of grace, and a right unto, and meetness for heaven.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

5 And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at thy house.

Ver. 5. Zacchaeus, make haste] Christ is that good shepherd that knoweth all his sheep, and calleth them by name.

Make haste, and come down] Heaven is a matter of greatest haste: we must not adjourn, as he did once, In crastinum seria, more weighty businesses till tomorrow.

Today I must abide at thy house] Christ not only invites but even obtrudes himself as it were upon Zacchaeus: it is happy having such guests. He doth the same to us, when he sends unto us his poor servants to press upon our charity. Unworthy we are surely to give an alms to poor Christ, &c.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Abide at thy house - Remain there, or put up with him. This was an honor which Zacchaeus 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 splendor or grandeur.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

I see no ground for their opinion who think that before this time Zacchaeus’s heart was touched with any love or affection to Christ. The evangelist seemeth to represent Zacchaeus before this as a mere stranger to Christ, he sought to see who he was. But Christ’s looks are healing looks, there went virtue along with them to convert Zacchaeus, though a publican, and to recover Peter, who had denied his Master; but they must be such looks as carried with them a design to do good to souls. Christ looked upon thousands to whom his looks conveyed no spiritual saving grace. He that could heal by the hem of his garment touched, could change a heart by his look. How good a thing it is to be near the place where Christ is, whatever principle brings men thither! Provided men come not as the Pharisees used to come, to execute their malice. Zacchaeus was brought to the bodily view of Christ out of mere curiosity, but being there he receiveth a saving look from him. How many have had their hearts changed by gospel sermons, who never went to hear the preachers with any such desire or design! Christ’s design may be executed in the conversion of sinners, though not ours. He is found of them that seek him not, and of those that inquire not after him. Preparatory dispositions in us are not necessary to the first grace. God can at the same time prepare and change the heart. Zacchaeus is the first man we read of to whose house Christ (not asked) invited himself, and in it did more for Zacchaeus than he expected. Oh the freeness and riches of Divine grace! Which seeketh not a worthy object, but makes the object worthy, and therefore loveth it. What a word was this,

Come down; for today I must abide at thy house!

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

5. Saw him, and said… Zaccheus—Both from his thus looking up and from his calling the name, Zaccheus was doubtless convinced that Jesus had more than mortal perception. As Jesus knew Nathaniel under the fig tree, so he knew Zaccheus in the sycamore tree. And, like Nathaniel, Zaccheus recognized him as his Lord. And as Jesus pronounced Nathaniel “an Israelite indeed,” so he here pronounces Zaccheus “a son of Abraham.”

Make haste—Hurry and have done with such expedients and concealments.

Today—My call to suffer at Jerusalem brooks no delay. And it is probable that Jesus remained for the night, the willing guest of a happy host.

Must— Jesus waits not for the uttered invitation, for he knows that a wish in the publican’s heart, deeper than words can express, invites him. He does not say I will; it is a settled case. Thy faith and my love render it fixed and necessary.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for to-day I must abide at thy house. Jericho was one of the cities of the priests, and yet our Lord, setting public opinion at defiance, passed over their houses, and announced his intention of lodging for the night with one whose life"s occupation was so hateful to the Jewish religious world. The Master recognized in the intense eagerness of Zacchaeus to get a sight of him, and possibly a word from him, that it was in the chief publican"s house where lay his Father"s business for him in Jericho.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Jesus said, Zacchaeus, make haste and come down - What a strange mixture of passions must Zacchaeus have now felt, hearing one speak, as knowing both his name and his heart!

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

The call of the Lord:

v. 5. And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste and come down; for today I must abide at thy house.

v. 6. And he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully.

v. 7. And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, That He was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner.

Although this entire proceeding was done with. out commotion, in silence and with haste, yet Jesus, the omniscient Lord, was very well aware of all that was going on, just as He knew the name of the man in whose heart such feelings had been aroused. The saving grace of Christ planned all with tactful kindness. He came to the spot opposite or beneath the tree with its strange burden; He looked up and saw the publican; He called to him with friendly frankness. He at once fathomed the heart of the man with the same look of revealing omniscience which once followed Nathanael to his position under the fig tree, Joh 1:48, and read his heart’s longing. The Lord bids Zacchaeus hurry and come down, since it was necessary for Him to make a visit at his house that same day. With this invitation the Master conveyed His complete understanding of the situation to the heart of the man in the tree, so that the latter was now disposed to pay the most cheerful and hurried obedience to the call. Even so today a heart that may be filled with thoughts of doubt, and yet desires to know the Lord more closely, is cheered by the many gracious invitations which come in the Gospel, which are transmitted through the means of grace, and pays joyful obedience to the friendly call of the Savior. Zacchaeus lost no time in climbing down from the tree, for his heart was filled with ecstatic joy, and he welcomed the Lord into his house with grateful hospitality. But the Lord, by this action, again provoked the great mass of the people, for their hatred of the publicans was almost inherent, and they murmured, saying: With a sinful man He has gone to be guest. Human nature has not changed to this day; it is scandalized even now when some person whose special transgressions in the past were well known turns to the Lord and is received into the Christian congregation.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

What an instance is here of Christ’s preventing grace and mercy! Zaccheus climbs up into the sycamore to see Jesus. Jesus first sees him; little did Zaccheus think, that Jesus should cast up his eyes to him: Christ’s looks are converting looks; there went a divine power along with them, to change the heart of him who he looked upon; he that could heal a disease by the hem of his garment, could change a heart with the glance of his eye.

Observe farther, Christ does not only note, but name Zaccheus: He bids him come down, for he must abide at his house: what a sweet familiarity was here! Though the distance be infinitely great between our Saviour and ourselves, yet he treats us not with a majestic stateliness, but with a gracious affability.

Some note, that Zaccheus was the first man we read of, to whose house Christ invited himself.

Observe lastly, with what speed Zaccheus hastens down, and with what alacrity he entertains our Saviour; curiosity carried him up, but love brings him down, and he entertains Christ joyfully: but alas, it was but for a few hours. Lord! How great is the happiness of that man that receives and entertains thee, not for a day or a year, or for millions of years, but for everlasting ages! Oh let us welcome thee into our hearts by faith, while we are here on earth, and then thou will make us welcome with thyself everlastingly in thy kingdom.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

5. To-day I must abide at thy house. Tarry there for the night. Jesus went there, not for congenial society, but because his mission was to seek and save the lost.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

the place

"the tree" or "where Zacchaeus was"

So he hurried

"So Zacchaeus hurried"

they all complained

The Jews hated the tax collectors and did not think any good person should associate with them. (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

He has gone in to visit a man who is a sinner

"Jesus has gone into the house of a sinner to visit him"

a sinner

"an obvious sinner" or "a real sinner"

translationWords

Zacchaeus

joy

sin

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

5. εἶδεν αὐτὸν καί. A prosaic pragmatic addition, wanting in אBL, Ti[329] W.H[330]

[329] Ti. Tischendorf.

[330] W.H. Westcott and Hort.

5. Ζακχαῖε. Zacchaeus was so prominent a person in Jericho that we can see no difficulty in his being known to Jesus by name.

δεῖ. The word implies a moral fitness; “as if,” says Luther (quoted by Meyer), “He could not dispense with Zacchaeus, whom nevertheless every one else avoided as a great sinner.”

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

5.] The probability is, that our Lord’s supernatural knowledge of man (see Joh 1:48-50) is intended to be understood as the means of his knowing Zacchæus: but the narrative does not absolutely exclude the supposition of a personal knowledge of Zacchæus on the part of some around Him. But of what possible import can such a question be, when the narrative plainly shews us that Jesus saw into his heart? Cannot He who knows the thoughts, call by the name also?

μεῖναι, probably over the night. See Joh 1:40.

δεῖ, it is my purpose, or even more, I must; for especially in these last days of our Lord’s ministry, every event is fixed and determined by a divine plan.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

5. ζακχαῖε. There is no need to assume that Jesus had supernatural knowledge of the name: Joh 4:17, Joh 4:18 is not parallel Jesus might hear the people calling to Zacchæus, or might enquire. And He seems not to use His miraculous power of knowledge when He could obtain information in the usual way (Mar 8:5; Joh 11:34). The explanation that He thereby showed Zacchæus that He knew all about him, is not adequate. Would Zacchæus have inferred this from being addressed by name?

σπεύσας κατάβηθι. He had made to to see Christ: he must make haste to to receive Him. Accepit plus quam sperabat, qui, quod potuit, fecit (Maldon.). As in the case of Nathanael (Joh 1:47), Jesus knew the goodness of the man’s heart. Here supernatural knowledge, necessary for Christ’s work, is quite in place. For σπεύδειν see on 2:16.

σήμερον γὰρ ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ σου. First, with emphasis. “This very day; in thy house.” For δεῖ of the Divine counsels see on 4:43. Taken in conjunction with καταλῦσαι (ver. 7), μεῖναι possibly means “to pass the night.” But neither word necessarily means staying for more than a long rest.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

I must abide. "Adopting the royal style which was familiar to him, and which commends the loyalty of a vassal in the most delicate manner by freely exacting his services" (" Ecce Homo ").

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.