‘And behold, a man called by name Zacchaeus, and he was a chief public officer,
Here we have the account of a chief public officer who was converted, whose name was Zacchaeus (ironically his name is probably derived from the Hebrew word for ‘righteous'). His conversion and change of life must have caused a sensation, for he would have been an extortioner and seen by all, except for those who served him, as a traitor. He was probably one of those men (a tax farmer) who paid the Roman government a large sum in order to be granted the right to collect taxes in a certain area. Once that had happened he was allowed to keep whatever he managed to collect. There were, of course, certain regulations that they were supposed to follow, but backed by the state, and with soldiers to protect them, they inevitably misused their positions (no honest Jew would become a tax farmer in Palestine) and found ways of collecting far more than they should. They would each have under them a network of tax collectors, who would act on their behalf, and they too would seek to take their cut. The position of Jericho on the border of Peraea and Judea, on the road to Jerusalem, would make it a major toll collecting area. It was also one of the wealthiest parts of Judea, for its unusual climate and famous balsam groves produced the balm that was sold worldwide. Her great palm forest meant that she was called The City of Palms.
So Zacchaeus would be hated and despised, and seen as an outcast and as ‘lost'. He would be seen as cut off from Israel. But he would content himself with the thought that he was very rich. However, through the mercy of God through Jesus he was ‘found' and became again a son of Abraham (Luke 19:9-10), becoming much less rich, and yet even richer spiritually, at the same time.
‘And he was rich.'
These words speak volumes. He had plied his evil trade successfully and had creamed off large amounts of money from the helpless people around. Many were the grudges that would be held against him, and great would be the hatred in which he was held. We can imagine people's total surprise therefore when later they heard the knock on the door and found a collector of taxes bringing them some money back. In those days that was unheard of.
‘And he was rich.' In the light of what we have seen before of the teaching of Jesus it is being made clear that he was an unlikely candidate for conversion. He was one of those who would find it hard to enter under the Kingly Rule of God (Luke 18:24). And on top of it he was a traitor, an outcast, and no longer accepted as a son of Abraham. Why, it would require the impossible!