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Chapter 19

Jesus and Zacchaeus, the Rich Tax Collector.[a] Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through it. A man there, named Zacchaeus, was a chief tax collector and a rich man. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but since he was short in stature, he could not see him because of the crowd. Therefore, he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree in order to catch a glimpse of him for he was going to pass that way.

When he reached that spot, Jesus looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” Zacchaeus came down quickly and welcomed him joyfully.

When the people observed this, they began to complain, saying, “He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” But Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, I intend to give half of everything I possess to the poor, and if I have defrauded someone of anything, I will repay that amount four times over.”

Then Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man too is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man has come to seek out and to save what was lost.”

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Footnotes

  1. Luke 19:1 The lesson is obvious: it is God who saves the rich (see Lk 18:27), because he alone can change the human heart. Zacchaeus’s generosity in atoning for the wrongs he has done goes beyond anything the Jewish or the Roman law could require of a judged and condemned thief.