A meal of Jesus
Dinner With Zacchaeus
The guest who invited himself · Luke 19:1-10
Passing through Jericho, Jesus stopped beneath a tree, looked up at Zacchaeus, a wealthy and hated chief tax collector, and said, 'To day I must abide at thy house' (Luke 19:5). Grace came to his table before he had changed anything, and the welcome is what transformed him.
The scene
What the table means
Zacchaeus was rich, small, and despised, a chief tax collector who had grown wealthy skimming from his own people for Rome. He climbed a sycamore tree just to see Jesus pass, expecting nothing, hiding in the leaves like a man who knew he was not the kind of person Jesus would want. And Jesus stopped directly under him, looked up into the branches, and did the last thing anyone expected: he invited himself to dinner. 'Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at thy house.'
Notice the order, because everything is in the order. Jesus did not say, clean up your life and then I will come. He did not wait for Zacchaeus to repay anyone or promise anything. He came to his house first, sat at his table, honored him with his presence while he was still a cheat, and the crowd 'murmured' that he had gone to be the guest of a sinner. And it was that welcome, that undeserved place at the table, that broke Zacchaeus open. Standing up at his own dinner, he gave away half his goods and repaid everyone he had cheated fourfold. Grace came first; the change came after, as a response to being loved.
Jesus did not wait for Zacchaeus to change and then come. He came, and that is what changed him.
The table is still set
Jesus is still the friend of sinners, still the host who welcomes the ones everyone else would seat at the back. You do not have to become presentable first; the whole point of every one of these meals is that he sat down with people before they had cleaned themselves up. The Living Bread is a quiet place to pull up a chair, read the Gospels, and pray, and discover that a place was set for you all along.
Jesus Christ is Lord.
Frequently asked questions
- Why did Jesus go to Zacchaeus' house?
- Jesus invited himself to dine with Zacchaeus, a hated chief tax collector (Luke 19:5), before Zacchaeus had promised or changed anything. It showed that Jesus 'is come to seek and to save that which was lost' (Luke 19:10), offering welcome to the despised.
- What changed Zacchaeus?
- The undeserved welcome. Jesus honored him with his presence while he was still a cheat, and that grace broke him open. Zacchaeus then gave half his goods to the poor and repaid those he had defrauded fourfold. The change came as a response to being loved first.