Luke 19:1-10. ¹ He came to Jericho and intended to pass through the town. ² Now a man there named Zacchaeus, who was a chief tax collector and also a wealthy man, ³ was seeking to see who Jesus was; but he could not see him because of the crowd, for he was short in stature. ⁴ So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus, who was about to pass that way. ⁵ When he reached the place, Jesus looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house.” ⁶ And he came down quickly and received him with joy. ⁷ When they all saw this, they began to grumble, saying, “He has gone to stay at the house of a sinner.” ⁸ But Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone I shall repay it four times over.” ⁹ And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house because this man too is a descendant of Abraham. ¹⁰ For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost.”

Zacchaeus’ Speech. Zacchaeus, in spite of his reputation, is an attractive person. In our brief meeting, qualities akin to those of Peter emerge. Zacchaeus is spontaneous and impetuous, given to extravagant statements. But there is a deep genuineness. Though he is a person of some importance, his position does not prevent him from climbing the sycamore tree nor from publicly admitting his guilt and professing his repentance. Jesus says this is a son of Abraham, even if he is a tax collector. He should not be ostracized because of his failings but helped to find his way back to the flock.

In the previous paragraph there is an assertion that Zacchaeus has repented. While this is the majority understanding, Green (Gospel of Luke, 672) notes that the verbs in Zacchaeus’s speech are present tense: “I give … I pay back” and interprets them as “present progressives: “My customary practice is to give half of what I have to the poor, etc.” [see Notes on v.8 below]. Green states:

Luke’s narrative mentions nothing of Zacchaeus’s need for repentance, act of repentance, or faith; nor of Jesus’ summons to repentance; nor does he in any other way structure this episode as a “story of conversion.” According to this reading, Zacchaeus does not resolve to undertake new practices but presents for Jesus evaluation his current behaviors regarding money. He even joins the narrator in referring to Jesus as “Lord.” Jesus’ reference to “salvation” (v. 9), then, signifies Zacchaeus’s vindication and restoration to the community of God’s people; he is not an outsider, after all, but has evidenced through his economic practices his kinship with Abraham (cf. 3:7-14). Zacchaeus thus joins the growing roll of persons whose “repentance” lies outside the narrative, who appear on the margins of the people of God, and yet who possess insight into and a commitment to the values of Jesus’ mission that are exemplary.

However, if it had been Zacchaeus’s habit to give and pay back, why is there so much grumbling about Jesus going to the house of a sinner? Is it that the people can not see Zacchaeus’ righteousness because of their own presuppositions of the nature of a tax collector? Or is it simply that, as most translators understand, that Zacchaeus has had a moment of conversion and is responding appropriately.

Culpepper (Luke, 358)

The interpretive crux of this story appears is Zacchaeus’s declaration in v.8. The pronouncement is introduced by the report that Zacchaeus “stood up: (isttemi; cf. 18:40). Traditionally, this verse has been read as an indication of the genuineness of Zacchaeus’s repentance.

Culpepper notes scholarly speculation similar to Green’s comments above and acknowledges that there is a basic interpretive choice between Green’s position (Zacchaeus’ customary actions) and a statement that indicates Zacchaeus’ resolve henceforth to rectify his past injustices. Culpepper continues

Nevertheless, the latter part of v.8 tips the interpreter’s scales in favor of the traditional reading. Zacchaeus is not protesting his customary actions to the disbelieving crowd. Instead, he is freely declaring his resolve to make amends for his part wrongs as a result to the honor Jesus has bestowed on him.

Complaining About Jesus. There is the usual murmuring. It is not uncommon in Luke for people to complain about Jesus – and usually about the same thing – his mercy towards sinners!

²⁹ Then Levi gave a great banquet for him in his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were at table with them. ³⁰ The Pharisees and their scribes complained to his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” ³¹ Jesus said to them in reply, “Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do. ³² I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners” (Luke 5:29-32).

¹The tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to him, ² but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” (Luke 15:1-2)

Verse 7 in our text is one of those grumbling verses: When they [Pharisees] all saw this, they began to grumble, saying, “He has gone to stay at the house of a sinner.”  One of the definitions of “grumble” [diagogguzo] is to “complain because of disappointed hopes.”  Admittedly this is a secondary meaning, still, one wonders about the root of the Pharisees.  Did they take it that the Messiah would not be gracious to sinners?  Maybe they could just not accept that Zecchaeus could obtain forgiveness so easily.  Three Sundays ago Naaman the Syrian could not believe that he would be cured of leprosy by simply dipping in the Jordan River – he wanted some mysterious and elaborate ceremony.  Perhaps that is what the Pharisees are expecting – any would-be Messiah should castigate the sinner and provide a list of offenses and only after the sinner has rend their garments and heaped ashes upon their own head – only then would forgiveness be dispensed.  Otherwise, isn’t it a cheap grace?

Luke 19:7 grumble: diagongýzō – “murmur,” “grumble,” “complain,” “be dissatisfied,” “grumble because of disappointed hopes.”

Luke 19:8 shall give to the poor: dídōmi (to give) in the Greek is in the present tense, in other words, a literal translation should be “I give to the poor.”  Is Zacchaeus simply stating what his current practices already are? That he already gives half his income/wealth to the poor? Shall repay: apodídōmi (to give back) is also in the present tense, again, stating that if he discovers he (or his subordinate tax collectors) have extorted payments, then his current practice is to repay it even more than Biblically required.

and if I have extorted anything from anyone I shall repay it four times over: Zacchaeus’s declaration alludes to Exod. 22:1, “four sheep for a [stolen] sheep,” and 2 Sam. 12:6, “he shall restore the lamb fourfold.” The LXX of 2 Sam. 12:6 has “sevenfold” (cf. Josephus, Ant. 16.3): rustlers were required to repay the amount plus a threefold penalty. Since the legal restitution for monetary extortion was the amount plus twenty percent (Lev. 5:16; Num. 5:7), Zacchaeus’s resolve is an expression not only of his willingness to restore the damage that he has caused but also of his inward transformation resulting from his encounter with Jesus.