Luke chapter 19

vs 1

Jericho - on his way to Jerusalem.

vs 2

Tax collectors don't get wealthy because people say "keep the change". They get wealthy by ripping people off.

vs 3

Cursed with a gravitational challenge! Even great wealth can't buy you that.

vs 4

The guy certainly has some nous - and is obviously keen.

vs 5

Jesus even knew his name! I mean, it is possible that Jesus got him involved in conversation first, and then told him he needed to stay at his house. But I think the more exciting version is right.

vs 6

Zacchaeus not only got to see Jesus, and talk with Jesus, but also to host him at his house! Which would have been so rare for a tax collector, because people saw them as dirty, and wouldn't eat with them.

vs 7

See.

vs 8

So, a couple of things are obviously evident from this statement by Zacchaeus. Firstly, he didn't make all his money from tax collecting - if he did, this promise would have put him in debt, because he would have been giving away more than he had. Secondly, it seems pretty obvious that Zacchaeus would not make this decision based simply on the willingness of Jesus to have dinner with him. He has obviously been challenged by Jesus, and responded.

Nevertheless, the gladness with which Zacchaeus accepted the offer (really more of a command) may show us that acts of simple kindness, like having dinner with someone and showing interest in them, break down huge barriers.

vs 9

Now, what is Jesus saying here? He is saying that until today, salvation hadn't come to the house. So salvation came with Jesus. That much I think everyone will agree on.

Is he saying that salvation came because he was willing to give up his posessions? I think not. I think Zacchaeus' generosity to the poor and to those he has wronged is proof of a change of his heart, though.

Now we get to the tricky bit - Jesus' reason for salvation coming to the house is to do with Zacchaeus being a son of Abraham. He obviously doesn't mean a jew - all the Pharisees were jews. And it's not as easy as turning to Ephesians and pointing at the sons of Abraham bit - because that hasn't been written when Jesus says this (and although it may have been written when Luke wrote it, it's not a good idea to make one passage of scripture rely on another one to make sense - who writes like that?).

vs 10

I think this verse sheds a little bit of light on the matter. Jesus' mentioning his quest to seek and save the lost makes us realise his mission, and in the context of verse 9, shows us that Zacchaeus was lost, but now is found. So I think Jesus is making the term 'son of Abraham' a spiritual designation, which Zacchaeus now has because of his encounter with Jesus. And it means, according to the context, found, as opposed to lost.