A Wee Little Man (Luke 19)

When I was a kid in Sunday School, we used to sing a song about Zacchaeus. It started like this:

Zacchaeus was a wee little man, a wee little man was he.

Being of Scottish descent, I knew what a wee little man was. (Today, as any parent of a toddler will tell you, wee has a whole different meaning.) Zacchaeus may have been short of a stature, but the story told about him makes it clear that he had a big heart. For many years, Zacchaeus was a cheat. As a tax collector, he had swindled his own people for the sake of their oppressor. It was no wonder the Pharisees had a hard time believing he could be repentant. But repentant Zacchaeus was. Zacchaeus gives us a wonderful picture of what it means to place faith and trust in Jesus.

When Zacchaeus confessed his sins and repented of them, he didn't repent just in words. He repented with actions. Zacchaeus didn't just shed crocodile tears, trying to play the part of the penitent. No, he actually put his sorrow over sin into action. In verse 8, Zacchaeus says: "Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold." Zacchaeus would not accept a cheap grace. He knew that repentance was going to have be demonstrated in real life change.

The church needs more people like Zacchaeus today. Too often, the Gospel is being preached as a get out of jail free card. Too frequently, we give the impression that placing faith in Christ allows one to skip responsibility for one's actions. Zacchaeus portrays a different picture. The forgiveness that Jesus gives doesn't mean that we get away Scot free. It means that we are compelled to make right the wrongs that we have committed against others. Asking forgiveness is not enough. We need to try to mend the wrong that we have done.

Zacchaeus may have been a wee little man in stature. But it turns out that he was a giant of the faith.