On Jesus’ Seeking and Saving
The account of Jesus and Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10) is a wonderful revelation of the sovereign grace of Christ in the salvation of sinners. In the context Jesus has told his disciples how hard it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. He demonstrates the impossibility (i.e. human impossibility) by the account of the rich, young ruler. He then turns around, almost immediately, and shows that with God all things are possible,” by seeking and saving Zaccheus. Some have suggested that Zacchaeus plays a part in his conversion by climbing up in the sycamore tree “in order to see who Jesus was.” But this was simply because “he could not see who Jesus was, because he was of short stature.” Zacchaeus’ inability to see Jesus by faith is illustrated by the fact that he is short. By climbing into the tree, he is no closer to Jesus. This only highlights the futile attempts of fallen man. It was not really Zacchaeus seeking Jesus. It was Jesus seeking Zacchaeus.
Jesus walked up to the tree, and said “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” Jesus calls Zacchaeus down–away from his futile efforts to see Christ in his own strength–and then invites Himself into Zacchaeus’ house. Note that Zacchaeus did not invite Christ into his house. Jesus invited Himself into Zacchaeus’ home. It is, as if he said, “Zacchaeus, I have decided to come to your house. Your house will be My house.” It is the Covenant Lord bringing sovereign grace and mercy into the life of one of His lost sheep. Jesus finishes the interactions by saying, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; 10 for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.†Zacchaeus was elect. He was a true son of Abraham. It was not ethinic decent that is mentioned, otherwise Jesus would have had to say the same thing to the rich, young ruler and every other Jew He interacted with. Jesus did not save everyone of Abraham’s physical descedants; He came to save all of his spiritual descendants–those chosen with the election of saving grace. Note finally the closing words of this account. Jesus says, “The Son of Man came to seek and save that which was lost.” Those who reject sovereign grace in salvation, must reckon with these words. Jesus did not say, “The Son of Man came to seek that which was lost.” He came to seek and save the lost. He does all the work for and in them. It is true that Zacchaeus makes the claim, ““Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.†Whether this is another attempt of fallen human pride to self-righteously fix his spiritual blindness, and therefor merit Christ’s favor, or not, it is clear that Jesus seeks and saves Zacchaeus for no other reason than the fact that He had chosen him to be one of Abraham’s true descendants.
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Excellent post. Those are some good connections that I had not thought of before, especially the one about the difficulty of the rich entering into the kingdom of heaven.
Q. Why do you not see Zacchaeus’ giving to the poor as an evidence of repentance? “I declared…that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance.”
Thanks Wes. I do think that Zacchaeus’ offer to return fourfold may very well be the evidence of conversion. I certainly think you could take it that way. I am just not sure that is what is intended in the text. I could go either way on this one.
Nick
I’m surprised that you do not take these words as evidences of faith, especially when our Lord states, in response to Zacchaeus’ words, “Today salvation has come to this house…”. Additionally Zacchaeus’ response was beyond that which was required of him by law. It is, as you rightly point out, not something for which Christ chose him, but to relegate his works to human – centred, self righteous works, perhaps does injury to the grace of God in Zacchaeus life?
If that is not the intention of the text, then what is it? To insert a “works righteousness” element to the text sems to go against the flow of the text.
Blessings
I agree with Matt. I think that’s a good point about the salvation being brought to the house. It is an evidence of God’s grace. If his mindset is exactly the same as before, then how is salvation brought to the house?
Brothers,
I agree that there must be evidences of conversion in the lives of true believers, but it does not necessarily appear conclusively in this passage that Zacchaeus is doing this. Jesus does not say, “Salvation has come to your house BECAUSE you evidenced your faith in Me by giving back fourfold all that you have taken.” In fact, He says, “Salvation has come…because he is a son of Abraham.” The law required retribution. Zacchaeus was agreeing with what the law said–which could be taken two ways. Either he is, as you say, evidencing salvation, or, he is trying to do something to remedy his situation. Either way, it doesn’t change the fact that Jesus, in His sovereignty, saves him by grace. Neither effect Jesus’ seeking and saving. He does not seek or save because we evidence salvation. So, if we adopt the former, then we can point out the beauty of a transformed heart and life. If we point out the later we can show that it is not what we do, it is what Christ has done. I do not think the text, or the analogy of faith, affords enough info for us to make that call.
Wes,
I agree that Zacchaeus would have evidenced the grace of God in his life. It may have been, as you and Matt say, before Jesus’ statement. But my point is that Jesus’ statement stands on its own apart from evidences of salvation. If Christ says, “Salvation has come to this house,” then it has come there whether we see the fruit of it in the short passage or not.