In verses 1 through 7 we are not told that the Lord said much to Zaccheus. Zaccheus, however, responded in a very strong way, recognizing the Savior as his Lord. “And Zaccheus stood and said to the Lord, Behold, the half of my possessions, Lord, I give to the poor” (v. 8). Zaccheus could utter such a word even though he had not heard the Man-Savior’s teaching concerning material possessions.
On the way from Galilee to Jerusalem, the Savior spoke about material possessions a number of times. The first was in chapter twelve. When someone out of the crowd asked Him to tell his brother to divide the inheritance, He said to them, “Take heed and guard yourselves from all covetousness; for no one’s life is in the abundance of his possessions” (12:15). Then in 14:33 the Savior went on to say, “Everyone of you who does not renounce all his own possessions cannot be My disciple.” In chapter sixteen He spoke to His disciples concerning the mammon of unrighteousness and then issued a warning to the rich. In chapter seventeen He spoke about material possessions in relation to the rapture of the overcomers: “In that day, he who shall be on the housetop and his goods in the house, let him not come down to take them away; and he who is in the field, likewise, let him not turn back to the things behind” (v. 31). Following this, in 18:22 He said to the rich ruler, “All things, whatever you have, sell and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in the heavens; and come, follow Me.” From all these instances we see that the Man-Savior spoke repeatedly concerning material possessions. Zaccheus, of course, did not hear any of this. Nevertheless, in responding to the Savior’s word, he said that half of his possessions he gives to the poor.
We have seen that in verse 8 Zaccheus went on to say to the Lord, “If I have taken anything from anyone by false accusations, I restore four times as much.” What Zaccheus did here was according to the requirements of the law for restoration (Exo. 22:1; 2 Sam. 12:6). This was the spontaneous issue of the dynamic power of the Lord’s salvation.
In the case of the saving of Zaccheus in Jericho, we see that the Lord’s salvation is actually the Lord Himself. In verse 5 He says, “Today I must stay in your house.” But in verse 9 He says to Zaccheus, “Today salvation has come to this house.” When we put these verses together, we see that “I” in verse 5 is equal to “salvation” in verse 9. This indicates that salvation is actually the Lord Himself. When He comes, salvation comes. Wherever He stays, there salvation stays.
We have pointed out that Zaccheus responded to the Man-Savior in the way he did because of the dynamic power of His salvation. With the Man-Savior there is dynamic power, and this power is the Holy Spirit. He ministered the jubilee by the Holy Spirit. In chapter four He declared that the Spirit of the Lord was upon Him because He had been anointed to proclaim release to the captives. The Lord had been appointed and anointed to proclaim the jubilee to all those who were oppressed.
In the sight of the religious people, especially the Pharisees, Zaccheus was a leading sinner, for he was a chief tax collector. But in the sight of the Man-Savior he was a captive under oppression. Before he climbed up the tree to see the Savior, Zaccheus may have given much consideration to how to be released from his sinful condition. As a Jew, he must have been condemned in his conscience for working as a tax collector to gather taxes for the Roman imperialists. Hence, he was condemned by his own conscience as a traitor to his country. Therefore, he may have tried to get out of his sinful condition, but he was unable to do so, for he was a captive and was oppressed.
Luke 19:10 says, “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which is lost.” Here we see that Zaccheus was not only a sinner; he was also lost. The Savior came to Jericho purposely to seek and to save such a lost one.
The Lord’s seeking Zaccheus in Luke 19 may be compared to His seeking the Samaritan woman in John 4. The Savior told Zaccheus, “I must stay in your house,” and John 4:4 says of Him, “He had to pass through Samaria.” It was necessary for Him to go through Samaria in order to meet a lost Samaritan woman. The Lord went there to seek her and save her. The same kind of thing happened in Luke 19. The Lord had to stay in Zaccheus’ house in order to save this lost person.
In 19:1-10 we see that wherever the Man-Savior is there salvation is also, for He Himself is salvation. Furthermore, when this salvation is present, the kingdom of God is also present, and the kingdom of God is the jubilee. Therefore, when the Lord came into the house of Zaccheus, that was a jubilee not only for an individual but for the entire household. When the Lord came into his house, salvation came to that house.
We may say that the case of the healing of the blind man near Jericho and the case of the saving of Zaccheus in Jericho are one. In the first case the blind man receives sight from the Savior, and in the second case Zaccheus receives the Savior as dynamic salvation. This indicates that first we receive sight from the Savior, and then we receive the Savior Himself. This Savior is salvation, and salvation is the kingdom of God as the jubilee. Now we can realize that in 19:1-10 a leading sinner is brought into the jubilee of grace. Now he can enjoy the Savior and the kingdom of God, for now he is in the kingdom of God and enjoying this kingdom as his jubilee.