The Lord did not preach to him at all. He simply said, “Hurry and come down, for today I must stay in your house.” When Zaccheus heard this, he received the Lord with joy. When some of the people around saw this, they were indignant. “How could Jesus of Nazareth go to this man’s house? He could have gone to any house but this one. Even if He were ignorant about this man, His disciples should have investigated and found out that Zaccheus is not an upright man and does not have a good reputation. Why would they not tell their teacher this?” Everyone knew what kind of person Zaccheus was. Everyone knew his background. When they heard the Lord’s word, they all murmured in their heart.
Our point here is that the Lord did not preach to Zaccheus at all. He only said one word, “Today I must stay in your house.” One word was good enough. Even though He was not yet in Zaccheus’s house, His word was powerful enough. Wherever the Lord goes, money is released. Wherever He goes, wealth is released. Wherever He goes, the love of money goes away. It seems as if the Lord was saying, “As long as I can visit this house, everything will be fine. For Me just saying that I must stay in this house is as powerful as Me actually being in the house.” The words took effect. The few words “I must stay” took effect, and something happened.
How can we prove that something happened? When Zaccheus heard these words, immediately he stood and said, “Behold, the half of my possessions, Lord, I give to the poor, and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore four times as much” (Luke 19:8). This word means that his whole house was stripped. One word from the Lord Jesus stripped Zaccheus’s house of everything.
The Lord exhorted the young ruler, yet the young ruler did not make it. The Lord did not exhort Zaccheus, yet he made it. Both were rich men. The rich man in Luke 18 was young, while the one in chapter nineteen was old. According to common sense, an old man should be stingy with money while a young man should be generous with it. But what we have here is something very different. One case points to the impossibility with men, while the other case points to the possibility with God. We should not skip over this matter lightly. It is not easy to sell everything and to follow the Lord. Who can give up all of his possessions? A man has to be crazy to give up everything. But Zaccheus’s story tells us that what is impossible with men is possible with God. Zaccheus did this without any teaching. The Lord did not tell him what to do, yet he did it. What we have here is a principle. It shows us how easy this thing can be done.
As soon as God does something, the camel will go through the eye of the needle. You should tell new believers that in Luke 18 there was a camel who hesitated before the eye of a needle and who turned around after looking at it for a while. Yet in Luke 19 there was another camel who went through the eye of the needle. Please remember that what is impossible with men is possible with God. Chapter eighteen tells us that with men it is impossible, while chapter nineteen tells us that with God it is possible. If you turn to the Lord, things will happen in an instant. Your problems will be solved in an instant. Humanly speaking, selling all that one has is madness, but this matter was settled in an instant.