Luke 19:1-10
November 2, 2025
Have you ever felt overlooked? Imagine putting in extra hours or doing additional work on a project at your job, hoping to get that promotion, only to hear that your boss picked someone else who didn’t seem to work as hard as you. You feel overlooked and unappreciated. Or maybe you have spent a lot of time practicing at a sport hoping to make the team. You work hard at practice or during tryouts, but then the coach’s son gets picked for the team or gets picked to start and you know he didn’t work as hard as you and everyone else. You go home feeling overlooked. Or maybe you spend the day cleaning the house, doing the dishes and the laundry, you put groceries away, you pick up the children from school, and you get dinner ready only to have your spouse walk through the door, sit down on the couch, and ask, “So, did you do anything today?” That question makes you feel insignificant and overlooked.
Today in our Gospel lesson from Luke 19 we hear of a man who could easily have been overlooked, but he wasn’t. In fact, he was recognized, chosen, and blessed by Jesus. The man’s name was Zacchaeus, and just as Zacchaeus was not overlooked by Jesus, we are reminded that neither have we been overlooked. We have also been recognized, chosen, and blessed by Jesus.
The story of Zacchaeus might be familiar to many of you as we mentioned him briefly last Sunday as a despised corrupt tax collector or you may have heard of him in Sunday School growing up as he is most remembered for his height. We even have a song about him that we teach to children that begins, “Zacchaeus was a wee little man, a wee little man was he.” But what I want us to see this morning is there is much more to learn and remember about Zacchaeus.
In our Gospel lesson for today, Jesus had been traveling from town to town teaching people to repent of their sin and to turn to God for forgiveness. This was a simple, yet authoritative message that was confirmed by the many miracles that Jesus had performed. With every miracle Jesus was demonstrating His divine power over nature, disease, disability, and death itself. His miracles were evidence that He was who He claimed to be – the promised Messiah, the Son of God, the Savior of the world.
On the day that Zacchaeus met Jesus we are told that Zacchaeus was a “chief tax collector” and was rich. Now there were other tax collectors mentioned in the Bible, as we said last week, but only Zacchaeus is referred to as a “chief tax collector.” This seems to indicate that Zacchaeus was in charge of other tax collectors and being in charge often suggested that you were wealthy.
However, wealth did not make Zacchaeus very popular, as tax collectors in those days were allowed to charge whatever amount they wanted as long as they submitted to the governing authorities the tax amount that was required by the Roman government. Therefore, tax collectors were well-known for overcharging their fellow citizens so they could take home more money for themselves. And as the “chief tax collector,” Zacchaeus was probably not very well liked the area.
But Zacchaeus heard about a person who was coming who was very popular. He heard about Jesus, who was very popular as He had taught and healed many people. In fact, as Jesus entered the city of Jericho, He was so popular that a huge crowd of people had gathered around Him and this prevented Zacchaeus from seeing Jesus since Zacchaeus was short. Frantically Zacchaeus starts looking around trying to figure out a way to see Jesus and then he discovers a solution – a tree nearby. So he runs ahead and climbs that tree in order to see Jesus coming his way. And as Jesus makes His way down the street, surrounded by people probably asking Him all kinds of questions or making requests of Him, Jesus suddenly stops and looks up. I would guess that the crowd may have looked up with Him, and they notice a man in a tree. Is that Zacchaeus? How easily Jesus could have overlooked Zacchaeus and just walked past him. But he didn’t, instead Jesus calls him by name (even though they had never met) and says, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” So Zacchaeus comes down and along the way to his house can’t you just imagine what the people were saying? “What is Jesus doing? Doesn’t He know who Zacchaeus is?” Finally some in the crowd grumble out loud saying, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” In this context the word, “sinner” is a derogatory term that the Jews used to label anyone who they thought was not worthy of their time or recognition. In other words, it was a label you put on people who you thought should be overlooked or ignored.
And how did Zacchaeus respond to Jesus coming to his house? Zacchaeus said, “Lord, half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” Jesus then replies by saying, “Today salvation has come to this house…For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” Zacchaeus was promised the gift of eternal life in heaven, not because he promised to pay back people 4 times what he took from them, but because Zacchaeus recognized Jesus as the Savior of the world. Yes, Zacchaeus was a saint. He was lost, but he was found by Jesus – which made him a saint and that changed his life.
Now I’m sure the people in that area did not view Zacchaeus as a saint, because we often think of saints as those who lead some kind of extraordinary life, doing good things for others. We name hospitals and churches after saints, such as St. Luke’s Children’s Hospital or St. Peter’s Lutheran Church. I don’t think you will ever see a church called, “St. Zacchaeus,” because Zacchaeus ripped people off for years and became wealthy while others became poor through his actions. “Saint Zacchaeus?” I don’t think anyone in those days would have put those two words together.
But it is not how we live that makes us saints in God’s eyes, but how Jesus lived for us, and sought us out, calls us by name, died and rose for us. Your faith in Jesus and being forgiven of all your sins makes you a saint. And one of the things Jesus said in the Gospel of Matthew about saints is that they are “poor in spirit.” – meaning saints will have moral and ethical failures, because we are all sinners, and we cannot save ourselves through our actions or lifestyle.
So as Jesus looked at Zacchaeus, a sinner, He was reminded of His purpose for coming into this world: to rescue people like Zacchaeus, people lost in sin, that they may be His saints and share in His promised gift of eternal life in heaven. Zacchaeus was not overlooked, because the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ overlooks no one.
How about you? Do you ever find yourself overlooking someone or do you ever try avoiding people? We might not overlook people while we are here in the church, but what about when we leave this place? When Jesus said, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” that word “seek” indicates an intentionality. Jesus did not just come to this world to see who He might bump into, He came to seek people, to search for people. Why? Because He saw people who were lost. The word, “lost,” has at its root destruction and death. It’s like the person caught in an ocean rip current, gasping for air, attempting to tread water while the water pulls them under. If this person is not rescued, they will most certainly drown.
Jesus came to seek and to save us, because He saw how sin was pulling us under, drowning us in guilt and pulling us away from God. So what did Jesus do? He left the glory of heaven and entered our world with an all-consuming love to search for us. For every sin and every sinner, Jesus died, but He rose from the dead and His resurrection is now that powerful search light that announces to lost sinners, “You are found, forgiven, and safe with Jesus forever. You will never be overlooked, because Jesus came to seek and to save you.”
Jesus has called all of us through faith to be part of His search and rescue team. Just as in Jesus’ day, there are many people today who are lost and looking for a Savior in all the wrong places. Let us show them the light of Jesus’ love, so they may know that they have been found, chosen, and blessed by Jesus who makes us saints and overlooks no one.
