or collectors of customs, and of
these the chief was Zaccheus,[1048] who had grown rich from the revenues
of office. He had doubtless heard of the great Galilean who hesitated
not to mingle with publicans, detested though they were by the Jews in
general; he may have known, also, that Jesus had placed one of this
publican class among the most prominent of the disciples. That Zaccheus
was a Jew is indicated by his name, which is a variant of "Zacharias,"
with a Greek or Latin termination; he must have been particularly
obnoxious to his people on account of his advanced status among the
publicans, all of whom were in Roman employ. He had a great desire to
see Jesus; the feeling was not one of mere curiosity; he had been
impressed and set thinking by the things he had heard about this Teacher
from Nazareth. But Zaccheus was a little man, and could not ordinarily
see over the heads of others; so he ran ahead of the company and climbed
a tree alongside the road. When Jesus reached the place, to the great
surprize of the man in the tree He looked up and said: "Zaccheus, make
haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at thy house." Zaccheus
came down with haste, and joyfully received the Lord as his guest. The
multitude by whom Jesus had been accompanied appear to have been
generally friendly toward Him; but at this turn of affairs they murmured
and criticized, saying that the Master "was gone to be guest with a man
that is a sinner"; for all publicans were sinners in Jewish eyes, and
Zaccheus admitted that the opprobrium in his case was possibly deserved.
But having seen and conversed with Jesus, this chief among the publicans
believed and was converted. As proof of his change of heart Zaccheus
then and there voluntarily vowed unto the Lord to make amends and
restitution if it were found that he owed such. "Behold, Lord," he said,
"the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken anything
from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold." These were
works meet for repentance. The man realized that he could not change his
past; but he knew he could in part at least atone for some of his
misdeeds. His pledge to restore in fourfold measure whatever he had
wrongfully acquired was in line with the Mosaic law as to restitution,
but far in excess of the recompense required.[1049] Jesus accepted the
man's profession of repentance, and said: "This day is salvation come to
this house, forsomuch as he also is a son