Today salvation has come to this house.
—Luke 19:9
Zacchaeus was a runt and a crook—a bagman for Rome’s IRS. He swindled tax payers; gave the government their take and pocketed the rest.
When people saw him slithering down the street, they quickly crossed to the other side.
When Jesus spotted this sawed-off shyster perched in a tree on the parade route he said, “Get yourself down from there Zacchaeus, I’m going home with you.”
You could have blown the religious poohbahs over with a feather: “Going home with that scammer? You gotta be kidding!”
Before the tête-à-tête with Zacchaeus was over, Jesus said, “Today salvation has come to this house.”
We wouldn’t have given that worthless little punk the time of day.
But Jesus did. He turns losers into winners; sinners into saints.
There are no little people.