The Heart of Zacchaeus That Became Filled with Jesus

I Want to Know Jesus!

A man named Zacchaeus appears in Luke chapter 19. He was in charge of collecting the taxes from the Israelites and offering them to the Romans. Thus he became very rich as a chief tax collector. The Israelites did not like Zacchaeus. He thought that if he became rich then all would be well regardless of the scorns of others. However, he was not satisfied, even though he became a rich man from gathering a lot of money. Rather he was suffering from sin.

Then one day, Zacchaeus wondered in his heart, “What kind of man is Jesus?” Because of the stories he had heard about Jesus, he wanted to know what kind of man He was and wanted to meet Him.

Everyone has many diverse thoughts. Thoughts such as the desire to study well and to be rich, hatred for someone, and greed all come and go and they drag our hearts. But people also have hearts that are turned towards God.

Zacchaeus Meets Jesus

Zacchaeus happened to hear that Jesus had come to his home of Jericho; he ran out to see Him. Realizing that he could not see because of his short stature, he climbed up a sycamore tree thinking, “I should at least see the face of Jesus.” As Jesus passed by the sycamore tree, He looked up at Zacchaeus and said, “Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for today I must abide at thy house.” He was surprised as he quickly climbed down the tree and led Jesus to his house.

For Jesus Is the Light

Hatred, sorrow, and despair arise in our hearts, although we do not want to or even think of them, and we fall into them. Therefore, people can be dragged by a dark thought and sometimes kill others or commit suicide. One cannot imagine the number of people who have been led by such evil and dark thoughts who lose sleep over those kinds of thoughts and suffer from them. However, people change when they listen to the Word of Jesus. When we listen to the Words that Jesus washed away our sins by being nailed to the cross and receive the forgiveness of sin, Jesus enters, occupies our hearts, and guides us. That is an amazing thing.

Jesus was called the light of life in the book of John. A light that shines in the heart of human beings. Just as darkness can exist only without the light, we can have dark thoughts and fall into sin when we don’t have Jesus. But just as with the flick of a switch in a dark room, the light comes on and the darkness vanishes immediately, all of the dark thoughts disappear when Jesus comes into our hearts.

With the Same Heart as Jesus

Although Zacchaeus stopped at nothing to gather money and become rich, he was not able to fill his empty heart. Why is this so? The reason is God created human beings in His image when he first created them. Can the heart of people, which is endlessly large and wide as God, be filled with money, fame or power? One can feel a moment of pleasure about studying better than their other friends, or feel secure if one has a lot of money; however, those kinds of things cannot fill our hearts.

Zacchaeus, who was filled with darkness and desire, had the heart of wanting to see Jesus. Also, when Zacchaeus met Jesus, he couldn’t contain his joy. Now, Jesus was not only in the heart of Zacchaeus, but He had also come into his house and was facing him. As he looked at Jesus and had a conversation with Him, the heart of Zacchaeus became filled with Jesus. Zacchaeus was no longer a person led by desire. There could be no more darkness whatsoever in his heart because Jesus, the Light, came to his house and shone upon his heart. Then Zacchaeus opened his mouth,

“Lord, I will give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have taken anything from any man by force, I will restore him fourfold.”

This was not the heart of Zacchaeus. This was the heart of Jesus. Zacchaeus, who used to have such greed for money, now had the same heart as Jesus. Then, Jesus spoke, “This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

If Our Hearts Are Completely Filled with Jesus

We try to do good and try to solve our difficulties on our own. However, when our hearts are filled with Jesus, everything changes. Many people try not to have an evil heart and instead try to do good and love others because they do not believe in Jesus. If our hearts are completely filled with Jesus, we will have the heart of Jesus. Just as Zacchaeus was able to live a bright life with his heart filled with Jesus, dark thoughts and fear will be gone when our hearts are filled with Jesus. In addition, peace and joy will fill our hearts.