Everyone in town knew his name, and everyone hated it. Jesus knew it too — and said it with love.
Jesus was passing through the city of Jericho. A man named Zacchaeus lived there. He “was a chief tax collector and was wealthy” (Luke 19:2).
Back then: Tax collectors worked for Rome, the empire that ruled over Israel. Many of them charged people extra and kept the difference. To their neighbors, they were traitors and thieves.
Zacchaeus wanted to see who Jesus was. But he was short, and the crowd wasn’t about to make room for him. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree beside the road (Luke 19:3–4). A rich, important man, up in a tree — just to get a look.
“When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, ‘Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.’” (Luke 19:5).
He knew his name. And out of the whole crowd, He chose his house.
Zacchaeus scrambled down and welcomed Him gladly. But the crowd grumbled: “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner” (Luke 19:7).
“Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” (Luke 19:8).
Nobody forced him to say it. Being welcomed changed him.
Notice the order. Jesus didn’t wait for Zacchaeus to fix his life before He came over. He came first. And His welcome did what the crowd’s hate never could.
“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” (Luke 19:10).
That’s why He came — for people hiding in plain sight.
Maybe you’ve made choices that made people write you off. Maybe you’ve written yourself off. Jesus still knows your name, and He still wants to come to your house.
He knows your name. Meet Him, or let us pray for you first.
If Jesus met you in a broken place, we’d love to share your story — you choose the name it carries.
