Luke 19:7

And when they saw it, they all murmured. ("All" the Pharisees, and the Jews their parasites, who hated the publicans.) They murmured, saying that he was gone, &c.

The publicans were held by the Jews to be impious, unjust, wicked, and they often were such. Some think that "sinner" here means that Zacchæus was a Gentile and idolater. Such is the opinion of Tertullian, SS. Cyprian, Ambrose, Bede, and from them Maldonatus. And that Zacchæus speaks of a restitution of things exacted so unjustly, which was of a natural law, and not ordered by Moses. S. Chrysostom, in his sermon on Zacchæus, says, "He was a son of Abraham by faith, not by birth; by merit, not by descent; by devotion, not by race." But the contrary is equally probable, perhaps more so, namely, that Zacchæus was a Jew, not a Gentile. 1. Because, ver. 9, he is called a son of Abraham. 2. Because Christ only conversed with Jews, for He was sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Hence He is called by S. Paul "minister of the circumcision," Romans 15:8. Because Zacchæus is a Hebrew name. 4. Because the Jews would not have been silent on the matter but would have brought it against Jesus that he held communion with the Gentiles when the Messiah was promised to the Jews alone. Ver. 8. And Zacchæus stood, and said unto the Lord. We cannot, doubt that Christ as soon as He entered the house of Zacchæus began, according to His custom, to teach and exhort both Zacchæus himself and those of his household, to faith and repentance, and, if they repented, to promise them grace, righteousness, and salvation. He would also urge upon them contempt of riches and the world, and the acceptance of poverty and evangelical perfection, by following Him and giving their goods to the poor, that they might receive treasure in heaven, and a hundredfold in this life. S. Luke, for the sake of brevity, says nothing of this; but from what follows, and from what he had frequently said before, especially Luke 18:22, of the custom of Christ to teach and preach, He leaves it to be understood. For by these words of Christ Zacchæus was plainly converted to faith, repentance, poverty, and contempt of riches and the world. He said,

Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I gave to the poor. He therefore did not keep one half for himself, but gave back to others what they had been unjustly defrauded of. For he adds, "If I have wronged any man of any thing, I restore him fourfold." "I give," "I restore," that is, I am resolved from this time, and firmly determine to give and restore according to Thy doctrine and exhortation. On account of this efficacious resolution of the penitent Zacchæus, Christ added as a reward, "This day is salvation come to this house." So S. Ambrose, Bede, Euthymius, Tertullian in his fourth book against Marcion, Fulgentius in his epistle to Galla. It is a Hebraism, similar to that of Pharaoh, Exod. v. 10: "I give you not straw," that is, I decree and command that straw is not given to you. Matt. xxvi. 18: "I will keep the Passover at thy house," that is, I will, I determine to keep it. S. Cyprian, however, in his tract On Works and Almsgiving, has explained the words "give" and "restore," by the perfect tense: "I have given, I have restored," as if Zacchæus had been converted previously by other discourses of Christ which he had heard.

And if I have, &c. The Greek is ε̉συκοφάντησα, that is, accused falsely of fraud, calumny, or any other like offence. Zacchæus owns to the crime of defrauding, but in a slight degree: for when, for the sum defrauded he restored fourfold out of his own half of his property, it follows that he gained only an eighth part of his wealth by fraud; so that, if he had eight thousand gold pieces, only one thousand was gained thus, the other seven being his own, either by inheritance, or some other just manner.

Observe the sudden and miraculous conversion of Zacchæus, through the grace of Christ, so that he not only repented at once, but also resolved to put away all the wealth to which he had previously clung, for he set apart half for the poor and half for restitution. Thus he instantly embraced the precept of evangelical poverty, that he might forsake all things, and, as a poor man, follow the work of his hands. "Hear a wonderful thing," says S. Chrysostom, in his Homily on Zacchæus, "He had not yet learnt, and he obeyed. The Saviour by the rays of His righteousness, put to flight the darkness of Zacchæus' wickedness." And Bede, "Behold, the camel has laid down his burden, and passed through the eye of the needle that is, he gave up the love of riches, and received the blessing of the Lord's adoption. This is the folly which is wisdom, and which the publican chose from the sycamore as the fruit of life; restoring what he had seized, giving up his own, despising things seen." And Theophylact, "Behold his alacrity; he began to sow not sparingly, nor did he give a few things but his whole life." And S. Bernard (Serm. x, on Festival of all Saints), addressing his own Religious: "Zacchæus, whose praise is in the Gospel, gave the half of his goods to the poor, but I see here many Zacchæuses, who have left themselves nothing of all their property. Who shall write a gospel of these Zacchæuses, nay, of these Peters who shall say in faith, 'Lord, behold, we have left all things and followed Thee?' But it is written in the everlasting gospel; it is written and signed in the book of life, 'Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.'" "I restore," that is, I determine and firmly resolve to restore; nor can we doubt that he acted at once upon this resolve, and carried it out into actual practice.

Fourfold. It was not by the law of nature, nor by that of Moses, that Zacchæus bound himself to restore fourfold; as both only oblige him to restore the original sum. He resolved to perform this great and superabundant act of restitution and justice of his fervent charity and repentance. This is in conformity with the law of Exodus xxii. 1, which orders that a man who has stolen a sheep, should be condemned by the judge to restore fourfold. Zacchæus said this, not from boasting and ostentation, but partly from the fervour with which he had been inspired by Christ and the Holy Ghost, partly to refute the calumny of the scribes, who objected to Christ, that He associated with a sinner. For he shows that he was now no longer a sinner, but repentant and just nay, more just than the just and holy.

In trope, S. Chrysostom (Hom. lxxviii) teaches us that we must adorn the house of our souls with almsgiving and righteousness, like Zacchæus, if we desire to receive Christ as a guest.