Breaking the Rules of Religion: Jesus Was Already Looking for You
By Chuck E. Tate
There’s something beautifully disruptive about the story of Zacchaeus.
It’s tucked inside Luke 19, and at first glance it feels simple—a short man climbs a tree to see Jesus. But the deeper you look, the more you realize this story isn’t really about a man searching for God.
It’s about God seeking out a man.
“For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.”
-Luke 19:10 (NLT)
Zacchaeus thought he was the seeker. Jesus reveals He was the Seeker all along.
A Man Everyone Had Written Off
Zacchaeus wasn’t just a tax collector—he was a chief tax collector. He worked for Rome. He profited off his own people. He was wealthy because others were struggling. In Jericho, he wasn’t misunderstood. He was despised. If anyone embodied “religious disqualification,” it was him.
Yet when Jesus entered Jericho, He didn’t scan the crowd looking for the most devout person in attendance. He didn’t call out the synagogue leader. He didn’t commend the most generous donor.
He stopped under a tree.
“Zacchaeus! … I must be a guest in your home today.”
-Luke 19:5 (NLT)
Notice that Jesus didn’t call him “sinner.” He didn’t call him “traitor.” He called him by name. Before Zacchaeus offered restitution, before he pledged generosity, before his life visibly changed, Jesus offered presence.
Religion says, clean up and then come down. Jesus says, come down. I’m coming over. That’s rule-breaking grace.
Proximity That Made People Uncomfortable
The crowd’s reaction is telling: “He has gone to be the guest of a notorious sinner.” They didn’t question Zacchaeus’ sin. They questioned Jesus’ proximity. To eat with someone in that culture wasn’t casual—it signaled acceptance. It said, I’m not ashamed to be associated with you.
This is where many of us feel the tension. We’re comfortable loving sinners from a distance. We’re less comfortable sitting at their table. But Jesus understood something we often forget: transformation rarely happens through condemnation. It grows in the soil of relationship.
We’re sometimes shocked when non-Christians act like, well, non-Christians. Or when brand-new believers don’t immediately reflect decades of spiritual maturity. Jelly Roll? Kid Rock? But growth is a process. A seed doesn’t become a tree overnight. A newborn doesn’t walk the first day. And a heart doesn’t transform without time, teaching, and presence.
Zacchaeus didn’t leave the tree as a theologian. He left as a man who had just been seen.
Kindness Before Confrontation
What’s remarkable about the story is the order. Jesus doesn’t say, “Repent, and then I’ll come over.” He says, “I must stay at your house today.” Only after experiencing Jesus’ presence does Zacchaeus stand and declare he will give half his wealth to the poor and repay four times what he has taken.
No public shaming.
No recorded lecture.
No humiliation.
Just kindness.
And as Paul later writes in Romans 2:4, it is God’s kindness that leads us to repentance. Kindness is not compromise. It’s not moral softness. It’s confident love that believes grace is powerful enough to change a human heart.
From the Sidewalk to the Sycamore
If you zoom out, there’s an even bigger picture unfolding. Right before this encounter, Jesus heals blind Bartimaeus on the outskirts of Jericho. Then He walks into the city and calls down its most notorious wealthy sinner. From the sidewalk to the sycamore. He heals the oppressed beggar. He pursues the powerful oppressor.
The gospel is big enough for both.
The victim.
The villain.
The outsider.
The insider.
No one is beneath His mercy.
No one is beyond His reach.
The Question That Lingers
So here’s the uncomfortable question:
Who is your Zacchaeus?
The coworker who mocks your faith? The family member living far from God? The person whose politics make your blood pressure rise? Are you more comfortable standing with the grumbling crowd? Or walking toward the tree?
Religion builds distance to stay clean.
Jesus closes distance to make clean.
And here’s the part that may matter most:
If you feel like Zacchaeus—climbing, stretching, unsure whether Jesus even notices—you need to know something. Before you ever reached for Him, He saw you. Before you ever whispered a prayer, He was already moving toward your tree. You are not an interruption to His mission. You are the reason for it.
He still calls names.
He still enters messy homes.
He still seeks and saves the lost.
Including you.
That’s not religion.
That’s grace breaking the rules.
Chuck Tate is a pastor, award-winning author of 41 Will Come, and cohost of Revival Town Podcast. He can be seen weekly on GOD TV. His new book, Nine Words From Jesus—A Manifesto of Hope to Thrive in the Present and Prevail in the Future, is available wherever books are sold.