“And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham.”
My Notes
What Does Luke 19:9 Mean?
"And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham." After Zacchaeus pledges to give HALF his goods to the poor and restore fourfold to anyone he defrauded, Jesus declares: salvation has come to THIS HOUSE TODAY. The salvation is DOMESTIC (to this house — the entire household), PRESENT (this day — today, right now), and IDENTITY-GROUNDED (he is a son of Abraham — his covenant identity hasn't been cancelled by his tax-collector career).
The phrase "this day is salvation come to this house" (sēmeron sōtēria tō oikō toutō egeneto — today salvation happened/became to this house) makes salvation a TIMED EVENT with a DOMESTIC scope: salvation didn't come to Zacchaeus individually. It came to his HOUSE — his household, his family, his domestic sphere. And it came TODAY — a specific day, a datable moment, a point in time when salvation ARRIVED. The salvation is present-tense and household-wide.
The "forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham" (kathoti kai autos huios Abraam estin — inasmuch as he also is a son of Abraham) restores Zacchaeus' IDENTITY: the tax collectors were considered OUTSIDE the covenant — traitors who worked for Rome, excluded from Jewish community. Jesus says: he IS a son of Abraham. STILL. The tax-collecting didn't cancel the Abrahamic identity. The covenant membership persisted through the career that should have destroyed it.
Reflection Questions
- 1.What identity do you think your sin has cancelled — and does Jesus say it's still yours?
- 2.What does salvation coming to a HOUSE (not just a person) teach about the domestic scope of redemption?
- 3.How does 'this day' — datable, specific, today — describe the moment salvation arrives?
- 4.What does 'he ALSO is a son of Abraham' restore to someone the community had excluded?
Devotional
THIS DAY — salvation has come to this HOUSE. Because he is STILL a son of Abraham. Three declarations: salvation is HERE (today). Salvation is HOUSEHOLD (this house). Salvation is IDENTITY-GROUNDED (son of Abraham). The tax collector everyone excluded is included by Jesus — not because of the pledge to give and restore, but because of who he ALREADY IS.
The 'this day' makes salvation DATABLE: today. Not gradually, not over time, not through a process. TODAY. Salvation arrived at a specific moment — the moment Jesus entered the house, the moment Zacchaeus responded, the moment the commitment was made. The day is identifiable. The salvation is timestamp-able. There was a BEFORE and there is an AFTER, and the dividing line is THIS DAY.
The 'to this house' makes salvation DOMESTIC: not just to Zacchaeus individually but to his HOUSEHOLD. The family. The servants. The domestic sphere. Salvation entered the HOUSE — the physical space, the relational network, the family unit. The individual's encounter with Jesus produces the household's encounter with salvation. The one person's tree-climbing results in the entire home's redemption.
The 'he also is a son of Abraham' restores what the community removed: the Jews considered tax collectors OUTSIDE the covenant. Zacchaeus was a chief tax collector — the worst of the worst. The community said: he's NO son of Abraham. Jesus says: he IS. Still. The career didn't cancel the covenant. The tax-collecting didn't erase the Abrahamic identity. The identity persisted through the sin. And the salvation that arrived TODAY is connected to the identity that was ALWAYS there.
What identity do you think your sin or career has cancelled — and does Jesus say it's still yours?
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
For the son of man,.... Meaning himself, who was truly man, and the Messiah, and which was one of his names in the Old…
Salvation is come to this house - This family. They have this day received the blessings of the gospel, and become…
Jesus said unto him - Bishop Pearce observes: "Probably Luke wrote αυτους, not αυτον, said unto them, i.e. to those who…
Many, no doubt, were converted to the faith of Christ of whom no account is kept in the gospels; but the conversion of…
a son of Abraham Used here in the high spiritual sense (Rom 4:11-12; Rom 4:16; Gal 3:7) though also true (as the name…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture