And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at thy house.

People's New Testament

19:5 To day I must abide at thy house. Tarry there for the night. Jesus went there, not for congenial society, but because his mission was to seek and save the lost.

Wesley's Notes

19:5 Jesus said, Zaccheus, make haste and come down - What a strange mixture of passions must Zaccheus have now felt, hearing one speak, as knowing both his name and his heart!

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

5, 6. looked up,-in the full knowledge of who was in the tree, and preparatory to addressing him.

Zaccheus-whom he had never seen in the flesh, nor probably heard of. "He calleth His own sheep by name and leadeth them out" (Joh 10:3).

make haste, and come down-to which he literally responded-"he made haste and came down."

for to-day, &c.-Our Lord invites Himself, and in "royal" style, which waits not for invitations, but as the honor is done to the subject, not the sovereign, announces the purpose of royalty to partake of the subject's hospitalities. Manifestly our Lord speaks as knowing how the privilege would be appreciated.

to-day . abide-(Compare Joh 1:39), probably over night.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

19:1-10 Those who sincerely desire a sight of Christ, like Zaccheus, will break through opposition, and take pains to see him. Christ invited himself to Zaccheus' house. Wherever Christ comes he opens the heart, and inclines it to receive him. He that has a mind to know Christ, shall be known of him. Those whom Christ calls, must humble themselves, and come down. We may well receive him joyfully, who brings all good with him. Zaccheus gave proofs publicly that he was become a true convert. He does not look to be justified by his works, as the Pharisee; but by his good works he will, through the grace of God, show the sincerity of his faith and repentance. Zaccheus is declared to be a happy man, now he is turned from sin to God. Now that he is saved from his sins, from the guilt of them, from the power of them, all the benefits of salvation are his. Christ is come to his house, and where Christ comes he brings salvation with him. He came into this lost world to seek and to save it. His design was to save, when there was no salvation in any other. He seeks those that sought him not, and asked not for him.