There is a city called Jericho. Historically, it was known as the city of the curse.

Jesus walked right into the middle of it.

A crowd gathered that day. They were looking at a man named Zacchaeus. To them, he was a traitor. He was the chief tax collector, a man who grew rich by cooperating with Rome and extorting his neighbors.

They saw a "sinner." Jesus saw something else.

Jesus stopped and looked up into the sycamore tree. He called him by name. But he did not use a generic label. He used his Hebrew name:

(Zakkay) זַכָּאי — "pure one, innocent, righteous"

The crowd knew him as the chief sinner. Jesus called him the Pure One.

In a Jewish court of law, when a judge brings the gavel down to acquit a defendant, the verdict is pronounced: Zakkay. Not guilty.

Jesus stood among the accusers and pronounced the verdict before the trial even began. He did not wait for Zacchaeus to pay back the money or apologize. He declared his righteousness first.

“Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” Luke 19:5

Religion says you must change your behavior to earn a new name. Jesus gives you a new name first, which empowers you to change your behavior.

You are not who the crowd says you are. You are who He says you are.

When the Gavel falls, the verdict is grace.