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

Jesus walked right into the middle of it.

The crowd was thick that day, buzzing with noise and judgment. 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, looked up into the sycamore tree, and called him by name. But he didn’t just use a generic label. He used the Hebrew name:

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

Imagine the shock. 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 in the middle of the accusers and pronounced the verdict before the trial even began. He didn't wait for Zacchaeus to pay the money back first. He didn't wait for an apology. 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. Grace gives you a new name, 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.