The narrative of Jesus and Zacchaeus is recorded in Luke 19:1-10:
He entered Jericho and was passing through it. A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was rich. He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today." So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. All who saw it began to grumble and said, "He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner." Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, "Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much." Then Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost." (NRSV)
The soteriology presented in this pericope is in conflict with many popular theologies of salvation. As one critic of sola fide wrote:
In responding to Jesus' invitation, Zacchaeus says, "Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount." Here is true repentance. Zacchaeus is not just believing that Jesus is his personal Savior, but he is seeking to make a work of restitution and Zacchaeus is going above and beyond that law by offering to give as much as half his possessions (cf., Ex 22:1-3; Lev 6:4-5; Nm 5:7; 2Sm 12:6). This is just what Jesus told the Rich Young Man of Lk 18:22 in order to obtain eternal life, "Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven." Although the account does not state this, we might say that the Rich Young Man stole from the poor indirectly and thus needed to make "restitution."
Notice Jesus' response to this repentant tax collector after he volunteers to pay back the money he stole: "Jesus said to him, 'Today salvation has some to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham . . . '" it is the faith in Jesus coupled with the works of restitution, amounting to sincere repentance on Zacchaeus' part, which in turn prompts Jesus to grant him salvation. We notice also that Jesus designates Zacchaeus as a "son of Abraham." This does not merely mean that Zacchaeus was a Jew but that he was a "Jew inwardly" who "walked in the footsteps of the faith of Abraham" who was also justified by his "faith" and "works" (cf., Rm 2:29; 4:12,16; Jm 2:24). (Robert A. Sungenis, Not by Faith Alone: The Biblical Evidence for the Catholic Doctrine of Justification [2d ed.; Catholic Apologetics International Publishing Inc., 2009], 181)
