Charles Ellicott Commentary Luke 19:9

"And Jesus said unto him, To-day is salvation come to this house, forasmuch as he also is a son of Abraham." — Luke 19:9 (ASV)

This day is salvation come to this house.—The Greek tense, This day came there salvation to this house, has a force that is not easy to express in English, implying that the salvation was already regarded as completed in the past.

In one sense, salvation had come in the personal presence of the Saviour; but we must remember all that the word implied—deliverance, not only from the penalty but also from the habit and the power of sin. This salvation had come, and the words and actions of Zacchaeus showed its fruits.

And it came to him because he also is a child of Abraham. The Abrahamic character was in him, just as that of the true Israelite was in Nicodemus (John 1:47). A son of Abraham, like Abraham in his noble generosity (Genesis 14:23), was found where, to the common observer, it would have seemed as hopeless to look for one as among the stones of the Jordan valley (Matthew 3:9).