In Luke 19:1-10 Zacchaeus has an encounter with Jesus.
“Jesus entered Jericho and made his way through the town. There was a man there named Zacchaeus. He was the chief tax collector in the region, and he had become very rich. He tried to get a look at Jesus, but he was too short to see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree beside the road, for Jesus was going to pass that way.
When Jesus came by, he looked up at Zacchaeus and called him by name. “Zacchaeus!” he said. “Quick, come down! I must be a guest in your home today.”
Zacchaeus quickly climbed down and took Jesus to his house in great excitement and joy. But the people were displeased. “He has gone to be the guest of a notorious sinner,” they grumbled.
Meanwhile, Zacchaeus stood before the Lord and said, “I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have cheated people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!”
Jesus responded, “Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.”
It’s interesting that the profession of tax collector is synonymous with sinner. The tax collectors had a reputation for collecting more than what due. It’s possible that people became collectors so that they could exploit people. Tax collectors were influenced by greed.
Because of the bad conduct of the collectors nobody liked them. Enter in Jesus who calls out the chief of the collectors. The crowd was displeased because of this. There were probably many good people in the crowd who wanted to have Jesus in their home, and here Jesus is calling out the wicked and despised. And look what happens because of it. Zacchaeus has a total perspective shift. He once thought that people’s possessions were ripe for the taking, but one invitation by Jesus and he has the desire to give his money away and return with extra what he had stolen. That is influence. Influence is the capacity to have an effect on the character, development, or behavior of someone or something, or the effect itself.
Just a little bit of yeast can affect the whole batch of dough.