And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, That he was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner.

And all murmured when they saw it, saying, He has turned in to lodge with a sinful man.

and having seen it, they were all murmuring, saying, 'With a sinful man he went in to lodge!'

When they all saw this, they began to complain with indignation. "He has gone in to be the guest of a notorious sinner!" they said.

And when they saw it, they were all angry, saying, He has gone into the house of a sinner.

And when they all saw this, they murmured, saying that he had turned aside to a sinful man.

On seeing this, everyone began to complain, "He has gone to stay with a man who is an outcast."

And when they saw it, they all murmured. The inhabitants of the town -- and, perhaps, some of Christ's followers -- murmur that he goes to lodge with a man who is looked upon as wicked and infamous, even though nobody invited him. It is thus that the world disregards the offer of the grace of God, but complains bitterly [1] when it is conveyed to others. But let us consider how unjust this murmuring was. They think it unreasonable that Christ should bestows so great an honor on a wicked man; for in this passage, as in many others, the word sinner is not taken in the ordinary sense, [2] but denotes a man of disgraceful and scandalous life. Let us suppose that Zaccheus was a person of this description. Still, we ought first to inquire for what purpose Christ chose to become his guest; for, while out of doors men are murmuring, within the house God displays magnificently the glory of this name, and refutes their wicked calumny. The conversion of Zaccheus was an astonishing work of God, and yet there was no good reason why Zaccheus should be marked with infamy. He had the charge of collecting the taxes. Now to collect taxes was no crime in itself, but men of that class were exceedingly despised and hated by the Jews, because they reckoned it to be in the highest degree unjust that they should pay tribute. But whatever might be the character of Zaccheus, still the kindness of Christ ought not to be blamed, but commended, in not refusing his assistance to a wretched man, to rescue him from destruction, and bring him to salvation. And therefore the offense which was wickedly taken did not hinder him from proceeding to execute his Father's command. With such magnanimity ought all his ministers to be endued, as to think more highly of the salvation of one soul than of the murmurs which all ignorant persons may utter, and not to desist from their duty, even though all their actions and words may expose them to reproaches.

Footnotes

1 - "Et cependant est envieux et marri;" -- "and yet is envious and offended."

2 - "Et ne signifie pas ce que communeement nous appelons pecheur;" -- "and does not mean what we usually call a sinner."

Murmured - Found fault, complained.
To be a guest - To remain with, or to be entertained by.
A man that is a sinner - All publicans they regarded as great sinners, and the "chief" of the publicans, therefore, they regarded as especially wicked. It would appear also from Zacchaeus' confession that his character "had been" that of an oppressive man. But the people seemed to forget that he might be a penitent, and that the Messiah came to save that which was lost.

To be guest with a man that is a sinner - Meaning either that he was a heathen, or, though by birth a Jew, yet as bad as a heathen, because of his unholy and oppressive office. See the note on Luke 7:37.

(2) And when they saw [it], they all murmured, saying, That he was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner.
(2) The world forsakes the grace of God, and yet is unwilling that it should be bestowed upon others.

And when they saw it,.... The Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Arabic versions read, "when they all saw this"; that is, as the Persic version, rather paraphrasing than translating, says, "the men and the multitude that were with him"; the "pharisaical" sort, the priests and Levites, of which there were great numbers in Jericho; See Gill on Luke 10:31.
They all murmured; as the Scribes and Pharisees did, at his eating with publicans and sinners, Luke 15:2.
Saying, that he was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner; a notorious one, an abandoned profligate creature; one of the worst of sinners, as being a publican, and the chief of them; who had amassed vast riches to himself, by extortion and oppression; and they thought it was not agreeable to the character of an holy man, and a venerable prophet, which Christ bore, to go into such a man's house, eat at his table; and have familiar conversation with him; see Matthew 9:10.

to be guest--or lodge: something more than "eating with" such (Luke 15:2).
a sinner--that was one but a minute ago, but now is not. This mighty change, however, was all unknown to them. But they shall know it presently. "Sinner" would refer both to his office, vile in the eyes of a Jew, and to his character, which it is evident was not good.

They all murmured. How often these complaints of Jesus stooping down at the company of sinners are recorded! Now, however, the crowd expected that at Jerusalem his kingdom would be proclaimed, but here he is the guest of the chief agent of the oppressive Roman tribute! Had Christ sought popularity he would never have gone with ZacchÃ&brvbr;us.

They all murmured - All who were near: though most of them rather out of surprise than indignation.