
And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold. Luke 19:8
Zacchaeus was a chief tax collector, a wealthy man who later received Jesus and decided to make compensations for his wrong doings. One day, while I was reading the above passage, I asked the Lord: Why restore fourfold of what he has taken? And the following came to my mind ...
The first fold is to repay what he has taken from the other party.
The second fold is interest and any cost incurred because of his false accusation.
The third and fourth fold is given so that he now becomes the creditor instead of the debtor, and he can re-build his relationship with the other party.