Wee little Man
(NIV) Luke 19:1 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. 3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.
5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.
7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”
8 But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “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.”
9 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
Being raised in church, I have known the story of Zacchaeus from childhood. Being short, I can identify with one who could not see what was happening in a crowd. I understand the desperation that would drive a man to climb a tree, and I am elated when I see the quick response of Zacchaeus to Jesus. Not only was Zacchaeus eager to have Jesus spend time in his home, he was also ready for salvation. And this little man, hated by everyone, immediately repented and offered restitution.
You see, Zacchaeus recognized Jesus not only as Savior, he saw that Jesus was his Lord. And that is the problem, isn’t it? We want Jesus to save us, but many of us do not want Him to direct our lives. When we become intentional in our discipleship, we, too, will be willing to climb a tree, just to get a glimpse of Jesus. We will welcome him into our home and into our hearts and we will turn our life around.
May we, like Zacchaeus, become so desperate in our desire to see Jesus that no obstacle will stand in our way. And if we are part of the crowd eager to point out another’s sin while being blind to our own, open our eyes that we might see—Jesus came to seek and save the lost—that is us, too.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
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Seeking Holiness 