Okay, so before we begin talking about what this story may
really mean, in terms of reading between the lines, let’s first read the
amazing event, recorded by one of my favourite writers, Luke.
' He [(meaning
Jesus)] entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 And behold,
there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. 3 And he was seeking to see
who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small
in stature. 4 So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to
see him, for he was about to pass that way. 5 And when Jesus
came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and
come down, for I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he hurried
and came down and received him joyfully. 7 And when they saw it, they all grumbled, “He has
gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” 8 And Zacchaeus
stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor.
And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” 9 And Jesus said
to him, “Today
salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of
Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to
seek and to save the lost.”
~Luke19’1-10
This version was taken from the lovely ESV,
one I don’t normally use but it just gets to the point sometimes, and I love
that. So… Zacchaeus …
It’s a story us born-in-church-kids have probably
hear, but I must admit it’s an event I have seemed to have forgotten about. We
all know that absolutely everything recorded in the Bible is of VITAL
SIGNIFICANCE, John21’25 clearly reminds us of how much more Jesus did in His
times as a physical God-human here on earth. But it couldn’t all be written down!
That just tells us that the things that WERE written down were the one we
NEEDED to hear.
So you’ve read the story, you know what
happened, I just want to dig a little deeper into it though. The Bible
described Zacchaeus as a rich chief tax collector. That interesting because his
job profile says a lot about his personality. In those days tax-men though very
rich, had quite a low reputation among the Jewish people. They were thieves,
they took money for the despised Roman Government, whilst taking a little extra
for themselves, they were no-doubt socially excluded and in that way quite isolated
from the tight Hebrew Community. Similar to today’s version of car-ticket attendants:]
And so, Luke, by introducing him by his job says so much in so little time. By
the world’s standards, he did not deserve to see Jesus; and he certainly did
not deserve to have Jesus in his house. But as we see later, all of that
happened and more…
Now the Bible doesn’t often mention height
issues, but it seems, Zacchaeus was vertically-challenged. He was short and couldn’t
see Jesus. Now I wouldn’t say I can identify height-wise, but I see a lot of myself
in that one statement. Sometimes … no … a
lot of the times I fall short of the standards God has set for me, mistakes
make me feel inadequate to even see Him as my Father and Friend because I am so
sinful. I understand here when Zacchaeus so wanted to see Jesus but he couldn’t
because he was not enough.
- And we aren’t enough ROMANS3’23 Says ‘for
everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.’ BUT, do not
be discouraged because God gave Zacchaeus a way, and He can give us a way too
if we just ask.
You know, God is so amazing. I did some
research on the life of a Sycamore Tree and found out that they can live to about
200 years of age. Most produce seed and are at their prime at about 150 years old . This means that God, in eternity had decided hundreds of years
pre-event to plant a sycamore tree in the street Jesus would be walking in that
day for Zacchaeus to climb and give us all this story of hope.
-Do you see that?
God will always make a way for you to find
Him, because He wants that for you more than anything. A relationship with the
Father IS the abundant life for which HE CAME!! [JOHN10’10]
But Zacchaeus had to be in a yearning frame
of mind to be so desperate for God that He had to climb a tree to see Jesus. I’m
reminded of …
‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for
righteousness for they shall be filled’ MATT5’6
Zacchaeus was hungry and thirsty for the view of Jesus, his
heart was in the right place – and therefore his actions were in the right way
too. [‘Every tree is known by its own fruit' LUKE6’44] He climbed up the tree.
(HE WAS) ‘IN THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME’ –ECC9’11
--- And you know, this phrase has been taken and used by the
world in the context of business success and even luck.
But this phrase comes from Ecclesiastes 9’11. The wise Solomon
even in his older years new the importance of position in the time and place.
In this context we can take this and see...
Are our heart in the right place to see God? [MATT5’8]
Are we in the right mind-set to receive Him – are we in the
midst of the crowds and the distraction or have we stepped out of that, climbed
the tree and put ourselves in the right place?
Sometimes it takes isolation, sometimes it’s a struggle to
get to the place you KNOW you need to be in order to see God. But it is something
that needs to be done.
What is this struggle you make ask?
Jesus said ‘For My yoke is easy to bear and the burden I
give you is light.’ – MATTHEW 11’30
Part of this burden will always be to ‘take up your cross,
and follow Me’ MATT16’24
There’s a reason why the amazing hand of God and His plans
for us have been called the great exchange [2CORINTHIANS5'21]. We give Him our sin, our ashes, our
despair and He gives us righteousness, beauty, praise.
Seems like an unfair exchange doesn’t it?
But it’s kind of like
when for example, you’ve been irritable with your mum for some time , and for
no other reason (out of the fact that you are her child), she does something
really lovely for you, your favourite meal perhaps, a small gift . How much
more does God love us and give us the things we need but don’t deserve, His
love, His grace and mercy [MATT7’11]
Don’t make it difficult for yourself, accept the gift and
decide that within yourself you will do what He wants for your life.
- - - Climb the tree, by surrendering your will and getting to a
right place with God to see Him.
No matter what anyone my say [LUKE19’7] Jesus will come into
your heart (Zacchaeus’ home) and your gratitude for His amazing compassion for
you will intrinsically make you into the generous [LUKE19’8] kind and Godly
person that God wants you to be.
