Jesus and Zacchaeus

Luke 19:1-10
He entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 And 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 of 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.”

The words of this narrative bring to our minds the colorful pictures in children’s Sunday School books of a short man in a tree, with Jesus in his inevitable white robe looking up to call him down.

We tend to relegate the story to children, perhaps because we think they can relate to a short person. Or to someone who climbs trees. And, of course, to someone who is sought and found by Jesus.

For the adult, however, there is even more to gain from reading or rereading this text. Jesus’ invitation to Zacchaeus is for us: “Zacchaeus, hurry up and come down, for I must stay at your house today.”

How are we eligible for this invitation from Jesus? How are we like Zacchaeus? Well, at times we are certainly up a tree in our lives, searching for answers, maybe even knowing as wisely as Zacchaeus knew that they can be found if we can just catch a glimpse of Jesus. Certainly we too are sinners, as the Pharisees said Zacchaeus was.

Yet Zacchaeus was also a believer, a very wealthy believer, a “son of Abraham” who because of his success as a taxpayer was ostracized by Jewish leaders who disapproved of this vocation. He is (verse 6), happy to welcome Jesus into his house. Hospitality is all that Jesus asks of him, yet Zacchaeus offers more, saying, “The half of my goods I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone, I will pay back four times as much” (verse 9).

If we welcome Christ into our household questions which have been bothering us can be answered, just as the question of how to handle his wealth must have been bothering Zacchaeus. The bottom line of the story is the lesson about who Christ is: “the one who has come to seek out and to save the lost.” That includes both us and, as Zacchaeus realized, the poor who need a fair portion of our wealth.
The blessing of Christ comes to each of us when we respond.

Prayer: O Lord of the small and poor, we pray for our own salvation as you guide us to do your will in this world. Amen.

Betsy Lunz