Luke 19:1-10: 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.”
1. Jesus is Passing Through
There’s a lot of buzz in Jericho as Jesus is passing through. In Luke Jesus is on a one-way trip to Jerusalem. He is resolute. He knows what is coming. He knows that He is about to be crucified. This is not a death wish on His part.
Luke 9:51: As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.
Over Easter (just a few weeks ago) we remembered that in the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus was in such anguish that He sweat blood. But He knows where He is going and why. He is going to die on a cross so that the punishment for our sins is placed on Him, not us.
Today, as you are here in church, there is a sense in which Jesus is passing through…
2. Zacchaeus is the worst of the worst
This guy is a tax collector. Now, people hated tax collectors (some still do today).
These guys were crooks. They would take pleasure in keeping people struggling to pay their taxes, adding more interest than necessary, and making profits off of those who could least afford it.
Some of them would even act as loan sharks to enable people to pay their taxes but then take everything that they had.
They worked in collaboration with the Roman oppressors, Jews who has sold out to the cruel empire that now sought to oppress them
The man in the street hated tax collectors. And Zacchaeus is the worst of the worst. He is a chief tax collector. Which means he ran the revenue service in Jericho, with maybe dozens of tax collectors under him.
Which meant he got a slice of every kick-back, every loan, every dodgy deal.
Which meant two things: he was doubly hated by those he cheated and he was rich, really rich, in comparison to the community in which he lived.
3. Zacchaeus Has a (Dis)advantage
This guy does not have it all.
He is short. He is not just below average height, he is shopping in the kids section.
So, he cannot see what is happening. No one will let him to the front of the crowd.
But he is also curious - his advantage. He has heard about Jesus.
19:4: So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.
He gets into a position where he can see without being seen.
Many people will shun Christianity and the possibility of there being a creator God because of lots of reasons:
- Their perceived intellectual superiority
- Their peers and pressure
- Their upbringing, never being exposed to God’s love
But when Jesus is passing by, like Zacchaeus, they want to see Jesus without others seeing them looking. Like Zacchaeus they like to be hidden in the branches of the sycamore tree -something to hide beyond while they check out Jesus.
They are like me. I didn’t grow up in a Christian home. Far from it. As far from it as you might get. I was curious. After all, if there is no God, if Jesus doesn’t matter and is just the butt of jokes by comedians, why are people so against Him?
Curiosity is good thing. Having a sneaky peak is a clever thing.
4. Jesus Looks Up
The thing that Zacchaeus did not expect to happen was that Jesus stopped right there and looked up.
Three quick takeaways:
- Curiosity draws the attention of Jesus
Jesus sees you where you are. When everyone eslse has ignored you, or written you off, He sees you. Beyond the façade, beyond the hype, He sees the real you.
- You’re not too bad for Jesus
People were cross that Jesus went to Zacchaeus’ home. They figured he was the worst of the worst. Jesus doesn’t write anyone off.
- Jesus wants to spend time with you
Jesus deserves more than glance from a distance. He wants to spend time with you, even if at the end of the curious exploration you reject Him, He is still open to your questions about who He is.
5. Zacchaeus Welcomes Jesus Gladly
Here’s the thing, if Jesus wanted to go home with you today, would you welcome Him gladly or ignore Him?
Now, you may not want to welcome Him, you might want to just ask a few questions of Him.
I think at that moment maybe Zacchaeus thought it was because of his wealth that Jesus wanted to spend time with him. He views Jesus through the lens of his life and experience (like we all do) until he actually sits down with Him.
We all view Jesus through our own lenses:
C.S. Lewis: “A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”
6. Jesus in Your Life Brings Real Change
There is something about Jesus that brings a radical and unexpected change in Zacchaeus:
19:8: “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.”
You see, when you encounter Jesus, I mean really meet Him, you begin to change. This is not social conditioning. This is an internal change in response to God Himself.
Many write off Christianity as yesterday’s news, archaic nonsense that we have outgrown. Yet a third of the world’s population is Christian and growing.
Jesus is still radically changing lives today.
Luke 19:10: For the Son of Man (Jesus) came to seek and to save the lost.
Wrapping this up:
He is still stopping and looking up at the ‘tree’ that hides you from view.
He is still wanting to spend time with you. He still wants to hear your questions.
Won’t you accept His invitation to spend some time together?
Free book for the properly curious (Exquisite Jesus).
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