Day 3: A Short Man Stands Tall
Read: Luke 19:1-10
As I begin today’s character study, I’m transported back to a small Sunday School room where I sat as a 6-year-old girl. Along with others my age, I’m singing, “Zacchaeus was a wee little man and a wee little man was he….” If you grew up in Sunday School, you’re likely singing along with me and a couple hours from now will thank me for that song being stuck in your head. But probably not.
Today we find ourselves in Jericho. Jesus was passing through and Zacchaeus desperately wanted to see who Jesus was but because of the crowd, he could not. He was short. Being short wasn’t his biggest problem. He was also a tax collector. Here is what the Lexham Bible Dictionary says about that:
“Tax collectors in the Roman Empire had to collect a certain amount for the maintenance of the state. However, they were also permitted to collect more and then keep the proceeds. Tax collectors were hated for their tendency to abuse their power for their own gain.”
I think we can see why tax collectors were hated and ostracized.
Not to be deterred, Zacchaeus climbed a sycamore tree so he could see Jesus but had no idea it would actually be Jesus seeing him. As Jesus came to the tree, he looked up. Don’t read that so quickly you miss the divine importance. It wasn’t happenstance that caused Jesus to look up—he knew Zacchaeus was there. He saw Zacchaeus. Jesus saw him in a way nobody else had ever seen him. He saw him in his sinfulness, cheating, lying and deception. Astoundingly, Jesus loved Zacchaeus just as he was. The same way he loves you and me. His mission at that moment was to bring the gospel to a lost soul.
When Jesus told him to come down, Zacchaeus did so right away and received Jesus joyfully. We can surmise from the crowd’s response to Jesus declaring he would go to his house that Zacchaeus was negatively viewed and probably not included in many social functions. He was an outcast. He was a “sinful man.” As if they weren’t.
But for Zacchaeus, that encounter changed everything. Not only was he a repentant man, he was also a man who promised to make his past indiscretions right. In fact, four times as right. He took full responsibility for fleecing others and getting rich off the labors of the poor.
With his confession and repentance, salvation came to Zacchaeus that night.
There is so much we can learn from this short tax collector and the crowd, too. When we come to saving faith, our response should be to make amends, just as Zacchaeus did. We need to acknowledge what we’ve done, who we’ve harmed and vow to make it right. Conversely, we can align ourselves with the crowd, always willing to point out the sin in others while refusing to acknowledge we are equal in our sin. One train of thought leads to salvation, the other to destruction.
An encounter with Jesus never leaves us the same as it found us. It spurs us to action, love and humility.
Prayer: God, I want to be like Zacchaeus. I confess I am a sinful person in need of a change only you can do. I take responsibility for the things I’ve done and ask you to help me make it right. Reveal to me the people I’ve caused harm to and guide me in the things I must do to restore relationships.