Z is for Zacchaeus

Well, here we are at Z again for ABC Wednesday. And I’m happy to say I suc­cess­fully made it all the way through the bible. Oh yes, there were let­ters that had me worried…like Q and X. I believe it was a con­tro­ver­sial theme to pick, but I hope those of you who vis­ited reg­u­larly enjoyed my meme theme.

So let’s end this round with someone you may remember from a Sunday School song…a “wee little man” named Zacchaeus.

There he is, the blood-sucking tax col­lector, Zacchaeus. The pariah of the town. The lowest of the low. A turn­coat Jew who now works for Cesar and his thugs. When he shows up, you know he’s going to take more tax than necessary…just to line his own pockets. And take he does. Zacchaeus is a very rich man. He’s walked away from his Jewish moral code to become a prof­i­teer, making money off his fellow Jews because of Rome’s occu­pa­tion of Jericho. There are many people to loathe in Jericho; the town pros­ti­tutes; the Roman guards; the crazy man down the street; the woman with the strange ill­ness. Yes, Jericho has tremen­dous scape­goat poten­tial. But Zacchaeus’ rep­u­ta­tion tops them all.

One day, Zacchaeus is sit­ting in his pent­house apart­ment counting his money when he hears a com­mo­tion coming down the street. He’s heard of a man named Jesus causing all sorts of con­cern. And being a Jew, he’s heard all the Promised Messiah, King, Savior rumors. His curiosity leads him to the street to see what’s going on. Has Jesus come to debate the Pharisees? To heal some poor, sick soul? To pardon another woman of ques­tion­able char­acter? In any case, Zacchaeus wants to see what kind of trouble is stirring.

The problem is, when he hits the street, Zacchaeus can’t see much of anything…because he’s a bit ver­ti­cally challenged.

He’s short. And all he sees is other people’s.…well, you get the idea.

So he spies a tree up the road. He runs as fast as his little legs will carry him and climbs the tree to watch the mob with this free-lance teacher. There he is, dressed to the nines, sit­ting in a tree. He’s ripe for ridicule and he knows it. But a dri­ving need to see this man over­comes his pride­full­ness, and now he’s out on a limb straining to see so not to miss any­thing that might happen.

And then he sees him, sur­rounded by people trying to get his atten­tion. He hears more than a few invi­ta­tions to come for dinner. He hears chal­lenges for debates with the local attor­neys. Everyone seems to want a piece of him. But as Jesus passes by, his atten­tion is taken away from the crowd and up into the tree.

Their eyes lock. Seeing what is obvi­ously a very rich man, clothed in the latest fashion, hanging on to branches of a tree is not some­thing one sees every day. But without missing a beat, Jesus looks deep into Zacchaeus’ eyes and calls him by name to come down out of the tree…because he’s coming to his house for dinner!

Zacchaeus just about fell out of that tree.

How did he know my name?
My house? For dinner? No way!

The crowd is shocked and appalled. Doesn’t Jesus know who this man is? Doesn’t Jesus know how despi­cable he is? Surely there are better people in town with whom Jesus could be seen. Surely, if Jesus is a great prophet, he knows this is not the type of person that’s going to win him any pop­u­larity points.

But that’s how JC rolls. He’s more inter­ested in seeking and saving the lost than fine dining at a 5-star restau­rant with the mayor. He’d rather hang out with the scape­goats and offer moral rebirth and sal­va­tion than end­lessly debate the fine points of the­ology with the priests. He prefers to offer those…those…sin­ners… lib­er­a­tion and grace rather than con­dem­na­tion and ridicule.

Well…in Who-ville they say that the Grinch’s small heart grew three sizes that day!

Oh wait, wrong Grinch…

Anyway, as Zacchaeus looks into those eyes, he changes. He’s so over­come that he vows to give back half his wealth and apol­o­gize for all the wrongs he’s com­mitted. And if he’s cheated anyone, he’ll pay them back four times the amount…which prob­ably takes care of the rest of his wealth. He comes to faith in Jesus with empty hands and walks away with a full heart.

And with that, Jesus replies, Today sal­va­tion has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. (Luke 19:9–10)

Have you ever found your­self out on a limb and vul­ner­able?
What would you do if God called you by name to come down from the tree?
What would you let go of to accept the invi­ta­tion of grace?

Sub­mitted for ABC Wednesday

And that,  my friends, is the end of Round 9 of ABC Wednesday. I hope to see you back next week to begin Round 10!

 

 

you may also like…

• F is for Forgiveness
• P is for Peter
• J is for Jesus
• G is for Grace
• F is for Free Will