Jesus is passing by again this morning. Again we face the possibility that we may just hear a commotion but not really see what the big deal is. What are we willing to do to see Jesus?
If we are the type who say "I am rich and affluent and have no need of anything" we'll miss him for sure. We don't realize that we are "wretched, pitiable, poor, blind and naked." We are confident enough of this wealth of ours that we won't go out of our way to find Jesus. If there is no crowd between us we might go see him. But often there is a crowd. Often, like Zacchaeus, we "could not see him because of the crowd". If we are "lukewarm, neither hot nor cold" we miss the chance of a life-changing encounter. He might just pass us by. But not Zacchaeus.
So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus,
who was about to pass that way.
As with Zacchaeus, we must be willing to climb the tree. We need to insist that no crowds are going to get between us and Jesus. But it is because of the heart of Jesus that this is more than just some celebrity gazing. It is because of the love Jesus has for Zacchaeus that this becomes a genuine encounter. This is because, no matter how much Zacchaeus wants to see Jesus, Jesus wants to see Zacchaeus still more.
When he reached the place, Jesus looked up and said,
“Zacchaeus, come down quickly,
for today I must stay at your house.”
It isn't just Zacchaeus. Jesus wants to have an encounter with us even more than we do with him. We can't let the crowds that separate us discourage us. We can't fixate on the obstacles that seem to be in our way and so become lukewarm and lazy. He won't let that crowd get in the way of that meeting. We shouldn't either.
‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock.
If anyone hears my voice and opens the door,
then I will enter his house and dine with him,
and he with me.
He wants more than the glancing familiarity of a passerby. He says to both Zacchaeus and ourselves, "come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house."
When we realize how much Jesus wants to see us and how close he wants to be to us we are transformed. It is this realization, the realization that he is known and loved, that he is not lost in the crowd, that Zacchaeus "came down quickly and received him with joy." It is a realization which does more than give him a temporary elation. It transforms his whole approach to life:
"Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor,
and if I have extorted anything from anyone
I shall repay it four times over.""
And Jesus said to him,
"Today salvation has come to this house
Does the crowd seem too dense to bother? Does climbing the tree seem like too much work? Or does it, perhaps, seem too awkward? Is it not worth sticking out that much? This is Jesus passing by! We ought to care more than we do!
If we are trusting in our own resources too much to be bothered with this amazing opportunity we should listen to Jesus: "I advise you to buy from me gold refined by fire so that you may be rich". What we need, then, is faith, which is "more precious than gold that is perishable even though tested by fire" (cf. 1 Pet. 1:7). This ought to be more valuable to us than the world's supposed wealth. Yet if we are honest we find the opposite is often true.
Jesus calls us out on our complacency. He does this not to condemn us, but because he loves us.
Those whom I love, I reprove and chastise.
Be earnest, therefore, and repent.
It is because he wants such great things for us that he can't stand to see us so lukewarm that we miss them.
The victor will thus be dressed in white,
and I will never erase his name from the book of life
but will acknowledge his name in the presence of my Father
and of his angels.
He wants more for us than we can ask or imagine (cf. Eph. 3:20).
I will give the victor the right to sit with me on my throne,
as I myself first won the victory
and sit with my Father on his throne.
Sitting on the throne together with the Father and Jesus? Think about it! What throne is this? It is the throne of Godhead! The only reason we can sit here are made partakers of the divine nature (cf 2 Pet. 1:4). It is such an unfathomable blessing! The greatness of this gift cannot be fully known (cf. Eph. 3:19) or measured. It is an unreasonable excess of grace and love! We can't let it pass by just because of a crowd.
Whoever has ears ought to hear
what the Spirit says to the churches.
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