(Audio)
When he reached the place, Jesus looked up and said,
“Zacchaeus, come down quickly,
for today I must stay at your house.”
Jesus notices us. The crowds don't obscure his vision of us. Even though we are sinners, wealthy, and in no way deserving, he still has compassion for us because we are still lost without him who "has come to seek and to save what was lost." Let us do whatever is within our capabilities to see him. Let us run ahead and climb a tree if needed. Whatever effort we put forth is more than reciprocated by the way we are recognized welcomed.
And Jesus said to him,
“Today salvation has come to this house
When he comes to our house we can receive him with the joy of those who were lost but have been found. Even if our running and climbing to welcome him takes on the shape of something more extreme...
Therefore, by manfully giving up my life now,
I will prove myself worthy of my old age,
and I will leave to the young a noble example
of how to die willingly and generously
for the revered and holy laws.
...still the way we will be received and welcomed with joy into the mansion prepared, into the everlasting dwelling places of heaven will prove even the greatest worldly hardships to be brief. We need to remember that even the desire to run toward him and to climb the tree are desires he has placed within us. We are meant to be found by him. He himself is the one who made us with the strength to seek him. So let us seek him with all our hearts.
You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart (see Jeremiah 29:13)
Let us pay attention today for the times when Jesus passes by. Let us be sure to do what we need to do to see him when he does. When we do this we can be sure that he in turn sees us. We can be sure that in whatever ways we still feel lost he will find us.
When I call out to the LORD,
he answers me from his holy mountain.
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