Now a man there named Zacchaeus,
who was a chief tax collector and also a wealthy man,
was seeking to see who Jesus was;
Jesus responds to our desire to see him. We may not seem to have the gifting that many of his followers seem to have. Jesus may seem surrounded by others who do nothing to help bring us closer to him. The crowds may emphasize how we are sinners and don't deserve the blessings of Jesus. Yet if anything is keeping us from Jesus let us look for a way to climb above it, to look on him from a perspective not obscured or dictated by the world. It isn't something which we can easily do or which will give us perfect clarity. But it is something to which Jesus, sensing our desire, will respond.
When he reached the place, Jesus looked up and said,
“Zacchaeus, come down quickly,
for today I must stay at your house.”
Jesus gave the impression that he would have passed through Jericho without stopping. But he was invited by the desire, not of the crowds surrounding him, but of the man short in stature who was not too proud to climb a tree to see him.
Zacchaeus probably felt lost in the crowd and embarrassed to have to climb a tree. But by doing so he found out that he was not at all lost in the crowd. Jesus knew him by name. And far from being humiliated in the eyes of Jesus, Jesus decided that Zacchaeus's house was now essential to his travel plans. Simply being near to Jesus as the crowds were didn't do sway the itinerary of Jesus. But the desire of Zacchaeus did.
Zacchaeus understood his need more than the crowds understood theirs. He had wealth, so he knew that wealth in itself wasn't the answer. He wondered, perhaps, if there was more to life than the wealthy but alienated path of chief tax-collector. He was willing to do what he needed to do to see Jesus. But then he was surprised to discover that it was not so much him seeking Jesus as Jesus seeking him. He did not have to shout to Jesus or tell him his name. Yet Jesus stopped at the tree as if he had always planned to do so and called him by name. He called him to take part in his mission in a way Zacchaeus never would have expected. Zacchaeus found his desires and longings answered without even speaking them aloud.
Jesus came to seek and save what was lost. Zacchaeus knew that he was lost and sensed that Jesus might be the answer. The desire of Zacchaeus mattered. But it was a desire that Jesus himself had placed within him, and for this reason no crowd could obscure it.
Zacchaeus was wealthy but he did not say, 'I am rich and affluent and have no need of anything'. He was living, but he did not have true life. But because he was not lukewarm the Lord responded to him. Jesus stood beneath the tree, but he knocked on the door of Zacchaeus's heart. Let us learn from Zacchaeus to open the door.
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.
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.
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