Jump Start # 186 

Luke 19:5 “When Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.”

  Zaccheus, the “wee little man who climbed up in the sycamore tree,” do you remember that song? It’s probably been a long time since many of us actually sang that unless we were sitting in a VBS.

  Luke is the only gospel that reveals the meeting between Jesus and Zaccheus. The Lord was on His way to Jerusalem. He had an appointment with the cross. Passing through Jericho, massive crowds line the streets to see Jesus. People have heard. The miracle worker was in the area. Stories have spread about Jesus. Casting out demons…raising the dead…healing the lame. These were not occasional stories from odd people, but more and more people had the same stories. Some were wondering if this indeed could be the Messiah. Hope swelled. Jesus is traveling to His death. He is not so focused that He can’t stop and connect with Zaccheus.

  Zaccheus is an interesting person. Most people would not have like him. He was a Jewish tax collector, which meant he gathered taxes from Jews and gave it to the Romans. That alone, is an act of a traitor. Tax collectors made their wages by elevating the tax that Rome required. Many tax collectors were dishonest cheats who became wealthy from defrauding their own people. Zaccheus was a chief tax collector. Zaccheus was defined as being short in size. Most men get teased a lot about being short. It gets old after a while.

  Jesus was coming. Zaccheus wanted to see Him. I believe there was a personal interest for Zaccheus. He may have heard that Jesus ate at the home of a tax collector, or more than that, one of his chosen disciples, Matthew, was a tax collector. His critics accused Him of being a friend of tax collectors. That’s something a person in those days rarely heard. So he climbs a tree to get a glimpse. He just wants to see for Himself.

  As Jesus passes, He stops. He looks up and calls the tax collector by His name. How did He know? Of all the people crowded along the streets, He picks Zaccheus to talk to. Amazing. Jesus invites Himself to Zaccheus’ home. Jesus had been in many homes, but He did not invite Himself, He was always asked. This time He just said, “I’m coming to your house.”

  Zaccheus was shocked. He hurried down that tree. He promises to change His ways and His life. The grumblers in the crowd, once again grumble. Jesus defends, not Himself, but Zaccheus. He calls him “a son of Abraham.”

  You and I often hide up in trees. We hope people won’t see us. We just want to see Jesus at a distance. We don’t want to walk beside Jesus, yet we don’t want to miss out either. So up the tree we climb. Just a peek this week at church, nothing too much. Just wet the appetite. Don’t ask me to sign up for a class…don’t count on me doing something everyday, that’s not for me. I’m happy to just stay up here in the tree and look down at what is going on. This is close enough. This is comfortable. This doesn’t hurt anyone. But there stands Jesus, right in front of our tree. He’s stopped. He sees us. He’s not moving. He calls you by name. He wants you to come out of the tree. He wants you to take Him to your home. What are you going to say? Sure wish the papers and kids toys had been picked up before we left this morning. Wonder if there are dirty dishes in the sink? Hope the kids made their beds this morning. Jesus wants to come to my house? Why can’t we meet at the church building? Isn’t that His house anyway? How did He see me? How did He know my name? He wants me to know Him? Why did He pick me? There are so many others, why me? He’s waiting.

  Are you going to come out of the tree? Are you going to take Jesus to your home? I wonder if you will change your ways and your life?

Roger

Jump Start # 76

Luke 19:5 “When Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, ‘Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.’”

  So many of us fondly remember singing the song about the “wee little man who climbed up in the Sycamore tree, for the Lord he wanted to see.” Zaccheus is one of a host of people that got to meet Jesus personally. The Gospel records these events, and supplies us with many of their names, as if a footnote, to verify these things.

  Zaccheus is a curious study. He had many things against him. First, his size. Luke tells us, “he was small in stature.” You can imagine the jokes and the teasing that would never seem to end. Those with big noses, large ears, red hair, real tall, real small, know this world all too well. You’ve heard it all of your life. It gets old but it never seems to stop. And deep inside it hurts. Secondly, Zaccheus had become a tax collector, and not only that, but a chief tax collector. A Jew working with and for the Romans. Despised. Viewed as cheats. Considered traitors. He was collecting funds for a government that kept Israel under it’s thumb. And thirdly, Luke tells us that Zaccheus was rich. He was good at his job. Maybe this was to compensate for the jokes about his size, or the rude comments about his job. Sometimes we hide behind possessions to make us feel like we are someone. That hasn’t changed today.

  But on this day, our little tax man has heard of Jesus. The Lord was in the area and was coming through Jericho. Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem. He had an appointment with the cross, but He made time for Zaccheus. The impression we have from the text is that the streets were lined with people. Zaccheus couldn’t see, so he climbed up to get a view. Was this like the President passing by, he just wanted a glimpse? Maybe he heard that Jesus was a friend of the outcasts. He had healed lepers, been to the home of Simon the leper, and among the chosen apostles was a tax collector, Matthew. This was worth seeing. This man was different. He was more than talk, He was the fresh air that many had been looking forward to for a long time.

  While passing through Jericho, Jesus not only saw Zaccheus up in the tree, but He stopped, He spoke, and then He invited Himself to his home. Jesus called him by name. Zaccheus must have thought, ‘How does He know me?’ ‘How does He know my name?’ This was acceptance. This was more than Zaccheus even imagined. Rarely did Jesus invite Himself to someone’s home, but He did here. Maybe He thought that Zaccheus would never do it, thinking that the likes of Jeuss would never come to my home. Jesus proved otherwise.

  When the critics raised their ugly voices, Jesus defended Zaccheus. He said, ‘Today, salvation has come to this house…” Great expression! Who came to Zaccheus’ home? Jesus. Jesus is salvation. But also, Jesus brought salvation. Jewish tax collectors could find a place in the kingdom of Christ. This encounter affected and changed Zaccheus. He promised to make things right. He was given hope, salvation and more than that, someone really cared about him.

  Before we leave this, there is a parallel lesson for us. As we journey life, are we content with just a passing glimpse of Jesus? All I want to do is just see Him? The Lord wants more. He stops right in front of you, and calls you by your name. You see, Jesus knows you, too. He wants to bring salvation to your house. Are you willing to change? Are you hurrying to get down out of your tree? Had Jesus not stopped, had He not spoken, Zaccheus would not have changed. Zaccheus was looking and he found more than he expected. You always will with Jesus.

 Roger