When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” (Luke 19:5)
The story of Zacchaeus is truly one of my favorites! Many of us learned the song in children’s church when we were kids, but as an adult, the meaning of this story goes so much deeper. Zacchaeus was not liked by his fellow Israelites. Although he was wealthy, his wealth was made at the expense of those around him. He was charged with—or given the responsibility of—collecting taxes from people and giving the money to the Romans. But just like everyone around him, Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus.
Zacchaeus had two big issues that were working against him on the day that Jesus was passing through his town. First, although he was wealthy, no one was going to get out of his way voluntarily. He was loathed by those around him, so they would have probably worked hard to make sure that Zacchaeus couldn’t get through the crowd. The second thing not working in Zacchaeus’ favor was that he was short.
From the way I read this Scripture, nothing was going to stop Zacchaeus from seeing and hearing Jesus that day. Zacchaeus was so desperate to see Jesus, he ran ahead and climbed a tree! Jesus knew the heart of Zacchaeus, and it stopped him in his tracks. Jesus knew that Zacchaeus was ready for a heart change and chose to make the unthinkable happen. Jesus went over to Zacchaeus’ house!
Speak truth that people are willing to climb trees to hear.
Angela Spangler is the director of Fairmount Campground of the Crossroad’s District of The Wesleyan Church. Her passion is to build community around the gospel of Christ.
© 2022 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
