Jesus and Zacchaeus

 "Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through.  And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich.  And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small in stature.  So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way.  And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.”  So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully.  And when they saw it, they all grumbled, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.”  And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.”  And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham.  For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
Luke 19:1-10

Zacchaeus was a very rich man. And a tax collector, actually the Chief Tax collector. Which meant he had other people doing his dirty work for him. His riches undoubtedly came from that position. People didn't like him. I'm sure they even despised him. Easy to see why. He had made himself rich by taking from the people who could not afford to pay. And yet, for Zacchaeus, there was something about this man Jesus. He had heard the stories and wanted to see who He was. He even climbed a tree to get a look. The scripture says he was small in stature. I can picture him. Little fat guy with fancy clothes and he climbed a tree! Could not have been easy. Probably a bit humiliating too. And he did it. And Jesus purposely called him down from the tree and went to stay at his house. A rich despised tax man and Jesus chose him. I'm sure the people went nuts. Why would Jesus want to have anything to do with this guy? And yet He did want him. As it says "the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost"

I know a lot of people like Zaccheus. I'm sure you do too. It is easy to hate these people. But Jesus doesn't. He loves everyone. And His desire is to see ALL people come to Him and receive His gift. Like me, TRY to see these people like Jesus does.  Lost in need of a Savior. Let Jesus through the Holy Spirit change our hearts.

I pray that He touches your heart today.


God Bless.

Bob