“Zacchaeus, come down.”
We have a saying about people who take risks. We say, “They’ve gone out on a limb.” Zacchaeus literally went out on a limb, and it changed his life.
Why did Zacchaeus climb that tree? You expect children to do that, not adults. He had two reasons. First, it was the only way he could see Jesus over the heads of the crowd. He was short, and nobody made way for him because he was one of the most hated men in town. They despised him because he was a wealthy man who made a living working as a corrupt tax collector for the Romans. The second reason went much deeper. It wasn’t just curiosity that sent him up that tree. Despite being wealthy, he was an unhappy, lonely man, an outcast. He had heard that Jesus was friendly toward people like him, and he wanted to find out for himself.
He got even more than he hoped for. Jesus pays him a great honor by asking to stay at his home. Zacchaeus is so delighted that he announces that he’s going to make restitution to the people he has cheated. A miracle has happened to Zacchaeus and from this day forward he’s going to be a changed man. Jesus congratulates him for mending his ways; He says to him that salvation has come to his house this day. Jesus came to seek and to save a person who was lost. The word lost doesn’t mean damned or doomed. It simply means in the wrong place. Zacchaeus had lost his way in life. He had made his money by cheating others, and found himself not only out of place among his neighbors, but also out of touch with his real and true self. Jesus helped him find his way back.
We all find ourselves sometimes in the wrong place. We get into habits, ways of acting or relating to others that we know are just not right. Jesus can help us find the courage to change, to find our way back to where we know we belong, where it’s right.
Well, Zacchaeus has to go home and tell his wife the good news. But how is she going to take it? Having a guest for dinner on short notice is the least of her problems. After her husband gives back all that money he had wrongfully obtained, how are they going to live? They’re going to find out what we know from experience – that changing for the better isn’t easy and sometimes calls for a lot of courage. We need all the help we can get. Fortunately, Jesus is always ready to give it to us. You don’t have to climb a tree. Just ask. Recall a time when, like Zacchaeus, you were lost and then found.
Go in peace with God’s blessings,
Deacon Rob