Short and Sweet

When traveling in Texas, our family noticed that nearly every sign and billboard had adjectives like biggest, best, tallest, etc. When you go into fast food restaurants, they promote and offer super-sizing your meal. If little is good, then more is better. Yet we all know that sometimes the best things come in small packages. This is the story of how Zacchaeus got supersized!

Zacchaeus was a very short man, but he had worked his way up through the tax collector system to being chief tax collector – which probably meant he was the scoundrel among scoundrels as well. Somehow, he heard that Jesus was coming through town. I wonder what someone like Zacchaeus wanted with someone like Jesus. Yet, he wanted to see Jesus bad enough that he was willing to take his short little self ahead of the moving crowd and climb a tree to try to get a good look. I wonder why he climbed the tree and didn’t just push in front of the crowd. Possibly the crowd would not make way for him or even worse, would be rude to him showing their distaste for his profession and anyone who would stoop so low as to take taxes for the Roman government.

“When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, ‘Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.’ So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.” Luke 19:5-6

How did Jesus know he was up there? Did Zacchaeus have on bright clothes that were impossible to miss? Or was it the Father’s heart – running to meet his prodigal son. And what an interesting comment from Jesus! He just invited himself to Zacchaeus’s house. What made Zacchaeus scuttle down the tree and welcome Jesus gladly? I wonder if it was the simple fact that Jesus wasn’t afraid to talk to him and associate with him. Zacchaeus probably didn’t have many friends.

While the people were muttering about Jesus hanging out with the wrong crowd, an astounding thing happened. Zacchaeus had a change of heart. He must have already known about some of Jesus’ teachings. Maybe he had been sneaking around listening to others talk about what they had been hearing Jesus say. Or maybe he had even been in some of the crowds surrounding Jesus. The fact that he wanted to see Jesus bad enough to climb a tree would indicate that he knew at least something about him. He may have already begun to believe that Jesus was the Christ. That may have been why he wanted to badly to see him.

“But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, ‘Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.’” Luke 19:8 He did not say, “I know that I have sinned and am in need of a Savior. I ask for God’s forgiveness and accept Jesus into my heart.” No, he said something that sounds a lot like what Jesus asked the rich ruler to do – “Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.” Luke 18:22 Or, like Jesus said when talking about the separation of the sheep and goats, “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.” Matthew 25:35-36

How did Zacchaeus get from being a scoundrel to giving half of everything he owned to the poor? Jesus! While everyone else avoided Zacchaeus, Jesus walked straight up to him, spoke with him, and even dared to go to his house. Jesus’ love for the ‘lost sheep of Israel’ is very apparent in this interchange. “Jesus said to him, ‘Today, salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.’” Luke 19:9-10

There were probably hundreds of other people Jesus could have hung out with that day. But he chose to hang out with Zacchaeus. I wonder if it was because Zacchaeus had a searching heart. He didn’t parade around in self-righteousness, but was open to what Jesus had to say to him. The fact that Jesus would come to his house already spoke of forgiveness for his past and Zacchaeus seemed to be a fast learner. Because Jesus showed him this great love, he quickly wanted to be obedient and to give to others rather than take from them. Here is another case where someone who has been forgiven much, loves much (Luke 7:47)

Little, short Zacchaeus – a cause for great celebration. Sweet!