Zacchaeus
| Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. 3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way. 5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today." 6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. 7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, "He has gone to be the guest of a 'sinner.' " 8 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." 9 Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost." (Luke19:1-10) |
The moment of change comes when Zacchaeus, the short, stunted man stands up (v.8) and attains his full stature and personality. A comparison of Zacchaeus before standing up and after standing up results in the following contrasts:
- Having been stingy rich; he becomes generous, offering half his belongings to the poor.
- Having taken advantage of people financially through his position as tax collector; he becomes a source of healing and restoration by offering to pay back up to 4x.
- Having been an outcast of society and reduced to climbing trees like a monkey; his human dignity is restored and is welcomed into God's family as a child of Abraham.
This encounter takes place shortly before Jesus arrives in Jerusalem where he is to die and then resurrect (stand up) from the dead. The moment when Zacchaeus "stands up" in the presence of Jesus is a prefiguring of the transforming power of the resurrection which takes that which is worthless and lifeless and liberates it to attain its full stature as intended by God. Zacchaeus can now stand tall and become the person God intended him to be.
May we see in the resurrection not only a singularly great event of 2000 years ago, but may we be part of the resurrection in our daily lives and in simply ways by offering a hand of friendship to people so that they can "stand up" from whatever causes them to be crushed down and unable to attain their God given stature. Stunted, devious and people who feel cast out are all around us. As we pass by, may we notice the Zaccheus that God has put in our path.
"Lord, you commanded us to love; thank you that opportunities to love are all around us every day. Amen"
---------------------------------------------
Eddie Germiquet is Ministry Secretary of the UPCSA and is married to Lauren and together they have 4 grown up children.
