When Jesus Sees You
Read Luke 19:1-10.
Ever known anyone who was trapped in a job they hated, a job that sometimes sucked the life out of them? I knew a guy like that once, and when I asked him about it, he confessed to me that he didn't change jobs out of fear. What he had was known. What was "out there" was unknown. At least with the job he had, he knew he had an income he could count on and a job he knew how to do. Even if it was killing him.
I wonder if Zacchaeus wasn't like that, at least a little bit. The reason I wonder that is because he makes a quick change at the end when he has the chance. Perhaps Zacchaeus inherited the tax collecting business from his father; we don't know. All we do know is that his profession (and therefore, he himself) was hated by the local population. Tax collectors were understood to be traitors; they were working with the Romans, the occupiers. And they made their living by stealing. Rome demanded so much tax; the way a tax collector made money was to take more than Rome asked for and keep the difference for himself. This would have been Zacchaeus' life, the accepted way of living for one in his profession.
But what makes me think he may have been looking for a way out is his urgency in seeing Jesus. He even climbs a tree so that he can physically see Jesus when Jesus comes to town. (He was a wee little man, after all, and a wee little man was he.) The beautiful part of this story is the way Jesus sees him. I doubt Jesus went looking through the trees to see if anyone was in them, but Jesus still found Zacchaeus. He calls him down. He goes to his house. Out of all the people in this oldest city in the world, Jesus wants to spend time with Zacchaeus because he wants to give him a way out of his misery, a new way of life, a new hope. Even though Zacchaeus may not have been able to verbalize it, that's what he most wants, too.
That's evidenced in the way he responds to the muttering that is going around. He vows to pay back four times as much as he has cheated people out of and he will also give half of what he has to the poor. That's a huge response! If you want to know someone's heart, still today, look at their checkbook or credit card statement. Zacchaeus' bank account just underwent a major overhaul because his heart has changed. (Can you imagine what his financial planner said?) Jesus saw him, and suddenly he sees everyone else around him. The job is no longer about making money; it's about using what he has to change the world.
We don't know if Zacchaeus went back to tax collecting or if he was now suddenly unemployed. We do know he was different from this day forward. Jesus had seen him, and his life was never the same.
 |
| THE Sycamore tree, or one of its descendants, according to local legend - Jericho 2017 |
Ever known anyone who was trapped in a job they hated, a job that sometimes sucked the life out of them? I knew a guy like that once, and when I asked him about it, he confessed to me that he didn't change jobs out of fear. What he had was known. What was "out there" was unknown. At least with the job he had, he knew he had an income he could count on and a job he knew how to do. Even if it was killing him.
I wonder if Zacchaeus wasn't like that, at least a little bit. The reason I wonder that is because he makes a quick change at the end when he has the chance. Perhaps Zacchaeus inherited the tax collecting business from his father; we don't know. All we do know is that his profession (and therefore, he himself) was hated by the local population. Tax collectors were understood to be traitors; they were working with the Romans, the occupiers. And they made their living by stealing. Rome demanded so much tax; the way a tax collector made money was to take more than Rome asked for and keep the difference for himself. This would have been Zacchaeus' life, the accepted way of living for one in his profession.
But what makes me think he may have been looking for a way out is his urgency in seeing Jesus. He even climbs a tree so that he can physically see Jesus when Jesus comes to town. (He was a wee little man, after all, and a wee little man was he.) The beautiful part of this story is the way Jesus sees him. I doubt Jesus went looking through the trees to see if anyone was in them, but Jesus still found Zacchaeus. He calls him down. He goes to his house. Out of all the people in this oldest city in the world, Jesus wants to spend time with Zacchaeus because he wants to give him a way out of his misery, a new way of life, a new hope. Even though Zacchaeus may not have been able to verbalize it, that's what he most wants, too.
That's evidenced in the way he responds to the muttering that is going around. He vows to pay back four times as much as he has cheated people out of and he will also give half of what he has to the poor. That's a huge response! If you want to know someone's heart, still today, look at their checkbook or credit card statement. Zacchaeus' bank account just underwent a major overhaul because his heart has changed. (Can you imagine what his financial planner said?) Jesus saw him, and suddenly he sees everyone else around him. The job is no longer about making money; it's about using what he has to change the world.
We don't know if Zacchaeus went back to tax collecting or if he was now suddenly unemployed. We do know he was different from this day forward. Jesus had seen him, and his life was never the same.
Comments
Post a Comment