Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.
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.
All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”
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.”
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 the lost. Luke 19:1-10
Today I want to look at an encounter with Jesus. The story of Zacchaeus is well known. There is even a children’s song or two about this charming story.
My first look at this story zooms in on the intent of Zacchaeus. He wanted to see Jesus. Because he was short, Zacchaeus climbed a tree to get a better view. Because he was up high, Jesus spotted him, knew his intent, and invited Zacchaeus to dine with him. This was a courageous and loving move on the part of Jesus, because we see that Jesus was immediately judged by others for this bold action.
When Zacchaeus encountered Jesus and his invitation, he was moved- by the love and courage of Jesus I’m sure, and also the fact that Jesus cared about an outcast like Zacchaeus. The response of Zacchaeus was the spontaneous reaction of a person who encounters the love and courage of Jesus- he offers to immediately make restitution to the people he has stolen from.
The response of Zacchaeus to an encounter with Jesus was an action of repentance. When one encounters Jesus, there must be a response. The decision to follow Jesus is a verb- it involves a change in how we treat others. As I have written before, belief is a verb. Believing involves action. Zacchaeus gave us a good example.
Prayer: Lord, help us to respond rightly to our encounters with Jesus, Amen
Reflections of a Counselor 