This Sunday we continue with our series, Interactions with Jesus. We find ourselves in Luke 19… Luke 19:1-10 New Revised Standard Version19 He entered Jericho and was passing through it. 2 A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was rich. 3 He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. 5 When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. 7 All who saw it began to grumble and said, “He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.” 8 Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.” 9 Then Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.” Here we have another fascinating interaction. Jericho was a wealthy and impressive city in Palestine. Zacchaeus worked for the Romans as a tax collector and was very wealthy. What is interesting about Zacchaeus is that he does not have perceived need, so why the desire to see Jesus? Was he simply curious, was there something going on in the life of Zacchaeus that we don’t know about? One thing is for sure, he was seeking out Jesus. But Zacchaeus wasn’t the only one seeking someone that day. Jesus stops right under the tree that Zacchaeus is in and calls him by name. In today’s context, we are not shocked that Jesus knew Zacchaeus’ name, but back then, in the moment… don’t you think that Zacchaeus would have freaked out a little bit? Don’t you think the crowd would have wondered; how does Jesus know who this guy is? I think there is a connection between someone who is seriously seeking Jesus, and Jesus being readily available. If you have some time this week, look at verses 7 and 9 in Luke chapter 19. There is a stark difference in the way the crowd sees Zacchaeus and the way Jesus sees Zacchaeus? Let’s talk about it on Sunday.
