Zacchaeus                                    Luke 19:1-10

This morning we are going to look at the encounter between Zacchaeus and Jesus. And before we go any further I want to tell you that I love this story. I love it because of verse 3; “He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd.” As a height challenged man; and one who seems to be getting shorter with each passing year I love that the Bible addresses people like me.

As we read through Luke’s Gospel you can see a pattern. Jesus talks to and teaches a lesson to a crowd and then he lives out the lesson. If you go back and look at Luke chapter 18 you will see Jesus tells a crowd parables meant to explain God’s grace and forgiveness. And now in the beginning of Luke’s chapter 19 Jesus lives out these parables by his interaction with Zacchaeus.

We can see by our story that Jesus had become so popular with the population that he draws to him large crowds. In this case the crowd is so large that Zacchaeus couldn’t push through it to see Jesus, he had to climb a tree.

Back in chapter 18 Jesus encounters a blind man and by grace and forgiveness Jesus gives him his sight. Here in chapter 19 we also have a blind man; Zacchaeus, who is blinded to God. But like with the man in chapter 18, Zacchaeus encounter with Jesus will change all that. His eyes will be opened to God.

Zacchaeus wants to see Jesus. Notice the text doesn’t say it’s because he was suffering, the text leads us to believe that he wants to see Jesus just out of curiosity about this man he’s heard people talking about. I’ll even go so far as to say Zacchaeus probably knows little about the scriptures since his occupation as a tax collector would have prevented him from entering the Temple.

So now these two meet. Verse 5, “And when Jesus came to the place he looked up and said to him, ‘Zacchaeus…’”

Now some have said Jesus knew who Zacchaeus was by his reputation as a cheating tax collector but I see things differently. Zacchaeus was up the tree, and it doesn’t say that anyone pointed him out to Jesus. In fact it is more likely that those in the crowd, even the disciples, would be ignoring him because he was a tax collector and seen as a great sinner.

This event happens as Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem and his crucifixion and because of this I think Jesus is taking every opportunity to teach those around him. I see Jesus knowing Zacchaeus is in the tree and calling out to him as another demonstration to us that God knows us each personally. That God is interested in us no matter where we are and that he is calling to us even if we are not calling out to him.

Jesus bestows on this unpopular man the incredible blessing of his presence and thereby give Zacchaeus the opportunity to offer him hospitality; Jesus gives Zacchaeus the chance to give of himself to Jesus as well as the chance to take from Jesus.

This is important for us to recognize because it is the same opportunity Jesus gives each of us, the opportunity to give him our love, our praise, our gratitude and our lives. And the opportunity to take from him, to take his blessing and God’s grace and mercy.

Now we know Zacchaeus is a sinner, that’s a given. And some recent sources say that by the time of this encounter he is already saved by faith. They look at verse 8, “Here and now I give half my possessions to the crowd and if I cheated anyone I will pay them back four times the amount.” Some see this as a statement of what he is already doing but I disagree with this interpretation because of the next verse, “Jesus said…Today salvation has come to this house…” I see this as indicating Zacchaeus wasn’t redeemed until he had his encounter with Jesus. I believe this interpretation is theologically sound; one is not redeemed until they believe in Jesus and invite him into their lives.

So we see Jesus reaching out to Zacchaeus simply because Zacchaeus is a precious child of God. In doing so Jesus is living out his commandments to love God and to love his neighbor. Remember Zacchaeus is a tax collector, a sinner in the eyes of his people. More than this he is the chief tax collector. But we see Jesus doesn’t judge him by society’s standard, Zacchaeus is worthy of Jesus presence because he has worth in God’s eyes.

Again, Jesus offers us all this. He doesn’t care what we do or how we live. He doesn’t care if we conform to society’s norms. He offers himself to us simply because we each have worth in God’s eyes. And because of this we need to see the worth of others.

Jesus sees Zacchaeus for who he is, a flawed man but also as a man with worth to God. And he also sees him for who he can be. Jesus sees us with all our faults, but he also sees us as who we can be; Children of God, co-heirs with Christ himself.

We now know what Jesus saw when he looked at Zacchaeus, what did Zacchaeus see when he looked at Jesus? I believe he saw a Jesus who is physical, a Jesus who is personal, and a Jesus who is political. Let’s work backward through these.

Jesus is political. I don’t mean he advocates one political system over another; the political Jesus is challenging the empire of his time. The political Jesus constantly points out the hypocrisies of privilege and power. The political Jesus tells us to reject a society that values money over life, to reject a society that teaches us to fear others just because they are different, to reject those that try to erase God’s glorious design of diversity. The political Jesus tells us to reject a society that tells us to strive for and worship the idols of wealth, power and privilege over the Kingdom of God.

Jesus is personal. The personal Jesus didn’t yell up that tree “Hey, I see you, you’re ok now.” Jesus went to Zacchaeus home. The personal Jesus didn’t just wave his hand at the blind beggar to restore his sight; he had the man brought in front of him. In Mark 5 Jesus didn’t just raise the young girl from the dead from down the street. Mark 5:40-41 “He went in where the child was…he took her by the hand and said to her “Talitha Koum” which means “Little girl, I say to you, get up.’” In John 5 Jesus sees the crippled man by the pool hoping to get healed, Jesus went over to him and then healed him. The personal Jesus is here with us right now. He doesn’t call us into his family and then cast us adrift, he is inside us, living in us, always a part of us.

Jesus is physical. John wrote, “In the beginning was the word…the word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.”  Jesus ate. He drank. Jesus felt emotions. And Jesus died a physical death. And then God raised him bodily from the dead. Jesus isn’t a ghost or a spirit. He has a physical body that is marred by the effects of his life and passion. Jesus is physical so we can see him in ourselves, in our humanity. Jesus is physical so we know he is close to us because he is one of us. Jesus is physical so we know he really does understand what we go through; our highs, our lows, our love and our pain. Jesus understands because he went through them too. Jesus is physical because God loves us so much he became one of us.

Jesus is physical because it allows us to recognize him. It allows us to see him in the faces of those around us. If we truly want to see Jesus we can see him in the hungry and the thirsty                         and the sick. We meet Jesus in the refugee, the homeless, the addict, the transgender man or woman. We find Jesus in the baby born in prison, and among the families trying to escape persecution and tyranny.

We may not always agree with someone but this encounter between Jesus and Zacchaeus teaches us not to judge by appearances, everyone is seen as worthy in God’s eyes. They should be seen as worthy by us.

Our reading tells us Zacchaeus was short and couldn’t see Jesus through the crowd. Many in the world can’t see Jesus because of circumstances. It could be because they weren’t raised in a Christian home, or perhaps they wrongly believe their life style excludes them from God’s grace.

Jesus knows each person on earth, and he knows where each person is. And like with Zacchaeus, Jesus is calling out to each of us. If you answer him and encounter him on a personal level you will be changed.

Zacchaeus gave Jesus a meal.  Jesus gives each of us the opportunity to give him something; to give him our love, devotion and praise. Jesus gives us the opportunity to give him our lives.

Jesus gives us all the opportunity to take from him also, to take his peace, his rest, his grace and mercy.

I ask us all to see Jesus as the political Jesus. Let’s reject the idols of wealth, power and privilege. Let’s all see the personal Jesus. Believe that he knows you personally, that he knows who you

are, where you are and what you need. Know that he is reaching out to you.

 And let’s see the physical Jesus. He’s not a spirit or a wisp of smoke; he lives with breath in his lungs and a beating heart in his chest. We can turn to him because he understands us, because he experienced all that we do in life.