In one of the first few chapters it talks about a familiar story that we may have heard about before. Zacchaeus, the Tax Collector. Well as the title suggests, Zacchaeus was a tax collector, and during this time, tax collectors were not the most popular people, though he was pretty famous. Scratch that, he was actually rather infamous.
You see Zacchaeus was not just any old Tax collector. He was the chief tax collector. With his position, Zacchaeus had the authority of the Roman government to not only collect taxes from citizens in the district, but also to collect more than he should have.
As a result, tax collectors, especially Zacchaeus, were despised and viewed with much animosity by the people he “received” money from.
When I first read this description of Zacchaeus in Luke Chapter ten, I did not like him at all. In fact, I pretty much felt the same way that the citizens that were subject to paying those unfair and outlandish taxes felt like. He was a rich crook that preyed on those that already had little to begin with simply to make himself “richer.” He cared more about his shallow feelings of superiority and wealth, than those suffering at his hands.
At least that’s what I felt like at first.
Could you imagine what Zacchaeus must have felt? How he must have felt when he was constantly being made fun of and ridiculed? How about continually having to hear people mutter beneath their breaths when he walked by? Or, how about knowing that every single person in town knew exactly who he was, and hated him because of it?
Whatever ill feelings I had for him quickly evaporated, and I instantly felt sorry for him. I mean, it does not clearly say it in the scripture, but it says that he was “Chief Tax Collector” which means in order for him to have gained that position, he would have to have been a normal tax collector for a very long time. I’ll leave it up to your imagination to determine how many years he had been involved in this field of work.
So for a solid portion of his life all he knew was hatred from other people, which probably generated hatred on his behalf when it came to collecting taxes.
You know I wondered. If in all the hurtful things that people said to him and in all the pain and rejection that he must have felt, did anyone ever tell him about Jesus? It’s a solid question to be sure, but if people disliked him that much, I doubt it.
I like to imagine that while he walked the streets to collect money from the people, he would hear the name of Jesus and about the wonderful things that he was doing, and how he redeemed and changed people.
Wow.
Imagine Jesus actually coming to the town where Zacchaeus lived? Just the glimpse of this man would have been enough for him. But that would never happen. After all, he was just a tax collector.
In Luke Chapter nineteen verses one and two read,
“19 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” (New International Version. Lk.19.1-2).
Not only did the man that Zacchaeus constantly heard about was making his way through Jericho, but he was close enough to see him!
Well almost.
You see, though Zacchaeus made sure he was never short changed when dealing with financial matters, his height was a different story.
This scripture continues in Luke Chapter nineteen verses three and four when it reads,
3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. 4 so he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way” (New International Version. Lk.19.3-4).
Imagine the very same man that Zacchaeus constantly heard people talking about, for some miraculous reason was not only walking through his town, but was being surrounded by a huge crowd near him. This had to be too good to be true.
Fortunately for him, it was not.
What was unfortunate however, was the fact that he could not see Jesus behind the towering people in front of him. But Zacchaeus was not going to allow something like his own height get in his way from seeing the man that he heard so much about.
Shortly after finding out that he was not tall enough to see over crowd (no pun intended), he looked around and saw a Sycamore tree close by. So he decided to climb the tree and waited until Jesus came into view.
In Luke Chapter nineteen verses five and six read,
“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” (New International Version. Lk.19.5-6).
Now many people that do not know about the culture back then would say, “Wow. Jesus invited himself over for dinner? I never thought that he would be one to impose something like that.” And I was one of them, but what Jesus did for Zacchaeus by doing this, was much more than he had ever hoped to receive.
Back then, in the Jewish culture, when one would eat with another, it meant that they identified with that person, it meant that they were friends.
On top of that, giving Zacchaeus host like responsibilities meant that Jesus was putting himself in Zacchaeus hands. In other words the host being the host could have treated Jesus however he wanted or done whatever he wanted. What stands out to me from all this, was that Jesus trusted Zacchaeus with his life and as a result, Zacchaeus’ own life was transformed completely.
Jesus walked right up to Zacchaeus, called him by name, and did him the honor of inviting himself over Zacchaeus’s home for dinner.
For Zacchaeus, this had to have meant the world to him.
He finally had some one look at him. Not with eyes of anger or fear, but eyes that cared for him, eyes to tell him that he is loved. The eyes of a friend. As a result he dropped down the tree as quickly as possible and ushered Jesus to his home.
In Luke Chapter nineteen verses seven and eight read,
“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” (New International Version. Lk.19.7-8).
Apparently this caused a bit of confusion amongst the rest of the towns people. “Zacchaeus? Out of all the people him? The worst fruit on the tree! Why would Jesus want to spend time with him?”
Though the many people were puzzled with what Jesus had done, this was exactly what he had planned even before he had arrived to Jericho.
“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved” (New King James Version. Jn.3.17).
This scripture states that God came to save the world, meaning everyone, even those that are rejected by this world.
Finally, Luke Chapter nineteen verses nine and ten read,
“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 the lost.” (New International Version. Lk.19.9-10).
These two verses embody the exact reason why Jesus came down to this earth.
To bring salvation.
And to seek and save the lost.
In this story of Zacchaeus the tax collector, not only did Jesus seek Zacchaeus and find him in a Sycamore Fig tree, but through friendship, and showing genuine kindness and concern for him, he brought salvation to him as well.
Literally. Jesus is Salvation.
Even when Zacchaeus may not have believed that he could receive those things based on what he heard said to him, God proved him and everyone else wrong.
For even when the world, or even ourselves, may think that we are the most rotten, spoiled, discolored, misshapen, bruised, worm ridden fruit on the tree, God sees us a different way.
In Zechariah Chapter two verse eight, it reads,
“8 For this is what the Lord Almighty says: “After the Glorious One has sent me against the nations that have plundered you—for whoever touches you touches the apple of his eye” (New International Version. Zec.2.8).
So, if anything could be learned from the story of Zacchaeus the Tax Collector, it would be that in order to see things from God’s perspective, sometimes we have to leave the crowds that keep us from seeing him, and find a place where we can.
Even if it is in a Fig tree.
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