There is a story about a fitness centre that was offering $1,000 to anyone who could show that they were stronger than the owner of the place. Here’s how it worked. The owner would squeeze a lemon until all the juice ran into a glass, and then hand the lemon to the challenger. Anyone who could squeeze just one more drop of juice out would win the money. Many people tried over time-other weightlifters, construction workers, even professional wrestlers, but no one could do it.
One day, a short and skinny guy came in and signed up for the contest. After the laughter died down, the owner grabbed a lemon and squeezed away. Then he handed the wrinkled remains to the little man. The crowd’s laughter turned to silence as the man clenched his fist around the lemon and six drops fell into the glass. As the crowd cheered, the manager paid the winning prize and asked the short guy what he did for a living. “Are you a lumberjack, a weightlifter, or what?” the owner asked. The man replied, “I work for the Canada Revenue Agency”.
In Jesus’ time, tax collectors were as popular as they are today, and Zacchaeus was no exception. Tax collectors were required to collect the amount of tax assessed by the Romans, but they often tried to collect as much tax revenue as they could from the people. The difference between what they paid to the government and what they collected was their salary. It’s no wonder that tax collectors such as Zacchaeus and Matthew were hated so much. To make matters worse, Zacchaeus was the chief tax collector. He paid the Romans a fee to collect taxes in a certain area. In modern times, it would be similar to the owner of the local Tim Horton’s coffee shop paying a franchise fee to Tim Horton’s head office in Toronto. He likely had several tax collectors working under him. Zacchaeus was also short in stature, so in short (no pun intended!), he was nor your favourite person. For example, if he was a contestant on a modern day reality TV show, he would probably be one of the first contestants voted off!
So one day, he heard that Jesus is coming to town. He has likely heard about this dynamic young preacher, his teaching and healing. Like everyone else in town, Zacchaeus wanted to see what Jesus was all about, but there were so many people lining Jesus’ route that they blocked Zacchaeus’ view. What was the poor little guy to do?
Before I answer that, let me ask you a question. Have you ever wanted to see something so badly that you would do anything to see it, as long as what you would do is moral, legal and ethical? It doesn’t matter if it was your favourite TV show or your favourite entertainer in concert. What you do if you wanted to see it? Well, now you know how Zacchaeus felt, but I don’t think you would do something as drastic or as dangerous as he did. He climbed up a sycamore tree and crawled way out onto a tree limb to get a good view.
Not only did Zacchaeus get a good view of Jesus, Jesus also got a good view of Zacchaeus-both physically and spiritually!! Why did Zacchaeus really want to see Jesus? Was it out of mere curiosity, or was there emptiness in his life that he wanted to fill. Most theologians think that it is the latter reason, because Jesus told Zacchaeus to come down out of the tree so that they could have lunch together at Zacchaeus’ house.
Jesus shone his heavenly light on Zacchaeus’ heart and transformed it from a worldly priority to a spiritual priority. It is similar to a movie I saw recently. It was originally made in 1980, and it was called “The Blues Brothers”. It starred Dan Akroyd and the late John Belushi. In one scene, they attended a church service, but it was no ordinary church service. It was an evangelical service complete with singing, rolling in the aisles and dancing. At one point, a light shone down from heaven onto one of the Blues Brothers first, and then the other. As a result of this exposure, they believed that God had a mission for them-a mission that became the background for the rest of the movie.
Zacchaeus was quite wealthy, but his wealth could not buy him happiness. Apart from Roman officials and the tax collectors who worked for him, Zacchaeus had few friends because of both his job and his height (or lack of it). Unfortunately, there are too many people like Zacchaeus in the world today. They have all sorts of money and fame, but deep inside there is a spiritual emptiness that they try to fill with drugs, alcohol or illicit sex. These things do not fill the void-they only cover it up, with disastrous consequences. For example, one of the actors I referred to a moment ago-the late John Belushi- died in 1982 from a drug overdose that was caused by his passionate, non-stop, over the top, wild and crazy lifestyle.
Sometimes people are lost and they either don’t know it or try to hide it behind clothes, the world, the car they drive, the home in which they live, drugs, alcohol or sex. People without God are in trouble. There are ten ways we know someone is lost:
1. He has no concern about his situation.
2. He does not know there is an actual destination.
3. He thinks all roads are equally good, all exits the same, and all religions share the same truths.
4. The highest test he knows for his ultimate welfare is his feelings.
5. He rejects any claims of “the way” as too narrow, too demanding, too restrictive.
6. He has grown comfortable in his lostness; it’s who he is.
7. He despairs in his lostness and has quit looking for a way out.
8. He tends to walk in circles.
9. He will take directions from anyone
10. He ignores God in his mind and heart. God calls; he doesn’t listen.
When Jesus decided to go to Zacchaeus’ house, it naturally caused the people to grumble, “Oh no! He’s going to hang out with tax collectors and sinners again”. Jesus didn’t care how the crowd reacted, because only he could see the transformation in Zacchaeus’ heart. He saw Zacchaeus as a treasure, and not as a con man or a sinner. Jesus provides an example of godly living, but more importantly, he gives us a way to enjoy an intimate relationship with him. In the words of Romans 3:23, we have all sinned and have fallen short of God’s glory. We are all lost, but Christ came into the world to save us-something that we could not do ourselves according to Romans 5:1-2. The world sees only the package, much like the crowd saw only Zacchaeus’ outer self; but Jesus sees the contents of the package without physically having to open it. In the case of Zacchaeus, Jesus could see Zacchaeus’ transformed heart, new-found faith and physical resources.
Jesus is always on a search and rescue mission, much like a shepherd is always looking for lost sheep. For example, in the Judean wilderness today, a shepherd will ask other shepherds to watch his flock while he goes to find a lost sheep. He will call out for it and throw rocks at the mouths of caves to scare a sheep out of hiding. When the shepherd has found the sheep, he will put it over his shoulders and hold its feet with one hand, while keeping his other hand free to hold his staff and defend himself against attacking animals. The shepherd can be heard singing and rejoicing that the sheep that was lost has been found.
Jesus and the angels in heaven are the same. Jesus made references to the rejoicing that goes on in heaven when a sinner repents. He was often pleased when the sinners he dealt with repented, so it is not surprising that he was pleased when Zacchaeus repented and offered to make restitution without even being asked to do so.
This story is a parallel to the story of the rich young ruler in Luke 18:18-30. Both Zacchaeus and the ruler are rich and in positions of authority. The ruler could not part with his wealth, but Zacchaeus gave away half of his wealth without being asked to do so. He chose to do so out of gratitude and repentance. While the story of the rich young ruler caused Jesus to make the comment about a camel trying to get through the eye of a needle, the story of Zacchaeus ends with Jesus saying, “Today, salvation has come to this house”. Zacchaeus did not beg for mercy or express sorrow.
Jesus can do the same for us today. We do not have to ask him to save us-he does so willingly. All we have to do is accept his message in faith, repent and accept him as our Saviour. Jesus will take care of the rest.
As I mentioned a moment ago, Jesus is on a search and rescue mission. He is on a mission to seek and save the lost, but some of the lost do not want him to find them. They choose not to respond to his life of obedience and his sacrifice on the cross. Indeed, many of them laugh at his resurrection and his efforts to save their souls from sin, the devil and death. Zacchaeus might not have known that he was lost, but when he was found, he accepted his rescue. We are the same. Do we know we are lost? Do we want to be found? If so, will we accept Christ’s rescue and help him rescue more lost souls? As an old preacher once said, “If a man has a soul, and he has, and if that soul can be won or lost for eternity, and it can, then the most important thing in the world is to bring a man to Jesus Christ.”
The story of Zacchaeus is a metaphor for the mission of Jesus-received by the outcast, condemned by the authorities-and the murmuring followed him all the way to Jerusalem. We must follow God and start inviting ourselves and go out into the world and seek out others-just like Jesus and Zacchaeus sought each other out. If we are to be as Christ to others, whether we are leaders, teachers or lay persons, we, too, need to be aware of people’s pressing needs and seek, in Christ’s name, to minister to those needs. There is little point in preaching the gospel to homeless, hungry people without trying to first feed them and find them shelter. There’s little point of telling hurting lonely, disappointed people that God loves them if we do little or nothing to help them meet their present needs. In other words, we must practice what we preach. Jesus ministered to Zacchaeus’ spiritual needs. It is up to us to minister to the physical and spiritual needs of those around us.
