5 And 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 and came down and received him joyfully. 7 And when they saw it, they all grumbled, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.”
Big View: Person of Peace
Small View: Perception – Passing Relationships – Permanent Relationships
Sharon Wood
New Life Christian Fellowship – Concord CA
Observation: Lord, I love that You know each of us by name and that You long to bring us into Your family. You had definitely been at work in the heart and mind of Zaccheaus before Jesus saw him, for Zaccheaus received Him quickly and joyfully.
Action: SLOW DOWN! Today I will slow my pace so that I can HEAR You Lord, and SEE the person of peace You’ve placed in my path.
Observation: I tend to get judgmental over the people God is merciful towards. Sometimes I see their unworthiness rather than their worth. I too would be grumbling over the ‘sinner’ that Jesus invests in. Who knows why Zachaeus became a tax collector in the first place. Maybe the ‘short man complex’ had something to do with it. Maybe collaborating with the Romans was his way of coping and surviving the occupation. Maybe he saw something better in Jesus, maybe he realized his mistake and saw the truth of what he had done in Jesus and wanted to atone and right his life. Whatever his motives, Jesus saw who he really was, not what he had done, and chose to invest in him.
Action: Focus more on the worth and see past the unworthiness of the people in my life, especially the people who are in my life because God put them there, not because I chose them to be there.
My challenge is persons of peace everywhere. To whose “house ” do I go? I must keep asking and listening about where to invest.
OBSERVATION
Jesus I see that you love to be with “sinners” and bring them into your family. You go so far as to invite Yourself over to Zacchaeus’ oikos – his home and household. You see in a tax collector a person of peace where others saw a “sinner”. I realize when I label someone a “sinner” I am thinking You are not active in their life but you see God’s work in the life of “sinners’ and call them deeper into relationship with You.
ACTION
Jesus today help me to see people of peace near me. Help me to see how you are working in their lives not how they are “sinners”.
People no longer saw Zacchaeus by anything other than his occupation and what that meant about him (sinner, traitor). They probably didn’t pay him much attention at all when he wasn’t tax collecting. Had they noticed him in the crowd? Climbing the tree? Zacchaeus was not much affected by how these people thought anymore; human nature suggests that sometimes he was probably aware and at some point previously he had been. Today he didn’t care. He climbed a tree to see Jesus. And then he was joyful that Jesus saw him. He was thrilled that Jesus was inviting himself into his home and life.
Is there anyone whose life I can bring a little joy into by noticing them, inviting them in, sharing myself with them? I don’t feel like this is an action for me. It doesn’t fit my life, my personality or my gifts. However, I won’t shut my eyes.