Luke 19:1-10
Jesus and Zacchaeus
TEXT:
Luke 19:1-10
(Contemporary English Version)
1-4 Jesus was going through Jericho, where a man named Zacchaeus lived. He was in charge of collecting taxes and was very rich. Jesus was heading his way, and Zacchaeus wanted to see what he was like. But Zacchaeus was a short man and could not see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree.
5-6 When Jesus got there, he looked up and said, “Zacchaeus, hurry down! I want to stay with you today.” Zacchaeus hurried down and gladly welcomed Jesus.
7 Everyone who saw this started grumbling, “This man Zacchaeus is a sinner! And Jesus is going home to eat with him.”
8 Later that day Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “I will give half of my property to the poor. And I will now pay back four times as much to everyone I have ever cheated.”
9-10 Jesus said to Zacchaeus, “Today you and your family have been saved, because you are a true son of Abraham. The Son of Man came to look for and to save people who are lost.”
REFLECTIONS:
I wonder what Zacchaeus expected from Jesus. Did he think he would even say a word to him? Or see him in the tree at all?
Here was a man (Jesus) who would have been a local celebrity, the complete opposite of Zacchaeus. And yet there was nothing more that Jesus wanted more than to hang out and be received by the guy everyone else hated.
And so it was in the invitation and action of being a host that Zacchaeus experiences his transformation. It was in serving the most popular guy around, that Zacchaeus sees how he can serve everyone else in his community.
I wonder what transformation is possible for Church at the Park and Salem, if we learned to be received by those the rest of the world despises.
PRACTICE:
Outward Mindset Application Each day this week, find one person and help them feel appreciated.
Pathways Toward Centeredness Tradition (loving the world through ritual and symbol): Is there a poet or writer you really enjoy? Find a collection of their work, and each day this week, read and meditate on their way of seeing and loving the world they inhabit.
Questions for Reflection Who was the last celebrity (or just really really cool person) you desperately wanted to see? When was a time you remember being hosted well by someone else?