You ever hear the story of a man named Zacchaeus?
A wealthy man is on a quest.
There is a visiting speaker walking around the town that there have been many rumours about. Stories of amazing teaching and even harder to believe stories of miraculous events happening around Him. Food has mysteriously appeared for an entire crowd to devour, some people have claimed that he healed them from various diseases and afflictions. There is even a story of a blind man who can now see.
So this wealthy man has decided he wants to see this guy. So he sets off to where he heard the crowds were heading. Because he is quite a short guy he decides to climb a tree above the one road they have to pass by, so he will definitely be able to get a glimpse of this amazing man. Can any of these stories really be true?
ZACCHAEUS WAITS
To be fair, some of the stories were a little less appealing. Apparently this man seems to invite those who are pushed to the back of the crowd to come and hang with him. You know: women and children. There is even a story of him touching a leper. So best to keep a bit of distance I guess.
The moment arrives and Jesus walks by. But He stops underneath the tree Zacchaeus is hiding out in and He looks up and calls out his name: “Zacchaeus, come down. For I want to come and have a meal with you.”
The crowds are not super impressed because Jesus has gone to spend time with someone who is a known sinner. Zacchaeus is a tax collector and known for dipping his hand in the bag on numerous occasions.
ONE MEAL LATER
This story above is one we find in the Bible, but there is a bit of a gap missing. We don’t have any details about the dinner or the conversations Jesus had with Him or any of their time together.
But the next words we read are these:
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.” [Luke 19.8]
So all we really know is that this not very nice man has an encounter with Jesus and it radically changes his life. Not simply the change of a verbal commitment to follow Jesus as many people make. But Zacchaeus has an encounter with Jesus that causes him believe it is worth giving up more than half of everything he has.
WHAT ABOUT YOU?
There are a lot of people who have issues with church or religion because of various things that have been said or done in its name. But I would encourage you to embrace a moment of curiosity, like Zacchaeus did. Don’t let the rumours or the opinions of others define your opinion on this one. Seek out an encounter with Jesus Himself and see if His words don’t transform you.
If an encounter with a rich man could end with the rich man giving away so much of his wealth, imagine what it could mean for you.