1 Jesus was going through the city of Jericho. 2 A man was there named Zacchaeus, who was a very important tax collector, and he was wealthy. 3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but he was not able because he was too short to see above the crowd. 4 He ran ahead to a place where Jesus would come, and he climbed a sycamore tree so he could see him. 5 When Jesus came to that place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down! I must stay at your house today.”
6 Zacchaeus came down quickly and welcomed him gladly. 7 All the people saw this and began to complain, “Jesus is staying with a sinner!”
8 But Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “I will give half of my possessions to the poor. And if I have cheated anyone, I will pay back four times more.”
9 Jesus said to him, “Salvation has come to this house today, because this man also belongs to the family of Abraham. 10 The Son of Man came to find lost people and save them.”
Read Luke 19:1-10 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!
Part way through Jesus’ ministry, He passes through the city of Jericho and invites Himself to the home of one of the most disliked people in the entire city. When I read about what happened when Jesus met Zacchaeus, I wonder who was the most surprised in this entire event.
Is Zacchaeus the most surprised because Jesus spotted Him in the tree and invited Himself over?
Is the crowd the most surprised that Zacchaeus accepted Jesus’ invitation to Himself?
Is the crowd the most surprised that Jesus would associate with someone as hated and distrusted as Zacchaeus?
Luke’s gospel summarizes both the crowd’s and Zacchaeus’ responses by saying: “Zacchaeus came down quickly and welcomed him gladly. All the people saw this and began to complain, ‘Jesus is staying with a sinner!’” (v. 6-7)
While Zacchaeus was grateful for the opportunity to meet Jesus even better, the crowd gets caught up over a situation they simply feel is not right. In the minds of those in the crowd, someone (Jesus) they knew was sent from God should only associate with people who clearly are associated with God. When Jesus chose to associate with someone they believed had no care for religious or spiritual matters, it breaks their stereotype and their view of Jesus.
However, in this event, while the crowd was complaining over who Jesus chose to stay with, Zacchaeus was getting ready to have a heart transformation. The crowd could not see this, but Jesus did. The crowd blinded themselves by believing Jesus would only associate with Godly people. The crowd missed out on what may have been the most high-profile life transformation of Jesus’ ministry.
Everyone in that region knew who Zacchaeus was, and it would not be a surprise in my mind if the news about Jesus’ time with Zacchaeus and the life-change that happened spread like wildfire throughout the entire city and surrounding area.
Reading about the crowd challenges me to ask the question: Am I missing out on something God is doing because it happens to be in a place I don’t think it should be and/or because it doesn’t fit into the mold of what I think it should look like? Am I more like the skeptical crowd when I hear about something God has done, or am I open to being transformed through what I see God doing in the world around me?
This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!
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