The Zeal of Zacchaeus – Luke 19:1-10

Most of us have heard the story: Jesus is walking through Jericho… Zacchaeus the Tax Collector comes out to see him. Being a wee fellow (i.e. Zacchaeus is short), he can’t see, so he climbs up a sycamore tree. The story continues, Jesus sees him up there and calls him by name: “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.”

Let’s stop there for a minute.  I had always considered that Jesus called Zacchaeus out because Zacchaeus was up in a tree. I had this picture in my head where Jesus says to himself “hey there’s Zacchaeus up in that tree. Zacchaeus come down from there.”

The story is actually a telling tale of conversion. At the end of the story Zacchaeus is transformed from a greedy and hated tax collector to a man who welcomes the Creator of the universe into his home and into his heart. In the past, I might have thought “what a lucky guy. Good thing Jesus looked up in that tree.”

Duh. That was before my Missions class last week with Dr. Ant Greenham, who in his distinguished South African accent, enlightened me. “I have been to Isreal,” he said, “and I have seen those sycamore trees. They are nasty buggers with things all sticking out of them.”  He continued (paraphrasing) Zacchaeus was a rich man and was probably dressed very nice. The crowds were very dense. Jesus was coming. So the little man hurried his way through the crowds and climbed up this nasty ole tree.

The tree? I had never considered the tree. It was a sycamore tree according to the scripture I have obviously read before, but I just never much thought about the tree. Think about it. When’s the last time you climbed up a tree? I don’t know about you, but I don’t think I’ll be climbing any trees any time soon. Seriously, I’d have to be hoisted up.

The point is, the details matter to the story. The details matter to Jesus. The details were right there in front of me, I was just looking at them differently.

Jesus no doubt (being God) knew Zacchaeus would be up in that tree. Jesus knew also that He would later go to Zacchaeus’s house and that Zacchaeus would repent and be saved.

So the thing that sticks out at me (pardon the pun) is 1) Dr. Greenham had seen the tree. He knew something I didn’t and I was now glad to know, and 2) it was Zacchaeus’s zeal for Christ that got him called out. Zacchaeus demonstrated some real effort, but only because his heart had changed. He really, really, really wanted to see Jesus.

Practically, I would submit that  Jesus is not going to respond to any of us just because we are up in a tree. Even if we are there through great effort, the effort itself doesn’t do anything for us. No, Jesus has already done all the work for us when he took our place on the cross. Jesus is going to respond to us when we faithfully and fervently seek Him… Seek Him with zeal.

Q: Are you climbing any trees to see Jesus today?

Luke 19:1-10

¹Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. ²A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. ³He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd. ⁴So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.

⁵When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” ⁶So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.

⁷All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a ’sinner.’ “

⁸But 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.”

⁹Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. ¹⁰For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”

- 30 –

J. Boe Ellis is a follower of Jesus Christ, husband to Connie and father to Casey, Cara, Carter, Catie, Cameron and Carly. The Ellises are from Tampa and live currently in Wake Forest, NC where Boe is attending Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and working on his M.div. www.boeellis.com | powered by CERICDigital.

Filed under:
Devotional by Boe