NOTES for Luk 19:1-10

Sometimes, in order to see Jesus, we have to do something that seems impossible to us. This is not because God wants to punish us. God wants to show us that He created us for something greater, for eternity, for love. God cannot simply gather all the perishing sinners and change them—that would be violence. God helps those who are ready for it, who want to change and give something up, to become different.

Perhaps the proud chief tax collector Zacchaeus would never have dared to promise Jesus what he promised (“Half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have wronged anyone in anything, I will repay fourfold”) if he had not first overcome his pride, his shame over his short stature, and his awkwardness and climbed a tree in order to see God. Jesus saw him in the sycamore tree, and perhaps, as he sat there blushing with shame, Zacchaeus had already changed something so important within himself that it was not hard for him to transform his life completely. Zacchaeus took a step toward humility, and the Lord moved him to take a step into love.