What Jesus did #23: he saw the best in everyone

Zacchaeus was a chief tax collector. Straightaway, that made him hugely unpopular. He took money from the Jewish people to financially support the Roman occupation of their land.

And he was rich. Rich because he took more than he should from the people and kept a proportion for himself.

He exploited others. I imagine that didn’t win him a lot of friends.

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

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

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

But 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.”

Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” Luke 19:1-10

Yesterday, we witnessed Jesus’ encounter with another sinner – the woman who came and washed Jesus’ feet with her tears and expensive perfume. We were challenged about how we react to those at the bottom of the pile. This man Zacchaeus is not at the bottom of the pile. Quite the opposite. He has a steady job and loads of money. Yet he is greedy and his greed makes him unattractive to others. The other week in our house group, we were identifying perceived ‘us and them’ situations and one group that kept surfacing as one we really struggle with is the super rich: those who have more money than they know what to do with, who refuse to share, who keep taking and taking and taking even though they don’t need any more. That kind of greed turned our stomachs. We struggled to have compassion for that kind of person.

And yet Jesus sees beyond. He always sees beyond. He looks to the heart and sees a human being. That’s it. A human being with a heart that is reaching out to him. This human being wants to see Jesus, wants to see Jesus enough that he is prepared to climb a tree to do so. This human being wants to change, wants to be saved from the life of greed that he is trapped in. This human being is ready to welcome Jesus into his home. And heart.

We struggle to see past the externals, don’t we? We are so quick to judge on appearance, behaviour, standing in society, job role…we concentrate on what divides us rather than what unites us.

This man, too, is a son of Abraham.

That’s why I love the word Namaste and all that it contains. I’ve talked about that before.

The light in me bows to the light in you.

The divine in me bows to the divine in you.

The good, the best in me recognises and respects the good, the best in you.

This is a revolutionary way of living. Most of us don’t live this way.

We judge. It’s a natural reaction. One that we need to challenge and change until it becomes a natural response to see each person as Jesus sees them.

It is the ones most in need of love and acceptance who will be ready to see Jesus.

It is the ones most in need of forgiveness who will want to hear what Jesus has to say.

It is the ones most in need of healing and setting free from whatever it is that is binding them who will welcome Jesus in to their home and heart.

It is the ones most in need of saving who will be willing to do what it takes to change.

That’s not something we can see or assess from external appearance.

It’s all about the heart. It’s always been all about the heart.

PS: There’s no hiding from Jesus. Zacchaeus may have been short and may have been hiding up a tree, but Jesus sought him out. He brought him into the light. He showed him how to turn his life around. He guided him into his way, his truth, his life.

Let us be known as those who see the best in people.

Let us be known as those who lead people into the light of God.

Let us be known as those who can show people God’s way, God’s truth, God’s life.