Today salvation has come to this house..

Not all of us are born tall. Anyone of short stature will immediately realize how difficult it becomes at time when one has to see through a crowd. Hundreds and thousands of people, everyone is so curious to see Jesus walking along the city roads of Jericho (in present day Palestine), and here comes a man Zacchaeus, the chief tax collector of the city, wanting to have a glimpse of Jesus. But the crowd will not let him `coz he was of short height. But Zacchaeus would not give-in. 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 what was lost.”

In today’s world of celebrities, VIPs and VVIPs, many of us may feel like Zacchaeus, not necessary due to someone’s short height or stature but because we may find ourselves so ordinary in the limelight and glitz that we see around. Those who read Page-3 or watch celebrity soaps in CBS channels may wonder what it takes to make life meaningiful and relevant to others.  Do I have any worth that someone significant should think of me?

Zacchaeus was probably a man hated for the profession that he was into it. The tax collectors of his time were hated and despised by Jews because they were usually fellow Jews who worked for Roman government. It was similar story for Indian beaurocrats working for British government in pre-Independent India. Some patriots like Subhash Chandra Bose would renounce an IAS seat for the same reason of not working for a foreign government against the fellow Indian brothers and sisters. A Jewish tax-collector like Zacchaeus was often considered synonymous with ‘sinners’ as they called them. In a community of own people, with riches and a government job, Zacchaeus was lonely at heart and therefore probably wanted to see the One who was often called a ‘friend’ of sinners and tax-collectors.

Jesus did not only see Zacchaeus but He also saw the vacuum in his heart. Jesus saw a man who was willing to repent (change his mind from evil) and believe (turn to God). So Jesus offered to dine with him.

We see two things happening in Zacchaeus’ life.  According to the Law of Moses, Zacchaeus was required to make restitution in full and add a fifth of the value to it to pay back the person whom he might have cheated. But Zacchaeus’ declaration of four times was going to be far beyond what the Law demanded. This was a sign of true repentence (turning one’s mind and action from evil ways). When Jesus saw a man repenting of his past and turning to God, the second and most important thing happened in Zacchaeus’ life – the God’s gift of eternal life was given to Zacchaeus and his family.

Jesus’ declaration, “Today salvation has come to this house…”, is not just for Zacchaeus who lived 2000 years ago but also to anyone of us who would repent and believe in the good news of Jesus. Zacchaeus was just someone out there for  the crowd but to Jesus he was  a very special person. Today Jesus is thinking about you and me. He knows us and calls us by name just as He called Zacchaeus from below the tree.

Jesus says, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.”