Zacchaeus’s Gospel is a Gospel that tells us that Jesus comes to those who are in need. The fact that Jesus went to Jericho reminds me of other places in Scripture where Jesus just “happens” to go by. In John 4:4, though he could have gone an easier way, it says, “Jesus needed to go through Samaria.” When He did, He met a woman at a well, and the rest is Biblical history.
My dear friend, the same Lord still comes our way. Through His Word and His Spirit He comes to wee little men and women, who have found that money and prestige, and all the world has to offer is never enough. He comes to you today. How will you respond? There are no Sycamore trees around here, but that’s all right. He still sees you. And He knows. He is the One who has been moving on your heart. He is the One drawing you to Himself. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done or who you are. He sees the real you, and He sees what He will make out of your life.
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Now, old Zacchaeus would tell you that the Gospel is that “Jesus Saw Me” but He would have to also testify to this:
“He Welcomed Me”
The Lord Jesus informed this sinful man that he was coming to dinner. But Jesus wasn’t barging in, He was welcoming Zacchaeus into a relationship. Indeed, a divine hospitality gets at the heart of this man’s story. Zacchaeus’ story of sin and isolation crossed paths with Jesus’ story of righteousness and fellowship. Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem, to the cross, to His great High Priestly work of dying for our sins. It was during that time Jesus’ story crossed Zacchaeus’ story. But Jesus is never too busy saving the world to stop and save people like Zacchaeus, or you.
Sometimes we in ministry get so absorbed with doing the work of the church that we forget the real work of the church is dealing with people one-on-one, right where they are in their quiet but desperate lives. We step over the familiar wounded lives of people all around us in order to save nameless masses. This is not the way of the Lord. The way of the Lord was then and now to stop along the way and welcome those whom others have rejected.
In this passage, Jesus commits a great social faux pas: he goes to dine with a publican. In verse 7 it says, “But when they saw it, they all com-plained, saying, ‘He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner.’” Now who else could Jesus eat with but a sinner? “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God,” in-cluding those self-righteous scribes who got all bent out of shape!
One wise Christian wrote about this aspect of Jesus: “In modern times it is scarcely possible to appreciate the scandal Jesus caused by His table fellowship with sinners . . . In first century Palestinian Judaism the class system was enforced rigorously. It was legally forbidden to mingle with sinners who were out-side the law . . . ” 2