Hello Advent Family,

One of my very favorite Bible stories growing up was always the story of Zacchaeus.  I was always curious just how short he was.  Just how wee was the wee little man we sang about?  I also thought it was great that Jesus immediately went and shared a meal with him.  I remember my teacher in Sunday school making a joke about how no one has ever liked tax collectors except for Jesus.  Let’s look at the story together today found in Luke 19.  

Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. 3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way. 5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. 7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.” 8 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.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

One of the things that struck me the most about the story of Zacchaeus was the immediate transformation that takes place in his life after encountering Jesus.  Tax collectors in that day were notorious for being greedy and taking more that was owed and then keeping it for themselves.  Zacchaeus not only commits to paying that back, but he says he will pay back four times the amount and give half of his wealth to the poor.  Jesus takes that heart of greed and it is immediately changed to a heart of generosity.  That is the transformative power of Jesus in our lives.  He changes us from the inside out through the power of His Spirit.  The other thing that sticks me about the story of Zacchaeus is the lengths that he goes to to see Jesus in the first place.  I’m sure that it must have been embarrassing for him to have to climb a tree to see past the crowds.  That didn’t matter because seeing and experiencing Jesus was just that important.  I pray that attitude of Zacchaeus would be one that we all would take on.  We will do whatever it takes to see and experience Jesus.

In His Grip,

Pastor Dave