Coming Up Short

Text: Luke 19:1-10

How many times did Jesus turn the tables on the common consensus? It seems to be something he delighted in doing in the encounters we have been reading and reflecting on--not just for the sake of confounding people, but for the sake of lifting up the lowly and lowering the lofty. Our sense of who is worthy of the Lord's attention is what is most challenged, at least to the extent we share the general consensus of our day, which is not so unlike the ones in which Jesus ministered.

Enter Zacchaeus, a despised man if ever there was one. Think Scrooge here, the character timelessly brought to us by Charles Dickens. He is the one no one wanted to deal with but could not be easily avoided; the one who would exact everything possible and sneer at the misery left behind. Zacchaeus, like Ebenezer Scrooge, was not a nice man.

Nor was he a happy man. His desperation to see Jesus nearly matched that of the blind beggar of yesterday's text. Not his eyes but his lack of height stood in the way; instead of crying out, he climbed a tree. He needed to see, not in the literal sense, but in the search of a better perspective on life. Wealth he had; contentment was far removed. But, frankly, maybe he deserved to be miserable; look at how he had gained his wealth--cheating his own people in the name of a hated occupying power.

As he always seems to do, Jesus saw things differently when he looked at Zacchaeus. Instead of a traitor he saw a lost son of Israel; instead of a cheater he saw a need for grace; instead of a cold heart he saw a broken man; instead of a shipwreck he saw a rescued soul; instead of an extortionist he saw a benefactor in the making. It's difficult to assess people from God's perspective when we are so accustomed to finding them at their daily business of being what they are in the world. Our judgments so easily come up short when it comes to seeing what people can be and are made to be, rather than on what they currently seem to be. Reflecting on what redemption can do here and now is a good antidote.