When I was a little girl, I remember a song that we used to sing in Sunday school. It goes like this:
- Zacchaeus was a wee little man, and a wee little man was he. He climbed up in a sycamore tree for the Lord he wanted to see. And as the Savior passed that way, He looked up in the tree. And He said, “Zacchaeus, you come down.” For I’m going to your house today. For I’m going to your house to stay.
Zacchaeus’ story can be found in Luke 19:1-10.
(1) He entered Jericho and was passing through. (2) And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. (3) And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small in stature. (4) So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way. (5) And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” (6) So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully. (7) And when they saw it, they all grumbled, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” (8) And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” (9) And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. (10) For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
Most people just read this story and say, “Yay! Jesus saved another sinner.” They do not look beyond the surface of the story. On the other hand, I have found many lessons in the tale of the height challenged tax collector of Jericho. Why have I found so many lessons when others see little significance in this story? I have learned that one of the keys to understanding and focusing in on a story and its lessons is to picture it in your imagination. This technique produces two effects–it makes you look more deeply at the details of the story, and it highlights the holes you have in your knowledge of an old familiar story. Remember not to add details that are not in the story, but at the same time, look at the possible motives of the characters and delve into how they must have been feeling. Ask God to sanctify your imagination so that you can see the story through the Spirit’s guidance, and look for God as one of the characters in the story. With this introduction to using your sanctified imagination to enhance your Bible study, let’s take Luke 19:1-10 and make it come alive. Picture it:
The famous Teacher has come to town. Zacchaeus is excited. He has heard that Jesus even has a follower who is a former tax collector. This Teacher was different from all the other rabbis who would have spit on Zacchaeus if he got within ten feet of them. Zacchaeus just wanted to catch a glimpse to see what this unique rabbi was like, but he had a problem. Everyone else had come out to see the Teacher also, and they were a lot taller than he was. Maybe, he jumped up and down a little or stood on his toes as he tried to see over the crowd. No luck. Surely, he tried squeezing past people to get closer, but as soon as they saw the chief tax collector trying to get past them, they would have closed ranks forming an impassable human wall standing between Zacchaeus and Jesus. He could force these people to pay him money, but he could not make them move. However, Zacchaeus had not risen to become the chief tax collector of an important city like Jericho by giving up. Maybe, if he figured out where Jesus was traveling, he could run ahead and get a position in the front before the crowd reached that location. No, that wouldn’t work. They would just push him to the back. Then he remembered that there was a sycamore tree up ahead on the road that Jesus was traveling on. If he hurried up and climbed the tree no one would know he was there, and he would have a close up view of the Teacher as He passed by. Zacchaeus ran as fast as his short legs could carry him and shimmied up the tree. All too soon, other people began rushing to the street to see Jesus as He passed by, but none of them suspected that the man they despised most in the world was just above them.
There He was! The teacher was coming. Zacchaeus was a little disappointed. Jesus didn’t look very special. He was dusty and sweaty from His travels. He was not wearing nice clothes like the other rabbis. Zacchaeus was dressed much nicer. The Teacher just looked . . . ordinary. But then when Jesus reached the shade of the tree, He stopped and looked directly up at Zacchaeus’ hiding place. The most unexpected words in the world came out of the teacher’s mouth. “Zacchaeus.”
Zacchaeus? The teacher knew his name? Then the words “Hurry and get down here. I’m staying at your house,” reached the little tax collector’s ears. Zaccheus didn’t hesitate. He hurriedly dropped down from his branch and plopped onto the ground next to Jesus. And in that moment of decision, Zaccheus formed a connection with Jesus that changed his whole life.
What did you learn by picturing the story? Did details that you never thought about before become clear? Did any spiritual lessons come to your mind as you meditated on the situation? Did you see any connections between this story and other information that you have learned previously? Here are some connections that I have seen when I considered this story carefully.
Zacchaeus had such a strong desire to see Jesus that he was willing to climb a tree to achieve his objective. Do you have that same longing to see Jesus? Like Zacchaeus, do you feel an overwhelming desire to be close to Him? Are there barriers in your way keeping you from connecting with God?
There was a 17th-century mathematician and philosopher called Blaise Pascal (“Pensées”) once wrote:
“What else does this craving, and this helplessness, proclaim but that there was once in man a true happiness, of which all that now remains is the empty print and trace? This he tries in vain to fill with everything around him, seeking in things that are not there the help he cannot find in those that are, though none can help, since this infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite and immutable object; in other words by God himself.”
Nowadays, we have shortened this quote by saying that each person has a God-shaped hole inside that we are longing to have filled. The truth is that all of humanity is searching for God in some way. Christians are just lucky enough to know where to find Him. Most people try in vain to fill that emptiness with activities, entertainment, and work. Others try to medicate themselves in order to fill their emptiness. However, there is only one way to fill that hole—with Jesus.
Most churchgoers, know where to go to see Jesus. We are told over and over again in church that we need to study our Bibles and pray in order to be close to God. Yet our view is still obstructed.
Here is one of the problems. Satan and his partners do not want us to connect to God. They will throw any obstruction possible between you and Jesus. You might think that your lack of desire to study the Bible or pray or attend a worship service is because of laziness or boredom or some deficit within your own character. You may be right. But it is equally possible that an enemy is doing all he can to distract you from seeing Jesus. Are you going to let him win? One of the lessons of the story of the tax collector of Jericho is to let nothing come between you and Jesus. It is essential to overcome every barrier that keeps a person away from Jesus. Zacchaeus did not let anyone come between him and seeing Jesus, and neither should we.
The first step in overcoming our barriers is to recognize what they are. For Zaccheus, his height was the problem, so he found a way to get taller. What’s keeping you from knowing Jesus better? There are a lot of legitimate reasons not to spend time with God—Exhaustion, no free time, lack of privacy, poor reading skills, sickness and pain, children interrupting you, brain fog so you cannot think, even extreme temperatures—too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter. These are not excuses. They are real barriers.
This essay is a call to action. Do not let anyone or anything stop you from seeing Jesus. Do not let your enemies win. Find ways to overcome your barriers. Maybe, you need to push yourself through exhaustion and sickness to reach God. There have been many times when I have fallen asleep praying and reading the Bible. I understand how difficult it is, but this is too important to just throw up our hands in defeat. Keep going.
What if you cannot read well and do not retain information? Keep trying. Find alternatives. Listening to the Bible is just as effective as reading it. Or maybe, take just one verse and reread it and meditate on it throughout the day. (This might be a good strategy for the problem of kids interrupting you also.)
What if you do not seem to see any special meaning in the words you are reading, or your prayers seem empty? Keep trying. And maybe, try to do something different. For example, try paraphrasing the verses in your own words. Or maybe when you pray, stop talking for a while and just listen to see if God has something to say to you. And most importantly, ask God to help you see Him.
There are a million legitimate obstacles in our lives to turn us away from seeing Jesus, but none of them are as important as He is. He is your Protector who finds you hiding in the garden after you have betrayed Him and promises to make everything right again. He is the stranger wrestling with you throughout the night until in the morning light you recognize that you know Him and receive a blessing. He is the pillar of fire guiding you through the desert to water and a land flowing with milk and honey. He is the redeemer rescuing you and your mother-in-law from a life of bitterness and poverty. He is wisdom inviting you to come in and learn of Him. He is the innocent bloody man hanging from a cross for you, the stranger on the road opening up the scriptures to your defeated heart, and the sender of the Spirit to guide you. He is your representative in heaven and your big brother. And He is the friend knocking at the door of poor blind naked Christians, so He can clothe us, heal our blindness, and share His riches with us.
When you overcome your obstacles and look for Jesus, what will you see? Modern society has viewed Jesus as a nice guy who taught a lot of impractical lessons that just don’t work in real life. The Muslims view Jesus as just another prophet like Moses. In a similar manner, the last few generations of western society have looked at Jesus as a respected religious leader on the same level as Buddha. Many atheists view Jesus as a myth. Who will you see when you look at Jesus? At first, Zacchaeus saw an ordinary man walking the dusty streets of Jericho, but then he looked closer, and he saw his Savior who was willing to give him a second chance. . . A friend who was willing to come socialize with him in spite of the criticisms of others. . . His rabbi who taught him how to be a citizen of heaven instead of a tool for the Romans. When you do as Zacchaeus did and look deeper at Jesus, who will you see?