Out On A Limb

As I sit to write this, I have a million ideas running through my head, and I honestly have no clue what I will be guided to write. I have been reading Luke 19:1-10. While I read it, the phrase that comes to mind is “Out on a limb”. I guess now I have to try and explain it in context to the Word.

Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd. 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.“

There are a million things that capture me about this story. The first thing I did was try to paint a picture of Zacchaeus. This is what I have gathered about him. Zacchaeus is a short, not a religious man at all, and not very liked among his community. I picture him like a thinner ruder Danny DeVito.

Something about Jesus caught his ear. He had obviously heard some wonderful things about him. He heard Jesus was going to be passing through Jericho, and decided he wanted a glimpse. When he got to the crowd, I picture a kid at a parade. He couldn’t really see anything, so he ran over to a tree, and climbed up into it. He sat up there just trying to see.

The story could have stopped right here. It could have ended with, “Jesus walked through town, Zacchaeus’ curiousity was fed, and he continued collecting taxes.” It could have. Instead, to me something great happened. Jesus looked up. He looked up which makes me think Zacchaeus had to be looking down. That must have been weird for Zacchaeus especially. I imagine in his entire life, he had been looking up to everyone, even the people he was taking money from. For the first time in his life, he is looking down. And not just at any person but the Son of God.

Jesus called his name. Wow. To me that’s amazing, because Jesus didn’t have to. He could have said, “You, get down from that tree, I need a place to stay, and a shower, and make me some food too. But he didn’t. He said, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” That sentence alone to me is amazing. The importance of it. He called his name, he said come down immediately, not later, but immediately. There is no time to waste. You think, wow…. Jesus knew who he was. Jesus not only knew who he was, he looked up to him, and called his name. Made it urgent, and went home with him. How relational?

I question myself a lot on this matter. How many times on Sunday do I go up to people and not only do I not say their names, I don’t remember them. I leave church, and I don’t see them again until the following Sunday. Not very relational at all. It’s not that I feel bad, because I have the feeling that everyone else is guilty of that to some extent.

When Jesus called Zacchaeus and said he was going home with him, the other people in the crowd started talking…. (I guess not much has changed) Calling Zacchaeus a sinner and all of that good stuff. This reminds me of Christians. I imagine had Jesus not been there, Zacchaeus probably would have turned around and said something along the lines of, “this is why I don’t come to church,” It makes me think about how we act towards “the lost” as Christians….. It makes me giggle that we call them “The Lost” when we are sometimes just as lost, if not more.

But, with Jesus’ gesture, it changed a man’s life. Zacchaeus told Jesus, “Half of my riches, I’m giving to the needy.” Just in meeting Jesus, he has been changed that much! Not only that, he says,”… and if I have wronged anybody out of anything, I will pay them back four-fold.” Amazing. It goes to show a few things. First of all, upon meeting Jesus, immediately, you change. For the better. Secondly, you apparently are still capable of clouded thoughts. I say that because Zacchaeus said “IF”. He knew he had wronged some people, and so did Jesus. But he said if…. It kind of makes me giggle. As if he didn’t know he had wronged people. I guess it’s still hard for people to admit their wrongs, even to someone who knows all…. Weird.

I guess the point of this is, Zacchaeus went out on a limb for Jesus. He didn’t know Jesus was going to know him or talk to him. And I don’t think he expected Jesus to call him by his name. I guess that’s what we all have to do, or have done. Mankind as a whole. It’s amazing to me the love, and tenderness of Jesus. What could have happened to us. Where we would be. I think at one point or another we all have climbed a tree, trying to get a closer look at Jesus. To see what he was all about. I guess we have all been shocked and awed that he looked up at us. I know I have. I know that the things he’s done in my life have made me a person I never knew I could be. But I wonder, what would have happened if Jesus had just walked on by. Or even looked up at me and said “Hey You!” I don’t think I’d be the same person. But he didn’t. He said, “Andy, come here quickly, we haven’t much time. There is a lot I want to do in your life, so you need to hurry, admit you’re wrongs, and follow me.” Wow. I’m not out on a limb anymore. I’m actually right at home, with Jesus right there.

What a journey. And to think, I could still be stuck up in a tree.