Luke 19:1-10 recounts the story of Zacchaeus the tax collector and Jesus. While I have never held the title "tax collector," this anecdote spoke to me in profound ways.
Tax collectors were shunned, outsiders, ostracized, avoided. They were sinners.
This passage speaks to the "tax collector" in all of us.
Zacchaeus was chief tax collector and had gained his wealth through cheating people.We can presume that this guy had heard of Jesus but did not know who he was, yet he went out and climbed a tree to catch a glimpse of this man.
Stop here real quick. So, this guy who doesn't even know the King of kings, goes out of his way to catch a glimpse of Jesus. Heart check. When was the last time you desired to see God so much that you did all you could do to view his face?
Okay, back to story. Jesus approaches the sycamore-fig tree that homeboy, Zacchaeus, is chilling in. Instead of walking on past this tax collector, this sinner, Jesus stops and seeks him out. "When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, 'Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today'" Luke 19:5. What's so profound about this scene is that Jesus wanted to not only speak to this man but to dwell with him.
God doesn't care about your sins nearly as much as he cares about you. Hear me out here. God reached Zacchaeus where he was, and yet, still, God wanted to be with him. God doesn't care the label of sin given to you: tax collector, greedy, lustful, homosexual, bitter, murderer, etc. He just wants you.
The amazing this is that when we readily welcome Jesus into our lives, he changes us. At the end of this story about Zacchaeus, he promises to give to the poor and return that what he had stolen.
Let God cleanse you from the inside out.
"For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost" Luke 19:10
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