No Perfect People Please #3

Read: Luke 19:2-10


I once heard it said, “It’s not what you do, it’s what you do after what you do that counts.” It means that we are all going to make mistakes, and how we respond to those mistakes means everything.

There once was a wealthy tax collector in Jesus’ day who figured out how to respond well to his mistakes. His name was Zacchaeus and he made his fortune by collecting more than the state’s share of taxes from the common people. Tax collectors were roundly despised, thought of with ill repute, and sneered at as sinners. To top it off, Zacchaeus was very short- children sing about his lack of stature even today!

One day, Jesus made his debut in Zacchaeus’ home town of Jericho and drew a crowd of people. The wee little wealthy man had to climb a sycamore tree just to get a good glimpse of Jesus. Though he was tucked away amongst the tree limbs, Jesus spotted him like a hunter, and called, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down! I must stay at your house today.” (Luke 19:5).

The crowd was aghast! What was Jesus doing socializing with this tax collecting swindler? But, unruffled by the crowd’s opinion, Zacchaeus excitedly shimmied down that tree and gladly met Jesus with a change of heart. Zacchaeus committed to give back what he had taken from the people and to give what he owned to the poor.

It’s interesting that it didn’t happen the other way around- like in “behavior modification”- you do something good in order to deserve a reward. No, Jesus pursued Zacchaeus first, essentially saying, “I don’t judge you- I just want to know you.” Then, Zacchaeus was changed, and wanted to make up for his mistakes. It’s like this: Jesus does something good, and then we get rewarded. Sort of backwards and lovely, don’t you think?

But the story doesn’t end with Zaccheus and Jesus walking off into the sunset. There’s more. Like spreading icing on the baklava, Jesus turns to the crowd and honorably reinstates Zacchaeus to his rightful place in the community by saying, “Salvation has come to this house today, this man also belongs to the family of Abraham.” Jesus did for Zacchaeus what he could never have done for himself.