DAILY BREAD: A SHORT TREE CLIMBING RICH MAN NAMED ZACCHAEUS

September 23, 2013

Hey Peeps, did you notice the change in the tag that goes along with our topic today under this category? Yes, we have told you earlier in August that there will be alot of changes on SelahAfrik. Think of this as one of them 🙂

Today I want us to observe the life of Zacchaeus from an angle and as the spirit leads, we might further explore other angles to it.

And he ran on before, and climbed up into a sycomore tree to see Him: for He was to pass that way.” – Luke 19:4

Zacchaeus was a tax collector which means he was despised by both the Romans and the Jews as well. To make matters worse, he was a short man.

On a day when Jesus walking pass the street of Jericho, Zacchaeus sought to see Jesus. This was no biggie as everyone likes to see Jesus because they were curious about His being, but Zacchaeus didn’t just wanted to see, he wanted to identify with the Lord. He wanted what Jesus was giving – Salvation.

This man, Zacchaeus – I think – would have thought to himself, “this is my opportunity, i may not get a second chance,” but he had all the odds against him. Nobody liked him, add to the fact that he is a short man.

We often go through life making excuses for things we would have done different if we had more – more money, more education, more exposure, the list is endless but Zacchaeus despite all the odds against him, looked at what he had – a tree!

He knew he couldn’t ask for someone to carry him because he wanted to see Jesus, no one liked him, they won’t even give him the chance to walk through the crowd but he had the tree.

Have you ever considered how ridiculous it must have been for a rich despised man who is also short to climb a tree amidst onlookers? Zacchaeus didn’t care who saw what, he wanted to see Jesus and he wanted something from him and no ridicule can stand in the way of that.

Most times, we are too boxed up by what we cannot do because it seems abnormal that we miss out on what we should have gotten. mark this word, to get the miraculous, you have to be willing to do the ridiculous… like bathing in a dirty Jordan river, like embalming your eyes with sand and spit or like in the case of Zacchaeus, climbing a tree! You’ve gatta on that challenge and put in your best into it till you get what you are looking for – like Zacchaeus, don’t let words, mockery and the likes stop you from the plan and purpose of God for your life.

Zacchaeus was rich, he was the chief publican, he had a reputation to protect, yet he ridiculed himself, his short height adding more salt to the injury, and at the end got his Salvation. Jesus didn’t only gave him what he wanted but also became his friend! In a day, a stranger who just wanted to climb a tree to see Jesus was dinning with Him in his own house! I’m certain those who mocked him on the tree would have looked at him the next day with admiration.