Luke 19:1-10 

Jesus entered Jericho and was going through the town when a man whose name was Zacchaeus made his appearance; he was one of the senior tax collectors and a wealthy man. He was anxious to see what kind of man Jesus was, but he was too short and could not see him for the crowd; so he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to catch a glimpse of Jesus who was to pass that way. When Jesus reached the spot he looked up and spoke to him:

"Zacchaeus, come down. Hurry, because I must stay at your house today." And he hurried down and welcomed him joyfully. They all complained when they saw what was happening. “He has gone to stay at a sinner’s house” they said. But Zacchaeus stood his ground and said to the Lord, "Look, sir, I am going to give half of my property to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody I will pay him back four times the amount." And 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 has come to seek out and to save what was lost."  

Reflection

Zacchaeus may have been at the back of the crowd because he was one of the despised tax collectors, even though he was wealthy. He climbed the tree because the people in front of him were impeding his view, and he was “anxious to see what kind of man Jesus was”.   

Something much deeper than curiosity drove Zacchaeus to seek a view of Jesus. It was if he was drawn into climbing the tree by the proximity of Jesus, and a strong sense that this opportunity to see him must not be missed.  

The drawing power of Jesus which Zacchaeus experienced is present in our lives. “Believe the whisperings of God to your own heart” wrote the young Mary MacKillop, long before she became Mother Mary of the Cross. Those whisperings impelled Zacchaeus into the undignified act (for a wealthy man) of climbing a tree so that he could gaze upon Jesus.  

Every day God whispers to us, calling us deeper into relationship with him. Often we have what could be called the Zacchaeus problem. Between us and Jesus there are people who impede our view, distracting us and drowning out the gentle whispering of Jesus.  Some of these people may be close to us, others may be in our lives via radio, television or internet. Like Zacchaeus we may feel very small in relation to the crowd around us which somehow prevents us from reaching Jesus. Family, friends, workmates can be the crowd. So can people who lean on us for help, people who live distracted lives and people who constantly demand things of us.  

There is no doubt that part of following Jesus is meeting him in others, and serving him involves doing what we can for people in need. But our personal relationship with Jesus needs space in our lives, because it is at the core of discipleship. Like Zacchaeus we need a tree, or the equivalent of a tree, something which enables us to rise above the crowd and look directly at Jesus, and listen to him.  

Our tree might be a dedicated time each day when we retreat into a quiet space.  It might be the ten minutes before going to sleep or getting out of bed. It could be integrating a focus on Jesus into a walk we take regularly.  We might need to start by turning off the radio, ipod/ipad or television and learning to be comfortable with silence. 

Climbing a tree requires effort and making a tree-equivalent in our lives each day may initially require some effort, but the interaction with Jesus will change our day and our lives, as it did for Zacchaeus.