Why Did Jesus Stop?
Luke 19:1-10 NKJV
1 Then Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. 2 Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. 3 And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was going to pass that way. 5 And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to him, "Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house." 6 So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully. 7 But when they saw it, they all complained, saying, "He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner."
8 Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold."
9 And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; 10 for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost."
This is the story about Zacchaeus, the wee little man, and a wee little man was he. That's a Sunday School song that you just can't forget. It's a great story that begs the question: Why did Jesus stop and ask to stay at his house?
There are some things about Zac that are a big part of the story. He was a rich tax collector, a man despised by his community in Jericho. Because tax collectors worked for the Romans and often became rich by swindling their neighbors, they were in the most hated category of Jewish people. Jesus did not have the problem with the tax collectors that the rest of Israel did. And it was often the tax collectors who heard Jesus gladly.
Zacchaeus was a man who had a desire to see Jesus. And desire is big with God. In God's Kingdom, it's the hungry that get satisfied, and Zac was a hungry man. So hungry that he ran ahead of the crowd and climbed a tree in order to see Jesus. If you are a rich, powerful man, you typically are not the type to run anywhere. You have people run for you. Zac had a hunger and did not seem to care what people thought. He wanted to see Jesus.
He had obviously heard of Jesus. And maybe he heard that Jesus was not like the religious leaders of his city. That Jesus did not reject tax collectors. That Jesus worked miracles. We don't know all that Zacchaeus heard, but it stirred something up in him that money and power were unable to fulfill. Zac had a strong desire to see Jesus and was thrilled that Jesus stopped underneath his tree. It had to be the Holy Spirit that prompted Jesus to stop for this spiritually hungry tax collector and the same Spirit that revealed his name to Jesus. Remember, Jesus walked the earth as a sinless man empowered by the Holy Spirit. He was not all-knowing during His earthly ministry. So Jesus stopped and invited Himself to stay with Zacchaeus, who hurried down out of the tree to welcome Jesus into his home.
The acceptance by Jesus was monumental to Zacchaeus. The people complained that Jesus would enter the home of a sinner. Going into someone's home conveyed honor. Jesus honored the man who was hungry enough to climb a tree to see Him. And by doing what the religious leaders would not do, Jesus impacted Zacchaeus so much that the man was able to part with a good part of his fortune. Zac was willing to give away half his stuff to the poor and restore to those he had swindled. That would qualify as a serious life change. Jesus recognized a hungry heart, and His love for a rejected man changed the trajectory of Zacchaeus' life.
Application
Jesus still responds to hungry hearts. Those with spiritual hunger are those who have "ears to hear." Those who have a heart for God hear from Him and have their spiritual hunger filled. Those who don't care and are casual regarding the things of God don’treceive much. When Jesus was on the earth, those who pursued Him encountered Him. And it was Jesus Himself who said ask, and you'll receive, seek, and you'll find.
Prayer
Thank You, Lord, that You respond to spiritual hunger. It was the heart of Zacchaeus that caused You to stop, and You are still stopping for hungry hearts today. Count me as one of the hungry ones.