Too Short

Luke 19 records the story of Zaccheus--the "wee little man--as we learned in our early years of Sunday School. To this day, I still am not sure why this story is so popular among children. Perhaps it is the fact that Zaccheus has interesting attributes that they can relate too. All I know is that I cannot read or think about this passage without reciting, "Zaccheus was a wee little man and a wee little man was he" in my head. Nonetheless, the passage holds a remarkable message.

Luke 19:3 says, "Zaccheus way trying to see who Jesus was, and was unable because of the crowd, for he was small in stature" (NASB).

Last night, I read chapter three of Timothy Keller's Counterfeit Gods. The chapter used this passage to illustrate how money has the power to enslave its possessor. While I learned a lot about the power and struggle of money, I also saw an interesting message in the text. Without trying to spiritualize the physical attributes of Zaccheus, I couldn't help but think of the fact that Zaccheus was both too short physically, and too short spiritually, to see Jesus. In order for Zaccheus to see Jesus, it took an incredible showing of grace on the Son of Man's part. This is what I believe the message is behind the story.

Sometimes, like Zaccheus, I think that we are "too short" to see Jesus. Our sin forces us to "not measure up" to God's standards.  Zaccheus may have experienced a vertical challenge that veiled his view of Jesus, but he also experienced a sin challenge as well. He was a tax collector and abused that power in his community. He loved money and this love brought poverty among his neighbors. Jesus was visiting his town and Zaccheus' sin stood in his way of really having the opportunity to see Jesus for who He was. That is, until Jesus opened his eyes (and heart!).

This is where the true message of the passage comes in. In 19:5, Jesus looks past everyone else in the crowd and looks into the tree and says, "Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your home" (NASB). This was considered heresy by the surrounding crowd. The text says, “When they saw it, they all began to grumble” (19:7). Zaccheus was the worst host anyone could imagine. He was a sinner! How could the Messiah go into a sinner's house?

The idea here is that "ultimately, it was not Zaccheus who asked Jesus into his life, but Jesus who asked Zaccheus into his" (Keller, 60). This, my friends, is a beautiful picture of God's grace. "When Zaccheus saw that Jesus had chosen the least virtuous person in the crowd--himself--for a personal relationship, his whole spiritual understanding began to change. He had begun to realize that God's salvation was by grace, not through moral achievement or performance" (Keller, 60-1).

Today, know that even though you are a sinner, Jesus desires to come into your house, (i.e., life). This speaks both of salvation and of sanctification. At the end of the passage, Jesus said, "Today salvation has come to this house" (19:9, NASB). The key word here is "has." Jesus didn't say, "will come," or "may come;" He said, "has come" "God's salvation does not come in response to a changed life. A changed life comes in response to the salvation, offered as a free gift" (Keller, 63).

Today, I encourage you to walk in the knowledge that you are saved by God's grace, and not on any of your own merits.