Do You See What I See?

Published: September 22, 2014

By Elizabeth Johanna Thomas

We read in Luke 19:1-10

At that time, Jesus came to Jericho and intended to pass through the town.
Now a man there named Zacchaeus,
who was a chief tax collector and also a wealthy man,
was seeking to see who Jesus was;
but he could not see him because of the crowd,
for he was short in stature.
So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus,
who was about to pass that way.
When he reached the place, Jesus looked up and said,
"Zacchaeus, come down quickly,
for today I must stay at your house."
And he came down quickly and received him with joy.
When they all saw this, they began to grumble, saying,
"He has gone to stay at the house of a sinner."
But Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord,
"Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor,
and if I have extorted anything from anyone
I shall repay it four times over."
And Jesus said to him,
"Today salvation has come to this house
because this man too is a descendant of Abraham.
For the Son of Man has come to seek
and to save what was lost."

What a Gospel! Can you find all the hidden goodies within this reading? Can you find yourself especially in your life today? Here, I will help give clues.

First, are you having a "where are you God day—or dry desert type day?" Feel disconnected or feel like Jesus is passing you by?

Second, are you ‘short of stature?’ Cannot see above the crowded events of everyday life — or more importantly don’t want to try to rise up from busy life,tiredness, hohumness, etc etc etc? Who cares who is in town today, got things to do or shows to watch etc, etc, etc! Or have you just given up and think God doesn't care?

Third, what ‘tree’ is available for you to climb to find or see Jesus among the disorder and chaos of your world today? Are you even motivated to take the time and energy to go look and to find and even sit by that tree?

Fourth and most importantl, look at the response of our Lord to Zacchaeus effort to seek Jesus out. “I MUST STAY at your house TODAY! Zowie, Wowie and ALLELUJA! This is what happens when we seek, we find and we climb!

Enough said, go read and reflect. See if you see Jesus today!