Rev. Tyger Penson

I learned the story of Zacchaeus back in Sunday School. Remember the song? It went something like this:

Zacchaeus was a wee little man and a wee little man was he,
He climbed up in a sycamore tree for the Lord he wanted to see,
For the Lord he wanted to see.
"Help me, help me, sir," he said, “or the hunter will shoot me dead"
"Come, Little rabbit, come with me, safely to abide."

Wait, you say, you’ve mixed up two children’s songs! That is not the way the song goes! No, it’s not. But what about the story from Luke 19. Is there some truth in the above rendition?

Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. 3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.
5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.
7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”
8 But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”
9 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

Zacchaeus was in need of help. He was a chief tax collector and he was rich. That alone suggests that Zacchaeus had padded his pockets by overcharging and thus added to his regular income that which really did not belong to him. It well could be that inside his soul he was crying, “Help me, help me…or I’m going to be in big trouble.” So up a tree he was when Jesus came by. When Jesus sees him, he says, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.”

And there in his house, Zacchaeus not only recognized the source of his discontent but also heard Jesus say, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.” Sounds a lot like, “Little Zacchaeus, come inside, safely to abide with me.” I’ll probably never be able to sing those two songs without this thought in mind. But maybe, it is the best lesson we can take from them.

Prayer: Thank you, God, for helping me when I’m in a jam. Let me hear your voice calling me to come, telling me that you want to be part of my life, that you will keep me safe and true. Amen.

Song: “Into My Heart”
Into my heart, into my heart, come into my heart, Lord Jesus.
Come in today, come in to stay, come into my heart, Lord Jesus.