Part 2: He was trying to see Jesus.

By: Carole L. Haines

In my last post we spoke of Herod, who kept trying to see Jesus. But even when Jesus was standing right in front of him, Herod couldn’t really see Him. Herod sought Jesus only out of morbid curiosity, not in a heartfelt need for a Savior. There was a different man, who was seeking Jesus in a different manner than Herod. This man was Zaccheus.

Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. ² And there was a man called by the name of Zaccheus; he was a chief tax collector and he was rich. ³ Zaccheus was trying to see who Jesus was, and he was unable due to the crowd, because he was short in stature. ⁴ So he ran on ahead and climbed up a sycamore tree in order to see Him, because He was about to pass through that way. ⁵ And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, “Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” ⁶ And he hurried and came down, and received Him joyfully.
 ⁷ When the people saw this, they all began to complain, saying, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner!” ⁸ But Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I am giving to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone, I am giving back four times as much.” ⁹ And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham. ¹⁰ For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Luke 19:1-10)

Zaccheus had no idea that today was the day of His salvation, yet in his heart He was seeking the Savior. Zaccheus knew he was a sinner in need of a Savior, his curiosity about Jesus was from a heart that was seeking a Savior. This is the only way that Jesus can truly be found. God’s Word tells us this:

“. ¹² Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you ¹³ You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. ¹⁴ I will be found by you.”  
¹¹ For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope (Jeremiah 29:12-14a, 11)

Now I took the verses and switched the order because we are so used to hearing vs. 11, about God’s plans for us, but we miss the context of how to walk in that promise.

We are to call upon Him, come and pray to Him. As we do God promises to listen to us. If we seek Him, we will find Him; but we can’t be just a bit curious, we must seek Him with all our heart. When we do, as Zaccheus did, God will be found by us. I believe that Jesus knew this was in the heart of Zaccheus as He walked under the tree he had climbed. And He senses what is in our hearts as well.

 ⁷ When the people saw this, they all began to complain, saying, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner!” 

The heart Jesus is looking for is the heart of those of us who know we are sinners. Jesus can be the guest in our homes only when our hearts seek Him fully convinced of our own sinfulness and our deep need of a Savior. And there is no other name under heaven by which we can be saved, only the Name of Jesus. So let us seek Him and be found by Him because we seek Him with all our hearts.