Luke 19: 1-10
‘So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly’ (v. 6)
Our series begins up in a tree together with a small, unpopular man. Zacchaeus had climbed up the tree because he wanted to see Jesus and it must have gone beyond his wildest expectations when Jesus stopped and called him down. Jesus did not care about Zacchaeus reputation or even his doubtful morals. He did care about Zacchaeus and therefore invited to come to him.
Discipleship does not always begin by climbing down from a tree, but it always begins with God’s invitation to come to him. He meets us where we are, and without regard for who we are or what we have done he calls us to himself. This is grace. All that we have to do is to ‘climb down’ and accept God’s invitation.
Zacchaeus response went far beyond what the Jewish law demanded. The law said you had to give full compensation plus an extra fifth to anyone you had wronged (Num. 5: 5-7), but rather than 120% as required, Zacchaeus offered to give 400% to anyone he had cheated and in addition half of his possession to the poor ‘here and now’ (v. 8).
Following Jesus is not living by a rule book, grudgingly doing what is demanded. It is a love affair. We receive God’s unconditional love and naturally respond by loving him back. Zacchaeus did not offer 400% because he had to, but because he wanted to. God’s love had transformed his heart and will.
For such there is no law, other than the commandment to love the Lord our God with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind and all our strength, and to love our neighbour as ourselves (Mark 12: 30-31). But it begins with the gracious invitation from Jesus to come to him.
We love, because he loved us first (1. John 4:19).
To pray: Thank you Jesus for extending you invitation to me. Help me to love and follow you wholeheartedly every day.