The beauty of the Zacchaeus story?

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<p>Zacchaeus had so much baggage working against him.<br>He was a tax collector. That means he worked for the Romans and anyone working for the Romans was a traitor to his people, the Jewish race. It didn't help that he had become wealthy collecting tax. That meant he was enriched by betraying his people and if you know anything about the Jewish people then, it was a society that easily condemned and ostracised its people. We can call him a pariah.</p>

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<p>But here comes Jesus passing through his town but Zacchaeus can't see Jesus because he is too short. What does he do? He climbs a tree to see Jesus. He just wanted to see who he was.</p>

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<p>Here's where the story becomes beautiful.</p>

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<p>"When Jesus came by, he looked up at Zacchaeus and called him by name. “Zacchaeus!” he said. “Quick, come down! I must be a guest in your home today.”<br>Luke 19:5 NLT</p>

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<p>Jesus, being God was surrounded by a bunch of people but even then, He heard the voice of the man who had climbed up the tree to look at him. Zacchaeus didn't say anything else. He just wanted to look and sometimes that is enough.</p>

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<p>In doing this, He was teaching us a vital lesson - even if the 8 billion people in the world surrounded Him, He would still hear your heart beat and call out to you.</p>

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<p>We can also look at it this way: in church today, we might see a lot of highly spiritual people and think they are closer to God than we are. This story tells us that Jesus hears the cry in our heart and He is calling out to us.</p>

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<p>Note: Jesus knows you personally and He intimately knows the voice of your heart. This longing and curiousity that you have about God are the sweetest things to Him. Don't stop longing for Him. He loves it.</p>

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<p>Thoughts? Comments? Questions?</p>

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