Luke 19:1-10

Laterally Luke…Pentecost + 21…New 2019

Why is it Jesus & tax / toll collectors have such an affinity with each other? I wonder if it's because they are transparent to each other in a way that’s earthly & spiritual at the same time? Can Jesus see through the tough exteriors their job demands, to better possibilities beneath the surface? And, can they see through this not-so-simple Rabbi to at least a glimmer of the Truth that lies beneath His surface?

When Z climbs up into that Fig tree to get a better look at Jesus he goes up a small man & not only physically. But when Jesus calls him down, Z shins down his tree, a much bigger person than he was when he climbs up into it. The kind of person he was always meant to be, and, all of us are meant to be, too. Jesus call us all to come down from our hiding places among the branches & leaves of the various trees of life & be-come whom we were always meant to be & God is always calling us down to be? Shades of Adam & Eve? Could Z’s Fig tree join the Palm among other more familiar symbols of our Faith?

Sitting / hiding up in his tree peering down, watching what’s going on  - out on a limb, wanting to relate, but longing, lone & lost, does Z represent anyone we know? What about you & me? Now’s the time to shin down! Not just for Z, but for all of us?

No matter how often we come up to the Temple to pray, & how often or earnestly we confess our sins & receive forgiveness, we have to make the kind of break with our past Z makes. Having Jesus face us down into the open, out of our various Fig trees, confronts us with the fact we all, every one of us, needs to let God change us into the person He needs us to be.  And in calling us down, encourages us, & enables us to be.

If salvation, in any of its biblical expressions, is to come to our house today, we need to come down from our gum trees to ground level; from being lost to being found; & to making reparation, restitution (there's the rub) that is always part of the ‘deal’. 

Brian 

Afterthought: Do you remember ever singing the ‘chorus’ ‘Zaccheus was a very little man…’ in SS., or maybe at a church camp? It captures the essence of what’s going on here today. (If it doesn’t ring a bell, it may be worth going on line & joining in!) Z’s story, though, is ‘not for kids’, but very much for adults. Full of rich imagery of discipleship to explore.