Luke 19:1-10

19 He entered Jericho and was passing through it. ² A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was rich. ³ He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. ⁴ So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. ⁵ When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.” ⁶ So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. ⁷ All who saw it began to grumble and said, “He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.” ⁸ Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.” ⁹ Then 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 came to seek out and to save the lost.”

This story is only recorded in Luke’s gospel. (It is one of the many stories about Jesus reaching out to those who were on the margins of the proper religious circles.) As we read about Jesus stopping to single out Zacchaeus, we might have some questions:

• I wonder why Zacchaeus was so interested in seeing Jesus?
• I wonder how Zacchaeus felt when he heard Jesus call him by name?
• I wonder how good it feels to share joy in your own life by sharing your possessions to bring others joy?

Prayer

God, let me listen for Jesus to call me by name today.  And let me share the joy of knowing Jesus in what I say and do today. Amen.