The Day Jesus Invited Himself For Dinner
The Sycamore tree is a type of fig tree.
But it is much bigger than what we call the “common fig” tree. As children we
used to cut the skins of Sycamore figs with a razor blade while they were
green, and then come a few days later to eat them, otherwise they would not
taste nice. The fruit taste different from the “common fig” but can be just as
delicious.
Here is the story of Zacchaeus:
Luk
19:1 Then [Jesus] entered and passed through Jericho.
Luk
19:2 Now behold, [there was] a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief
tax collector, and he was rich.
Luk
19:3 And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of
the crowd, for he was of short stature.
Luk
19:4 So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him,
for He was going to pass that [way].
Luk
19:5 And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and
said to him, "Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay
at your house."
Luk 19:6 So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully.
Luk 19:6 So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully.
Luk
19:7 But when they saw [it], they all complained, saying, "He
has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner."
Luk
19:8 Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord, I
give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by
false accusation, I restore fourfold."
Luk
19:9 And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this
house, because he also is a son of Abraham;
Luk
19:10 "for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that
which was lost."
When I was about 12 years old we were living in a village in
the Nile Delta, called El-Santa. My father was the vet for this village and the
surrounding area. We were considered upper class in this village, even though
we were barely managing. My older two brothers were having lots of scuffles
with other teenagers during their high school years. The other teenagers
belonged to some wealthy families who had farms and real estate.
My father knew the police would not do anything and was at a
loss as to what to do.
Because my father was a bit of a poet, he used to be asked
to compose poetry for special occasions, such as the retirement of high ranking
government officials.
As a result of this he struck up a friendship with the
governor of our province. His position was considered to be a very high one. I
knew how high later.
My father shared with him the problem and the governor
decided not to talk to the police or pull any strings. He said to my father
that he would come to pay us a visit in our house. This would send a message to
every one to stop harassing my brothers.
Sure enough, some weeks later, the main street of our
village was cleaned. Everyone knew that the governor was coming to our house.
On the appointed day, early in the morning, people started to fill the main
street. They were on the roof tops. They filled the trees. Police were everywhere.
I could not believe my eyes. That day I asked myself, “Where did all these
people come from?” The whole population of our village would not account for a
fraction of the people there that day.
The news must have reached surrounding villages and the people
came to get a glimpse of the governor. When I looked from the balcony I could
only see people. The shops disappeared, the houses disappeared, just people,
people everywhere.
As I began to read the story of Zacchaeus some years later,
I remembered the scene of the governor’s visit. I always wondered how Jesus
managed to spot Zacchaeus amongst this sea of people. How and why did he single
out Zacchaeus? Everybody wanted to see Jesus.
I can assure you Zacchaeus was not the only one up this fig
tree. This kind of fig tree provided the best seats at that time, but to
Zacchaeus it came at a cost.
Have you tried to spot someone you know in a crowd? It is like that poster “Finding Wally. It is
difficult enough to spot someone you know in a crowd. How much more difficult
to spot someone you do not know!
When I looked from the balcony the day the governor visited
us, all I could see were faces. I knew many people in my small village, but I
could not see them.
It was many years later that I had my question answered. It
was about eight years before I read of another incident where another sea of
people was involved, yet Jesus noticed only one person:
Mar
5:25 Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years,
Mar
5:26 and had suffered many things from many physicians. She had
spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse.
Mar
5:27 When she heard about Jesus, she came behind [Him] in the crowd
and touched His garment.
Mar
5:28 For she said, "If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be
made well."
Mar
5:29 Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she
felt in [her] body that she was healed of the affliction.
Mar
5:30 And Jesus, immediately knowing in Himself that power had gone
out of Him, turned around in the crowd and said, "Who touched My
clothes?"
Mar
5:31 But His disciples said to Him, "You see the multitude
thronging You, and You say, 'Who touched Me?' "
Mar
5:32 And He looked around to see her who had done this thing.
Mar
5:33 But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had happened
to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth.
Mar
5:34 And He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you
well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction."
I would just like to quote the same incident as recorded by
Luke:
Luk
8:43 Now a woman, having a flow of blood for twelve years, who had
spent all her livelihood on physicians and could not be healed by any,
Luk
8:44 came from behind and touched the border of His garment. And
immediately her flow of blood stopped.
Luk
8:45 And Jesus said, "Who touched Me?" When all denied it,
Peter and those with him [fn]
said, "Master, the multitudes throng and press You, and You say, 'Who
touched Me?' " [fn]
Luk
8:46 But Jesus said, "Somebody touched Me, for I perceived
power going out from Me."
Luk
8:47 Now when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came
trembling; and falling down before Him, she declared to Him in the presence of
all the people the reason she had touched Him and how she was healed
immediately.
Luk
8:48 And He said to her, "Daughter, be of good cheer; your
faith has made you well. Go in peace."
This woman was healed before Jesus knew who she was or what
was wrong with her. Power went out of
Jesus to heal her.
So if I want to borrow the language used in the story of the
woman with the “bleeding problem”, and use it in the story of Zacchaeus, Jesus
would come near the Sycamore tree and stop and say to the disciples: “Someone
is looking at me.” And Peter and those with him would say to him: “Everybody is
looking at you!” But Jesus would say something like this: “Somebody is looking
at me because I feel a tug in my heart and it is pointing up there”. Then Jesus
would look to where Zacchaeus is. And Jesus told him to hurry up and come down.
But let me tell you this. Even if
Zacchaeus had not found a Sycamore tree to climb, but had stood on his toes
behind the crowd, wanting to see Jesus, Jesus would have called him still.
Jesus would have been drawn to that ‘beggar’ who wanted to know who Jesus
is.
As I was growing up in the Middle East,
I also wore the same dress Zacchaeus wore. It is a kind of long loose dress.
If you wore one of these and then tried to climb a tree you
would soon realize how difficult that is. To be able to climb a tree you have
to gather this loose dress and tuck it in your underpants, or tie it around
your waist in a knot or hold the end of it with your teeth. To do any of these
things, Zacchaeus had to expose part of his lower body.
It takes a great deal of humility to do that, to humiliate
himself in such a way in front of every one was not a small thing. Zacchaeus
did this before he could even climb one metre up the Sycamore tree.
But that is not all. As Zacchaeus climbed, he became more
and more visible to more and more people. Then he sat there waiting. Some
people must have laughed at the lengths he went to, just to have a look. To get
a better view of Jesus, Zacchaeus must have kept on creeping along toward the
end of the branch. Now he had the best seat in the house. It came at a cost.
But he thought Jesus was worth it.
Unlike a man called Nicodemus (John 3:1-21), who was a religious leader and went to see Jesus by night, so that no one would notice him, Zacchaeus made a spectacle of himself to see Jesus.
Zacchaeus put himself out on a limb, physically and
spiritually. Jesus noticed.
Jesus said to Zacchaeus: "Zacchaeus, make haste and
come down, for today I must stay at your house."
Jesus said “I must”.
It is the same word used in verse like Mat
16:21 From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many
things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be
raised the third day.”
Zacchaeus’ behaviour left Jesus no room but in his house.
Zacchaeus never dreamt of Jesus’ reaction, but this is how generous and
faithful God is. God is no man’s debtor. As it is written, “the affirmation of
Jehovah -- Far be it from Me! for he who is honouring Me, I honour” (1Sa 2:30)
YLT
And “For thus says the high and exalted One Who lives
forever, whose name is Holy, "I dwell on a high and holy place, and also
with the contrite and lowly of spirit in order to revive the spirit of the
lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.” (Isa 57:15)
NASB
And “The LORD [is] near to those who have a broken heart,
and saves such as have a contrite spirit.” Psa
34:18 NKJ
And "But to this one I will
look, to him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at
My word.” (Isa 66:2) NASB
When you see God you put yourself in dust
and ashes. When you put yourself in dust and ashes God sees you.
Dear reader, apparently Google does not allow comments on websites like mine.
However, if you email me your comments, I will publish them under this article.
Just click on my email address and type away. Thanks.
The
fig Farmer
abuhennah@gmail.com
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