Luke
19:1-10
“All who saw it
began to grumble and said, ‘He has gone to be
the guest of one who is a sinner.’”
(Luke
19:7)
It was one of the first songs I
learned in Sunday School. Perhaps you
remember the text. “Zacchaeus was a wee little man and a wee
little man was he. He climbed up in the
sycamore tree for the Lord he wanted to see.
And as the Savior came that way he looked up in the tree. And he said,
‘Zacchaeus, you come down from there, for I’m going to your house today. For I’m
going to your house today.’”
The song was a great way to tell the
story of a small man’s encounter with Jesus.
What the song didn’t communicate, however, was the smallness of the crowd
who cared little for the transforming power of forgiveness. They grumbled because Jesus would go to the
house of a sinner. Perhaps more
troubling for them, he invited himself…he intentionally sought out this
sinner.
As a child I learned the words of a
song that taught a great story. As an adult, I continue to learn the
significance of forgiveness from that same great story. Jesus, you see, still seeks sinners… even
those some of us continue to grumble
about.
Prayer: Gracious God, thank you for the persevering,
intentional love and forgiveness of Jesus.
Amen.
Jim Abernathy
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