“I See You”

1. Who was Zacchaeus?

Who am I? Who are you? Everyone has an identity. There are two sides to our identity. There is the Public Me and the Private Me. The Public Me is what others see and know about me, and what I allow them to see and know about me. The Private Me is the me that only I see and know. People close to me may see some of this private me, but there are parts of me that even they may not know. 

Who was Zacchaeus? He was a chief tax collector and a wealthy man. That was his identity, his public persona, his public me. The Romans appointed local tax collectors to gather the taxes from the peoples under their rule. Whatever they collected on top of what the required taxes, was theirs to keep. Zacchaeus was a chief tax collector and very wealthy. That means he was very good at his job, and very good at extorting, cheating and robbing his own people. Zacchaeus had a reputation. He was well known, but he was an outcast. The Jews rejected him because they considered him a traitor. He was a sinner. He turned against their religious traditions and was working for the enemy. He disowned his own people to work for Rome, and so they disowned him. 

I can imagine Zacchaeus in his public me being arrogant, harsh, without grace and compassion, having a thick skin. He must have been to have done what he did. The people hated him. But I can also imagine some of the hate and anger coming from envy and jealousy. Deep in their hearts, they wanted what he had. 

Zacchaeus’ Public Me was evident to all. The story does not tell us much about his Private Me. However, based on some hints in the story and what we know about people, we could make some guesses and assumptions about what was going on in his private me.

He may pretend to be above everything. He may seem content because he has everything. He has money and he is at the top of his career. But for Zacchaeus, the Private Me is probably a hurting guy. Remember, he was an outcast. That must have hurt, unless Zacchaeus was completely depraved and did not care at all, but he was not that as we see in the story. Also, he was a very short man. Just imagine how as a child, he was teased and bullied because of his physique and what impact that must have left on him. Perhaps that drove him into his career choice. And to make matters worse, Jewish theology at that time saw physical disability as punishment from God

The story does not tell us why Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus. Was he just curious? Or, perhaps he was hurting so much that he desperately wanted to be accepted and loved. Perhaps this Jesus, about whom he has heard so much, will love him and accept him. We don’t know. All we know is that he was seeking to see who Jesus was.

2. Jesus Sees Zacchaeus

Imagine Zacchaeus trying to push through the crowd, jumping up and down to see over them. The crowds were not very friendly as we see in Luke 18 when the blind beggar alongside the road called out to Jesus to heal him. They rebuked him and told him to be quiet. I can imagine how some people selfishly wanted, claimed Jesus all for themselves, wanted to have all his attention on them. 

And when they looked around and down to see who was pushing from behind and saw who it was, they thought, “Oh, it’s that short tax collector. He does not deserve or need Jesus. He is unclean, a sinner. Let’s keep him away from Jesus.” And they intentionally blocked Zacchaeus from seeing Jesus. 

He ran ahead and climbed up into the tree to see him. The crowd of people was moving through the town and Jesus was in the middle of it all. The people were pressing in around him, asking questions, talking to him. Jesus’ attention was all on the crowd and his destiny in Jerusalem. He is focused on his mission and ministry. 

But when they came to the tree Jesus stopped, looked up, and called out to him by name. Jesus saw the man Zacchaeus. He looked him in the eyes and saw right into his heart. Jesus saw his public me and his private me, and he knew everything about Zacchaeus, all that he did for a living, all he had done to others, all that others had done to him, all his hurt and pain. When Jesus stopped, looked up, and said, “Zacchaeus” he in effect said, “I see you. I know you.”  

Jesus told him to come down because he must stay at his house. Jesus was no longer just passing through Jericho, and he was not just dropping for coffee or tea. He was going to stay, abide. He accepted his hospitality and entered his house, and by doing so Jesus was saying, “I affirm all that you are. Your reputation can become my reputation. What you’re known for, I will be known for, because in coming under your roof, I’m coming under you. I accept you. I love you. I want to be your friend.” He didn’t say, “You must first change, become like this, then I will enter your house.”

Zacchaeus came down quickly. I can see him kind of climbing, falling out of the tree in his hurry to receive Jesus joyfully in his house. 

Look at the contrast between Jesus and the crowd. The crowd saw Zacchaeus. They saw only skin-deep, only the public me, made no effort to know him, and rejected him. Jesus saw Zacchaeus, all of him. He sees all the way deep into his heart, accepts him anyway, entered and stayed in his house.

3. Zacchaeus Saved

And at the house, what an incredible, wonderful transformation. What happened? Jesus goes straight for the heart, our core beliefs. Our core beliefs are the things we believe about God, about ourselves, about others, and the world. It is how we see ourselves. These core beliefs shape our identity, both our public me and our private me. But many times many of these beliefs are based on lies. 

Zacchaeus lived out the lies he believed about himself. Perhaps his core beliefs looked something like this — “There is something wrong with me. God made me short. God has judged me. God is angry with me because of the choices I have made and the person I am. He is punishing me. I am too bad to be saved. There is no hope for me.” What are your core beliefs about yourself?

When we encounter Jesus, he looks into our hearts, and says, “I see you. I know you. I accept you. I love you. I save you.” When that happens, truth happens. The lies in our hearts are exposed. The truth spoken by God replaces the lies. Our hearts, our core beliefs are changed. We have a new identity—Christ-in-Me. It’s no longer about my public or private me, but all about Jesus and Me together in a loving relationship. When Jesus pours out his love and grace into our hearts, our hearts are changed, and out of our transformed hearts flows changed behavior, changed lives. That is why Zacchaeus could do what he did. He experienced grace and now he gives grace away. We who have experienced grace now give grace away.

4. Jesus Stands At Your Tree

But to live out grace, we must live in grace. Have you experienced grace? Are you living in grace?

Jesus is standing at your tree, looking up and into your eyes, calling your name. He says, “I see you. I know you. I accept you. I love you. I save you.” What are you going to do? Stay in your tree? Or are you going to come down quickly, and receive Jesus into your house, into your life? 

“I see you.” Allow yourself to be seen by God. He already knows it all. God has been there all the time. He has seen it all. He knows more about our stuff and issues than we do. He has seen the hurts you have caused and the hurts done to you. He has seen the way you have broken His heart, and the way others have broken your heart. There is nothing we can hide from him. “I know you.” Have you allowed that truth to sink in, to feel it, experience it?

Knowing everything Jesus still says, “I accept you. I love you.” Allow him into your house, your life. He wants to stay with you, in you. Accept Jesus’ friendship. He is a true friend. He knows everything about you but still accepts you and wants to be with you because He loves you. He says, “I know you. I made you. Your name is Chosen, Faithful, Worthy, Loved. Look at who I made you to be.”

He says, “I save you. I forgive you. I heal you.” God doesn’t just forgive your sin. He forgives the fact that you are a sinner. He says, “I know who I made you to be and, with My help, we are going to move into that direction. You are my beloved child.” Receive his forgiveness and live in that grace so that you can live out grace, give grace away.

Jesus is standing at your tree. He says, “I see you. Come down. I must stay in your house. I want to live in you, be with you.” What are you going to do?