Daily life journal entry continued: Zacchaeus.
Climbing a sycamore-fig tree is not as easy as it looks, especially when the tree flourishes with ripe fruit, a person has short legs, and is wearing a finely crafted suit that only great wealth can buy. I was unaware until this day that too much fragrance annoys the sinuses, and wasps are as territorial as a young man with an alluring lady. I endured because I was curious about this Jewish rabbi with a tax collector as a disciple, and yet able to attract and maintain such a large crowd over long distances (3-5).
I found a stable branch that offered a clear view of the approaching crowd. Finding the center of attention in a crowd is not hard unless the person is not what one expects. Jesus of Nazareth was such a man. He looked “like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.” (Isaiah 53:2) Curious; what is it that draws us, drew me to him? The anticipation to satisfy a hope for that which one had not been able to grasp even with great lifelong effort? Perhaps. Yes, I believe that was my reason.
Jesus started heading directly to my tree. When he reached the spot, he looked up and said to me, “Zacchaeus…” he used my name. Most people, no, no one called me by the name my parents gave me. Yet, Jesus called me by name. How did he know my name? He continued, “…come down immediately. I must stay at your house today (5)”. I was so shocked and excited that I practically fell out of the tree. I have never been elegant, and certainly was not so coming down that tree (6).
Continued in the next BDBD.
