Make Haste and Come Down, Zacchaeus
by Ellen Hogarty
I’ve been reflecting on Zacchaeus in Luke 19:1-10. He “sought to see who Jesus was” but was too short and blocked by the crowds. So he ran ahead “and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him…”
I looked up an image of a sycamore tree in the Middle East. It’s actually a sycamore-fig in the ficus family, and it’s quite bushy. One could get lost and hidden in its branches.
Perhaps Zacchaeus just wanted to be an observer, a curious onlooker, while keeping Jesus at a distance. Maybe his hiding in the branches was a defense mechanism, keeping out of sight but still able to watch the action down below.
The tree he chose to climb was a sycamore-fig. Fig leaves are prickly, uncomfortable on the skin, and irritatingly scratchy. Adam and Eve sewed together fig leaves to cover themselves after the fall (Genesis 3:7), so this strikes me as an allusion to covering up our sin and shame.
But Jesus stops at “the place”, at the base of the tree. He sees through the leaves and branches and issues an invitation: “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down; for I must stay at your house today.”
Hear the Lord saying those words to you: “I must stay at your house today.”
So Zacchaeus hurries down and is “happy to welcome him.” Zacchaeus is out in the open now – literally and figuratively. He has nothing to hide behind, nothing to shield him from view. What motivates him? The Lord’s desire to lodge with him.
And that gives him the courage to face and own his spiritual poverty. No more hiding, ignoring, avoiding. Coming down from the tree into the glaring sunlight (Sonlight), Zacchaeus identifies right away what his main vice was. He didn’t have to do a long examination of conscience – he already knew. His conscience must have bothered him for years, but he was too swept up in the lure of riches and the power of his earthly position to do anything about it.
Now, emboldened by the unconditional, compelling love of Christ, Zacchaeus jumps right in and lives big. “Look, half of my possessions, Lord,” he immediately declares, “I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.”
Jesus responds, “Today salvation has come to this house.” Jesus is all about setting the captives free, and Zacchaeus has been set free. Pure grace, pure invitation, and Zacchaeus leaped at the opportunity and completely changed the direction of his life. (The Apostolic Constitutions later identify him as the first bishop of Caesarea!)
Jesus responds, “Today salvation has come to this house.”
An invitation to us
“Hurry and come down for I must stay at your house today,” Jesus is still saying to us.
The Lord is always after encounter and deeper union with us. That’s why we were created, and that’s what he knows will bring us joy and fulfillment.
But what prevents our deeper encounter with the Lord? Why do we shy away from him? Perhaps we ignore or hide our inner woundedness and feelings, and just try to get on with life. Maybe we make feeble attempts to “fix” ourselves, make ourselves presentable, put ourselves together – and that only makes us more miserable and wretched.
Let’s be encouraged by Zacchaeus’s journey out from the sycamore leaves. He was drawn by the love and invitation he saw in Jesus’ gaze. It allowed him to deal with what was burdening him and keeping him captive.
The journey down from the tree branches can be terrifying. But it is infinitely worth it as we are drawn into deeper intimacy and union with the Lord.
