Ripe for the Picking
Jesus reads souls. He sees the first stirrings of repentance. He knows when a lost son starts heading home. He senses when a rich person becomes weary of ill-gotten wealth and his own corrupt heart. That’s why Jesus stops, looks up into a tree, and invites himself to lunch at Zacchaeus’ house. Zacchaeus seems an unlikely choice for Jesus’ attention. The man is a chief tax collector, making himself wealthy by working with the Roman authorities and overcharging his fellow Jews for the required taxes. He has other collectors working under him, increasing his wealth by expanding his corrupt influence to his employees. He is rich and influential, but his countrymen despise him. Oddly enough, Zacchaeus has developed a curiosity about Jesus. Who is this person who heals people and blasts religious hypocrisy? Perhaps someone has told him Jesus’ parable about the Pharisee and the tax collector at prayer. The Pharisee exalts himself as he prays; the tax collector asks only fo...