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FEBRUARY 6
HURRY AND COME DOWN
“(Zacchaeus) was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd
he could not, because he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed
a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. When
Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, ‘Zacchaeus, hurry
and come down; for I must stay at your house today.’” (Lk 19: 3-5)
Zacchaeus is a rich tax-collector, which means he led a corrupt life
and became rich by corrupt means. But he makes this small effort to
see Christ, by – rather awkwardly – climbing up a tree. And then Jesus
unexpectedly rewards Zacchaeus’s awkward effort, telling him to come
down, because He wants to visit the corrupt tax-collector’s house.
I also make some efforts, often awkward ones, to get a glimpse of Christ.
And I know, frankly, that my life isn’t what it should be, and that these
“efforts” aren’t what they should be either. I don’t pray nor read the word
of God nearly enough.
Nonetheless, the little I do can make me feel like I’ve “climbed” a bit
higher, above the heads of other people.
Today let me hear the Lord’s loving and unexpected voice, telling me to
“hurry and come down.” Otherwise, perched as I awkwardly am, in my
little tree, I can’t greet Him in my house. He needs my feet planted firmly
on the ground of humility, as His were, so He can break bread with me.
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