Digging Deeper: El Roi – The God Who Sees
1 Jesus entered Jericho and made his way through the town. 2 There was a man there named Zacchaeus. He was the chief tax collector in the region, and he had become very rich. 3 He tried to get a look at Jesus, but he was too short to see over the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree beside the road, for Jesus was going to pass that way. 5 When Jesus came by, he looked up at Zacchaeus and called him by name. “Zacchaeus!” he said. “Quick, come down! I must be a guest in your home today.” 6 Zacchaeus quickly climbed down and took Jesus to his house in great excitement and joy. 7 But the people were displeased. “He has gone to be the guest of a notorious sinner,” they grumbled. 8 Meanwhile, Zacchaeus stood before the Lord and said, “I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have cheated people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!” 9 Jesus responded, “Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.”
Luke 19:1-10 (NLT)
EL ROI: THE GOD WHO SEES
If you grew up in church, you may have learned a song that told the story of Zacchaeus. It went like this:
Zacchaeus was a wee, little man,
And a wee, little man was he.
He climbed up in a sycamore tree,
For the Lord he wanted to see.
And as the Savior came that way,
He looked up in the tree,
And he said, “Zacchaeus, you come down from that tree,”
For I’m going to your house today.
For I’m going to your house today.
Zacchaeus was a wee little man
But a happy man was he
For he had seen the Lord that day
And a happy man was he;
And a very happy man was he.
Although it is a great way to learn the story of Zacchaeus, it leaves out some key points about who Zacchaeus was. Luke 19:2 tells us that he was a chief tax collector and was rich. In those days, the tax collectors worked for the Roman government and collected the taxes demanded, but they were also allowed to collect what they wanted for themselves. As a chief tax collector, Zacchaeus would also get part of what other tax collectors had gathered. This structure set the stage for tax collectors to be immoral and highly disliked by the people. Zacchaeus was no exception, as verse 7 says the people called him a “notorious sinner.”
The story also tells us that Jesus sees Zacchaeus. He calls him by name – the notorious sinner, in a tree, separated from the crowd watching Him, as He travels through Jericho. From the very beginning, scripture reveals God as a seeker. After Adam and Eve sin, we see God calling out to Adam in Genesis 3:9, “Where are you?” Their sin is not deterring God from seeking them out. Later, in Genesis 16, we find Hagar running away from Abraham and Sarah, hiding in the wilderness, pregnant with Ishmael. An angel of the Lord finds her, and after that encounter she says, “You are the God who sees me.” (Genesis 3:13)
Jesus declares at the end of Zacchaeus’ story that He came to “seek and save the lost.” It takes intention to seek out those who don’t look like us, who don’t live or believe the way we do. It is much easier to gather and be around people that we know, that are like us, those we are comfortable with. Today, let’s ask God to show us who we need to seek out. Who needs to see a glimpse of Jesus through us? Ask God to open your eyes as you go about your day for the one person you can share His love with.
Bridget Turner serves as the Director of Women’s Groups at NorthStar Church. She and her husband, Steve, live in Powder Springs and have two young adult children, Hannah and Joshua. She enjoys watching football, traveling and reading.