Luke 18:31-19:10

It’s pretty normal for me to have songs stuck in my head. Some stay for a moment; some for a day; others, off and on, for a week, or a season, or a year, or even my whole life. For example, around the time of my Dad’s memorial service, as we planned the service and then for months afterward, his hymn (which the choir sang), When You Cry for Comfort, was frequently in my head and on my lips.

This week, I have had last week’s choir anthem, In This Very Room, rattling around. And, as I studied our text for this morning, two more songs joined it: one from my days as a Sunday School student and another from childhood as well – from summer camp. First, the Sunday School song (feel free to sing along!):
Zacchaeus was a wee little man
And a wee little man was he.
He climbed up in a sycamore tree
The Savior for to see.
And as the Savior passed that way,
He looked up in the tree,
And he said, “Zacchaeus, you come down!”
For I’m coming to your house today
For I’m coming to your house today.

The camp song is “Blind Man,” otherwise known as “Show Me the Way,” and when I looked up the lyrics I found out that there were several other verses. We probably sang those at camp, too, but I usually have just the first verse and chorus running around in my head (again, feel free to sing along!):
Blind man stood by the road and he cried (x3)
He cried, oh, oh, oh,
Show me the way (x3)
The way to go home.

Musically, in my head and heart, this was a strange mash-up this week: In This Very Room, Zacchaeus, and Blind Man.

Before diving into the stories of the blind man by the roadside and of Zacchaeus, let’s take a look at those first few verses of our lesson today. Jesus and his disciples share a private moment, and he tells them what is about to happen in Jerusalem. This is not the first time he has said these things to the twelve; it’s the third time. He tells them that everything foretold by the prophets about the Son of Man is about to be fulfilled: he will be handed over to the Gentiles; and he will be mocked and insulted and spat upon. After they have flogged him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise again. But the disciples understood nothing – they did not grasp what he was saying.

It is tempting to think that, had we been there, we would have grasped Jesus’ meaning. But would we? After all, if we were there, we would not have all of the knowledge and experience that we now have regarding who Jesus was and is, and what happened. Would we really have grasped what he was saying? For reasons ranging from the emotional (we want our Jesus to be with us as our teacher and friend and not to die and leave us here) to the practical (people don’t rise from the dead… dead is dead), we would have a very hard time comprehending Jesus’ meaning were we to have been there. Let’s not knock the disciples for their lack of understanding.
The disciples don’t see clearly who Jesus is and what is happening. By contrast, the blind man (who doesn’t see, physically) sees better than others see. When he hears the large crowd coming by, he asks someone and hears that Jesus of Nazareth is passing by. Here is a man quietly begging for money by the roadside. He is rarely seen by others, at least not truly seen. People pass by him quickly, and he sometimes receives some money hastily dropped in his direction. He is not usually noticed. And he is not usually heard. Hearing about Jesus being nearby, he shouts, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” With those words, he is suddenly noticed. Jesus stands still and asks to have the man brought to him. I wonder whether the man had called out for help in the past and been ignored by passersby; I wonder whether Jesus had already noticed him before he called out. Our Lord sees us; our Lord notices us. And, as he did for the blind man, our Lord heals us.

And then there is Zacchaeus. He is a tax collector. He is an Israelite who works for the Roman government, collecting taxes from his countrymen. He, and others like him, are not popular. He, and others like him, have lined their own pockets with their neighbors’ hard-earned money. Zacchaeus thinks his stature is what is keeping him from seeing Jesus, when in fact it is what he has done that is keeping him from seeing Jesus. It is what he has done, and is doing, that is separating him from Jesus.

In crowds, shorter people are often encouraged to stand in front of taller people. If Zacchaeus was someone that people liked or respected even a little bit, then he would not have had to climb a tree to see Jesus. And yet, let’s give him credit for wanting to see Jesus so badly that he would actually climb a tree (something a grown man would usually not have let himself be seen doing).

What lengths do we go to in order to see Jesus? What lengths do we go to in order to see like Jesus sees? Jesus stands still and notices the blind man. He stands still and notices Zacchaeus. Jesus notices them, sees them as they are, loves them, and heals them. Jesus does not ignore them or walk on by.

I want to see, notice, heal, and love like Jesus does. I confess to you, my brothers and sisters, that most of the time, I do not. I pass by people, hastily dropping a few dollars in a cup, but I do not really see them or regard them as Jesus would. Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!

What lengths would we go to in order to see like Jesus sees, to love like Jesus loves? Would we cry out in public like the blind man? Would we climb a tree like Zacchaeus?

And having seen Jesus, having been seen by Jesus, what difference will that make in how we encounter others? Can we, like Zacchaeus, allow our time with Jesus to change us?

Think on these things.