Jesus Stopped
John Maniatty

“And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house. ‘And he hurried and came down, and received Him gladly.” Luke 19:5-6

What a thrill it must have been for Zaccheus to have Jesus purposefully and knowingly spot him, call him out, and invite Himself to his house! 2 Chronicles 16:9 says: “For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that he may strongly support those whose heart is completely His.”

Just like He did for Bartimaeus, Jesus stopped to meet Zaccheus. Were these men “interrupting” Jesus and preventing Him from doing what was really important? Were the children who were coming to see and be with Jesus bothering Him? No way! There was nothing more important to Jesus than ministering the love and compassion of His Father to people. What a thrill it must have been for Jesus to know that Bart and Zack were doing everything in their power to see Him. How it must have rejoiced His heart to have those precious young ones unashamedly come to Him, while those who should have
recognized Him refused.

Jesus had not only a word of knowledge for Zaccheus (He knew his name and called him by it), but He also had a word of relational desire for him (“Hey, man, I wanna come over to your house and spend some time with you today!”)

Am I seeking Jesus so intensely, and am I so earnest in my desire for Him that I will climb a tree, or cry out in the midst of a hostile crowd, or do whatever it takes to see Him? Am I so ready to rejoice and wholeheartedly say yes when Jesus says, “Martin, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house?” Should this not be everyday?

agape,
---john