The Guest of Sinners—Luke 18:31-19:10 (NLT)

Taking the twelve disciples aside, Jesus said, “Listen, we’re going up to Jerusalem, where all the predictions of the prophets concerning the Son of Man will come true. He will be handed over to the Romans, and he will be mocked, treated shamefully, and spit upon. They will flog him with a whip and kill him, but on the third day he will rise again.” But they didn’t understand any of this. The significance of his words was hidden from them, and they failed to grasp what he was talking about. As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind beggar was sitting beside the road. When he heard the noise of a crowd going past, he asked what was happening. They told him that Jesus the Nazarene was going by. So he began shouting, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” “Be quiet!” the people in front yelled at him. But he only shouted louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” When Jesus heard him, he stopped and ordered that the man be brought to him. As the man came near, Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” “Lord,” he said, “I want to see!” And Jesus said, “All right, receive your sight! Your faith has healed you.” Instantly the man could see, and he followed Jesus, praising God. And all who saw it praised God, too. Jesus entered Jericho and made his way through the town. There was a man there named Zacchaeus. He was the chief tax collector in the region, and he had become very rich. He tried to get a look at Jesus, but he was too short to see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree beside the road, for Jesus was going to pass that way. 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.” Zacchaeus quickly climbed down and took Jesus to his house in great excitement and joy. But the people were displeased. “He has gone to be the guest of a notorious sinner,” they grumbled. 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!” Jesus responded, “Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.”

You can imagine that tax collectors in the time of Jesus are not well-liked to begin with. But if you’re a rich tax collector, well that’s even worse! Because it means you’re not just taking enough to satisfy the Romans, you’re taking extra to line your own pockets. So when Zacchaeus climbed that tree, the crowd didn’t see a wee little man whose persistence led to a meeting with Jesus. They saw a traitor. They saw a thief. And when we consider that, suddenly this story takes on a different tone.

We sometimes imagine that when we turn to Jesus, he looks back and sees those labels the rest of the world has given us. We think the worst things we’ve ever done, or the worst things that have happened to us, are just hanging on a sign around our necks. A sign that says traitor, thief, or tax collector. A sign that says divorced, incarcerated, or abandoned. A sign that says addicted, bankrupt, or abused. We turn to Jesus, hoping he’ll see past it all, but we’re afraid that these single moments, events, or decisions will define who we are in his eyes.

But the good news of this text is that when we finally go to the Lord, out of either desperation or curiosity, the God of all creation looks back at us, and he doesn’t see those signs. Or if he does, they don’t say what we imagine. Instead they say beloved. They say child of the one true King. They say bought with the precious blood of Christ. They say forgiven, redeemed, and free.

Because Jesus didn’t appear to celebrate the already righteous. He came to seek and save the lost and he came to heal the hurting. He came to transform us, and to give us new names. The names we were always meant to have.

So no matter who you are, and no matter what the world thinks about you, you are not beyond his grace. And you do not need to live in shame. Because when Jesus looks at you, he doesn’t see the labels that have been placed upon you, he sees someone worthy of his compassion and his presence. And he’s willing to say, I must stay with you tonight.

And that is good news. But it’s also a challenge. Because if we’re going to follow Jesus, that means we have to see other people as more than their labels too. We have to see them as more than sinners or saints, republicans or democrats, victims or addicts. We have to see every person as a beloved child who is worthy of our compassion and our presence. And that means we are called to become a part of other people’s lives especially when the rest of the world has already written them off.

But if we do that, we also have to accept that sometimes the crowds will see our mercy and start to grumble, just like they did for Jesus. The crowds will say how can you be friends with that person? How can you care for that person? How can you love that person? Don’t you know what they’ve done, how they’ve voted, or who they’re related to? Can’t you read the sign that’s hanging around their neck? They’ll say how could you be the guest of such a sinner? Don’t you know that she’s pregnant and we haven’t even graduated yet, don’t you know how many DUI’s he’s gotten, don’t you know that this is their third divorce?

The crowds will say that there’s no way you can love that person and still be a Christian. But Jesus says there’s know way you can be a Christian and not love that person. Because he hangs just one sign around their neck, and all it says is “Mine”.

Feel free to use whatever helps! And I pray that both your preparation and your preaching this week are a powerful reminder of God’s steadfast love for you.

Blessings, Alex