Children Love To Climb Trees
What God Sees
A Tale of Two Hearts:
Jesus tells a parable to those
“who were confident of their own righteousness.” Luke 18:9–14,
He contrasts the prayers of two men at the temple:
The Pharisee stands up and prays about himself thanking God for his own goodness:
“God, I thank you that I am not like other people
Robbers
Evildoers
Adulterers
Even like this tax collector.
I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’” Luke 18:11–12 (NIV)
The tax collector stands at a distance looking at his feet and hitting his chest simply says:
“God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”Luke 18:13
Jesus’ conclusion shocks the religious elite:
“This man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” Luke 18:14
God sees the heart—not appearances, titles, or status.
The Living Parable: Zacchaeus
Then in the very next chapter, Luke 19, we meet Zacchaeus, a real-life tax collector, despised by the people, yet longing to see Jesus.
Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” Luke 18:17
Zacchaeus was short in stature and in child-like humility, he ran ahead and climbed a tree just to see Jesus.
Zacchaeus though not called a child, short stature, and humble eagerness reflected the very childlike heart. (Luke 19:1–10)
He climbs a tree to see Jesus who sees him, stops, and says:
“Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.”
The crowd grumbles:
“He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”
But Zacchaeus responds with repentance and generosity, and Jesus declares:
“Today salvation has come to this house… For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”
From Teaching to Transformation
Jesus is modeling in Zacchaeus response what He taught in the parable.
The tax collector in the story was a type.
Zacchaeus in the street is the reality.
It’s as if Jesus is saying to the disciples:
“You heard the story—now watch the story walk.”
He was preparing their hearts to see what God sees:
• Not status and reputation but repentance and humility
• Not what people say about someone, but what God is doing within them
• Who have we written off as beyond hope?
• Are we willing to see people through God’s eyes?
• Are we ready to rejoice when the “wrong” person is shown grace?
Brilliant observation! Jesus came to reveal the Father’s heart. He did it beautifully in words and demonstration - for the disciples then and now, until He comes again. Every time He ministered to someone during His time in the flesh, it was both for that person, the observers, and us an example to follow. I see something similar in the sequence of John 3 & 4. Back to back stories of Nicodemus, the Pharisee, with the woman at the well in John 4. The prestigious, educated, law abiding man, who should have had no difficulty in recognizing the Messiah, was a skeptic. The “loose” woman, full of shame, almost immediately grasped His true identity. Not only that, she was the first evangelist, starting with her own town! He taught and lived His statement, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but the sinners.” Mk. 2:17 Thanks for pointing out to me yet another example of Jesus’ powerful teaching style.