by Justin Morton
Have you ever gone somewhere, maybe like a restaurant for dinner, and when you got there, you found a large crowd of people waiting for the same thing? What did you do at that moment? Some of you may have put your name on the waiting list and stayed. Others may have asked to see what everyone in your group wanted to do. However, many of us, probably had the exact same reaction—when we saw the crowd of people waiting to get in, we turned around and went somewhere else for dinner. We did not want to deal with the crowd.
Zacchaeus, a wee little man, who also happened to be a tax collector, had his life forever changed one day because he was not willing to allow a crowd and all the distractions that probably came with it, to keep him from seeing Jesus (Luke 19:1-10). The easy thing for Zacchaeus to do would have been to turn around and go home. Why fight the crowd? He wouldn’t be able to see Jesus anyway. Not to mention that when people saw it was Zacchaeus trying to push through the masses, they may not have treated him very kindly.
Can you picture Zacchaeus struggling to get through the large crowd, facing elbows and perhaps insults because of his reputation as a tax collector? Despite the multitude and potential hostility he might have faced, Zacchaeus didn’t give up in his pursuit of seeing Jesus. Instead, he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree, refusing to let the crowd keep him away.
Too often we allow others to distract us from getting to Jesus. We might think if others are not following Jesus, why should we follow Him? We sometimes allow ourselves to become so concerned with what other people might think about us following Jesus, that we decide it’s not worth facing the crowd. Zacchaeus sets a great example for us today. Let’s learn from Zacchaeus and not allow the crowd to keep us from Jesus.
That day Zacchaeus could have been easily discouraged and quit. After all, getting close to Jesus was difficult. Instead of turning away, he ran ahead of the crowd, and Jesus found him and went home with Zacchaeus. Although we do not know what was said during their time together, Zacchaeus proved to be a changed man after meeting Jesus that day (Luke 19:8).
Perhaps it is time you and I stop allowing the crowd to keep us from following Jesus. If we will come to Jesus and not allow ourselves to be distracted by the crowd, we will have an encounter with Jesus that will change our lives. Zacchaeus met Jesus with an open heart and look what happened to him. What might Jesus be able to do in our own lives if we allow ourselves to move beyond the crowd?