5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.
7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.” (Luke 19:5-7 ESV)
Zacchaeus was a tax collector, one of the most hated individuals in this period and society. Mainly because Zacchaeus, like most if not all tax collectors then, defrauded people and took some of the money they collected for themselves.
Thus, when Jesus came through and told Zacchaeus that he was coming to his home, people were indignant. How could this seemingly holy man go and associate with such a low life. Especially in the Jewish society no holy man would ever be seen associating with such people, this was unheard of.
Well, luckily, Jesus came for all the low life’s!
Other places when confronted with similar indignation Jesus taught that a physician does not come to heal the healthy but the sick. The Jewish leaders were trying to put Jesus in the box they lived in and He would have none of it. In fact, more than just about anything that rubbed them wrong was how Jesus seemed to counter everything they stood for. What they did not realize was that He the fulfillment of ages old prophecy but not in a way they expected.
Our expectations often get in the way and we can become indignant to what God is showing us in our low life. How can we hope to change if this is our attitude if we do not relinquish our expectations and open ourselves to what God is showing us and where He is leading. Only then can we hope to escape our low life.
