This devotion pairs with this weekend’s Lutheran Hour sermon, which can be found at lutheranhour.org.
Growing up, I noticed my parents cared deeply about two kinds of relationships in our household. They cared about how I related to them, and how I related to my brother. Picture these relationships on a genealogical chart: my parents on top and me and my brother below. These two kinds of relationships are represented by the vertical line between parents and children and the horizontal line between siblings. Even now that we’re grown, my parents care about both lines. As much as they love visiting with me on the phone, they never tire of telling me, “Now, don’t forget to give your brother a call.”
This multi-dimensional concern seen in many families can help us solve a puzzle in our reading today. Luke may be focusing our attention on how Jesus restores Zacchaeus’ relationship with God, in that “vertical dimension.” Or Luke may be focusing on how Jesus is restoring Zacchaeus’ “horizontal” relationships with the people in his town, his brothers and sisters in the faith.
There is evidence for both views. Verse one says Zacchaeus was “seeking to see who Jesus was.” This is Zacchaeus’ first meeting with Jesus, God’s Son, whose mission it is to restore that broken vertical relationship with God. It’s Zacchaeus’ “come-to-Jesus” moment. However, Zacchaeus may already have saving faith in Jesus through the message he’s heard word-of-mouth through those tax collectors baptized by John, the forerunner of Jesus (see Luke 3), like how the centurion had faith in Jesus before he met him in person (see Luke 7). You and I have faith in Jesus through the testimony of others. Also, when Zacchaeus speaks to Jesus, it’s in the present tense, not the future. He doesn’t say, “Lord, I will give half of my goods to the poor,” but, “I give.” Zacchaeus may be explaining what he’s already started doing, as in, “Lord, when I heard that You’re the Messiah, the One we’ve been waiting for, I repented. And to bear fruit in keeping with repentance, I’ve started giving away my excess wealth to help my neighbors.”
These two possibilities raise questions about what Jesus means when He says, “Today salvation has come to this house.” Was Jesus primarily working vertically or horizontally? Was Zacchaeus lost because he was still pushing God away? Or was he lost because his faith family was still pushing him away? I’m not sure which is the focus here. But I am sure of this: Jesus cares about both, the vertical and the horizontal dimensions, restoring us to God and to each other.
WE PRAY: Jesus, by your Spirit, help us to love God, our Father, and to love our neighbors. Amen.
This Daily Devotion was written by Rev. Dr. Michael Zeigler, Speaker of The Lutheran Hour.
Reflection Questions:
1. Why is it difficult to separate parents’ concern for their children and their concern that their children get along with each other?
2. How do these insights from parental love help us understand God’s love?
3. Read 1 John 4:16-21. Whom is God calling you to love with words and deeds today?