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Jesus and Zacchaeus: Luke 19.1–9 (Day 339)

Our daily reflections follow the M'Cheyne Bible reading plan, designed for those who want to read the whole Bible in one year. Each reflection focuses on one of the chapters from that day's readings. Darllenwch rhain yn Gymraeg.

Pray

Pray

Lord, open my ears to hear what you have to say to me; open my heart to love your word, and open my mind to understand your truth.

Reflect

Daily reflection: Luke 19

We find ourselves in a very wealthy and important town, Jericho. It had a great palm forest and world-famous balsam groves. Its gardens of roses were known far and wide. All this combined to make Jericho one of the greatest taxation centres in Palestine. Zacchaeus was a man who had reached the top of his profession as a tax collector, and he was the most hated man in the district.

Zacchaeus was wealthy but not happy; his job saw to that. He had heard that Jesus welcomed tax collectors, so was there hope for some sort of connection with him? The position of a small man who could not see easily was made even more difficult by the crowds. They must have taken pleasure in it. So he climbs a sycamore fig tree to get a good position. Jesus sees him and tells him he's coming to his house – not the reaction most people would have predicted.

I find that Jesus consistently surprises me by how he reacts to situations. Maybe there were many people in that crowd who felt taken advantage of by Zacchaeus. There were many who would have wanted him to be publicly ridiculed – yet Jesus reaches out. The result is a complete turnaround – Zacchaeus takes steps to show all the community that he was a changed man. I am pondering today who I may need to reach out to. Maybe I made a judgement on someone but Jesus is looking to change their lives.

Pray

Pray

Dear God, I pray that you would enable me to show the mercy to others that you have shown me. Please bring to my mind those I have written off and help me to reach out. Amen.


Nigel Langford is Bible Society's Head of Church Relations

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