Kevin Greene is a former linebacker who played in the National Football League for 15 years. Greene retired after the 1999 NFL season and ranks third among all-time sack leaders, leading the NFL twice in that category. As a result, he was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2016.
Maybe one reason Greene was so successful was the support of his wife, Tara. From 1992 to 1996, while Greene was with the Pittsburgh Steelers we’re told that 30 minutes before kickoff of each home game Greene would seek out Tara at her usual seat at the 30 yard line for her to give him a quick beating—fists only—and her usual fight talk: “Rack ’em, sack ’em, crack ’em, frack ’em!” (1) Only in professional sports would a wife show her support by beating her husband with her fists. Or maybe it was the “rack ’em, sack ’em, crack ’em, frack ’em” that did it.
By a show of hands, how many of you would call yourself a fan of some kind? Could be a sports fan. Could be a fan of some music group, or of an actor or actress. But you are enthusiastic enough about their activities that you could be labeled a fan.
Now, how many of you would call yourself a super-fan? What separates a super-fan from a fan? Super-fans are people who will do some pretty extreme things to express their enthusiasm. They’ll stand in line for hours to buy tickets to a major concert. They’ll paint their face in the team’s colors for the game. Super-fans put in the extra effort—some would say extreme extra effort—to show their support for a person or a team. Let me give you an example of a super fan.
Ali Demirkaya is a Turkish soccer super-fan who was barred from attending any games at his local soccer stadium for twelve months because of his extreme behavior. Did this impede Ali from watching his favorite team? No-o-o! Ali was so determined to cheer on his team that he rented a crane with a bucket which he would park outside the gates of the stadium. On game days, this Ali climbed up into the crane’s bucket and watched the games from high above the stands. (2) Now there’s a super-fan. Maybe someone in this room today is a super fan or at least is married to a super fan.
I wouldn’t call Zacchaeus a super-fan of Jesus, but there had to be some reason that he climbed a tree to get a glimpse of him. Maybe Zacchaeus just had a super-need. Jesus was passing through Jericho on his way to Jerusalem. A large crowd gathered to see him, this man who did miracles and healed diseases and taught with authority about the kingdom of God. This show of curiosity and support was just a taste of what Jesus would experience when he got to Jerusalem. In Jerusalem, people would line the streets and shout for joy and treat Jesus like visiting royalty. Such events, of course, can be misinterpreted.
It reminds me of the story of a rookie police officer who was assigned to ride in a cruiser with an experienced partner. A call came over the police radio telling them to disperse some people who were loitering on a certain street.
The officers drove to the street and observed a small crowd standing on a corner. The rookie rolled down his window and said, “Get off the corner.”
No one moved, so he barked again, “Get off the corner!”
Intimidated, the group of people began to leave, casting puzzled glances in his direction. Proud of his first official act, the young policeman turned to his partner and asked, “Well, how did I do?”
“Pretty good,” replied the veteran, “especially since this is a bus stop.” (3)
By now, Jesus was accustomed to having crowds follow him and stare at him and ask him for things. And the crowds would reach their peak when he entered Jerusalem. And then, within a week of his entry into Jerusalem, Jesus would be arrested, put on trial, tortured, and crucified. And all the crowds would disappear. All the fickle fans would turn against him. Even his disciples would leave him alone at that point. So this moment with Zacchaeus is the last moment of personal, face-to-face ministry we see Jesus do in the Book of Luke. So why did Jesus choose this man at this moment? What do we learn about God from this encounter?
One thing we learn from Zacchaeus’ story is you never know who is looking for Jesus. Sometimes you will be surprised. Zacchaeus was a despised tax collector. He was the lowest of the low in the eyes of most Jews. Yet there he was in a tree gazing at the Master. You never know who might be searching for Jesus. Let me give you an example.
At the height of his worldwide fame, rock musician Alice Cooper’s life was out of control. He drank a bottle of whiskey a day. And the bottle almost destroyed his marriage to Sheryl, his wife of 25 years. So Alice Cooper started heading off to church with Sheryl every Sunday, and before long he felt as if God was speaking to him. And Cooper made an amazing change.
Now a believer, Cooper takes the opportunity to speak to curious fellow musicians about the change that has taken place in his life.
“I have talked to some big stars about this, some really horrific characters, and you’d be surprised,” he says. “The ones that you would think are the farthest gone are the ones that are the most apt to listen.” (4)
That’s interesting, don’t you think? “The ones that you would think are the farthest gone are the ones that are most apt to listen.” The most unlikely people may be searching for the hope only Jesus can provide.
Zacchaeus was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. Tax collectors worked as representatives of the oppressive Roman government. Not only did they collect taxes from Rome’s reluctant citizens, they were allowed to add a surcharge to each person’s tax—and they could set the surcharge as high as they could get away with. So tax collectors earned a reputation for being greedy extortionists and traitors to the Jewish people. Because of Zacchaeus’ profession, he was barred from attending the local synagogue.
Pastor Brian Bell tells of a time in his younger years when he followed in Zacchaeus’ footsteps. He worked as a parking lot attendant. He got paid an hourly wage plus tips. Each attendant was supposed to turn over his tips to the parking lot owner each night.
But since no one was watching them, Brian and a few of the attendants only gave back a tiny portion of the tips and kept most of them for themselves. The parking lot owner didn’t know that he was being cheated.
But then Brian became a Christian. Suddenly he couldn’t keep cheating his boss. He began turning over all his tips each night. Now Brian’s co-workers were furious with him because they couldn’t explain why Brian was turning in large tips while they were turning in measly amounts. Brian’s newfound faith in Jesus came with financial and relational costs, but he never considered cheating anyone again since that day. (5)
Disillusionment is God’s great gift to us because it forces us to notice the “God-shaped hole” that comfort and wealth and all other blessings simply can’t fill. There’s a good chance that at some point in your life you will ache to know the Giver of life more than you ache to receive the gifts of life. I think that’s where Zacchaeus was at this point. You never know who is looking for Jesus.
But you do know who Jesus is looking for, don’t you? That’s our second point. You never know who is looking for Jesus, but you do know who Jesus is looking for. If you’ve read even a little bit of the New Testament, you don’t have to guess who Jesus is looking for. He’s looking for you. And me. And him. And her. And them. And Zacchaeus. He’s searching for every sinner you can possibly imagine. Look at what Jesus says to Zacchaeus in verses 5 and 10 in this passage. In verse five, Jesus looks up into the tree and says, “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.”
Out of all the people in the crowd that day, Zacchaeus was a flagrant sinner and an outcast in the Jewish community, and he’s the very person the Messiah, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, MUST hang out with. Why is that? Jesus says right there in verse 10, “. . . for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
An Episcopal priest with a sense of humor had a special tee shirt designed. In three of the four Gospels—Matthew, Mark and Luke—someone in some crowd raises a stink because Jesus eats and drinks with sinners. So this priest had a tee shirt made with the verse in Greek, “He eats and drinks with sinners.” The priest would wear the tee shirt when he went into bars. Some curious soul always asked, “What does that mean?” followed up by the question, “Who eats and drinks with sinners?”
Imagine the joy of this Episcopal priest and the surprise of his listener when he told them, “Jesus ate and drank with sinners. God in the flesh.”
One of the standard responses he received to this tee shirt was, “Well, if Jesus wants to eat and drink with sinners, he has come to the right place.” (6)
Yes, he has. Jesus always meets us where we are, where we most need him, whether we know we need him or not. You never know who is looking for Jesus. You do know who Jesus is looking for, however. Zacchaeus had a need. Jesus had a purpose.
And that brings us to our third point: when seekers meet their Savior, lives are transformed. Yes, I said lives. Zacchaeus wasn’t the only one who benefited from his encounter with Jesus. Listen to verses 8 through 10: “Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, ‘Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.’
“And Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.’”
So salvation came to Zacchaeus’ house, but wealth and generosity and restoration came to many houses because of Zacchaeus’ transformed life. A life transformed by Jesus is never just a solitary blessing.
Imagine the joy of some poor citizen of Jericho who received some of Zacchaeus’ wealth and possessions. Imagine the delight of those who had been extorted by Zacchaeus now being repaid with interest. Imagine how his change of heart would inspire them to ask the question, “Who is this Jesus?” And that question opens the door to seeking the Savior that was seeking them in the first place, and to more transformed lives, and to the coming of the kingdom of God on this earth. Such a ripple effect occurs when Christ comes into anyone’s life—including ours.
Gary Frost is a pastor in New York, and he tells a story of doing mission work in Nairobi, Kenya. Gary noticed a bunch of street kids lining the fence across the street from the church in Nairobi. Many of these kids had scars down their chests. The pastor explained to Gary that these kids stole glue from the local shoe factory and sniffed it to get high. What else do you do when you’ve got no home, no hope, no future? You sniff glue and disconnect from the world, and for a little while, you forget how scared and empty you feel.
But this glue would drip down the kids’ chests as they sniffed it. It was powerful stuff, so when a child tried to peel off the glue, he would peel off some skin too. Do that enough times, and you end up with a nasty scar. So when people around town saw these street kids with the scarred chests, they called them “glue heads.”
Gary went over to that fence and he began telling the “glue heads” about the love of Jesus. And five of those little boys prayed to receive Jesus as their Savior that day. Gary was really pleased, but he was also a little skeptical. What chance did these kids have of turning their lives around? Would they always be street kids searching for their next high?
Gary stayed in touch with the pastor in Nairobi and continued to support his ministry after he went back to New York. Five years after Gary’s visit there, a friend visited the church in Nairobi. He came back and said he had met a young man named Daniel Maina. Daniel had been one of the little “glue heads” who had given his life to Christ five years before. Gary’s friend had the joy of telling him that Daniel Maina was now the youth minister of the church in Nairobi. He was now leading other “glue heads” to Jesus and discipling them. Daniel had also enrolled in technology school, and he was at the top of his class. He had a hope and a future. His life had been transformed by the message of Jesus, and now he lives to transform the lives of other street kids who need to know the love and the truth of a Savior who was looking for them. (7)
Zacchaeus had a need. Jesus had a purpose. We were made to have our needs transformed by Jesus’ purpose. I think if you or I were to meet Zacchaeus after he gave away half his wealth and repaid all his victims, he would say that he was a much richer man than before he met Jesus. Because that’s what a life transformed by Jesus looks like. The limitless riches of God’s grace and love and peace.
1. Sporting News, 9/16/96. Cited by Paul Grobman, Vital Statistics: An Amazing Compendium of Factoids, Minutiae, and Random Bits of Wisdom (New York: Penguin Group, 2005), p. 203.
2. “11 sports fan stories that range from the awesome to the absolutely insane” by Mustafa Gatollari, https://www.distractify.com/humor/2018/05/10/Z2dPrj6/sports-fans-mvps. “Banned Fan Goes to Great Lengths to Watch Soccer Game by Renting a Crane,” by Ashley Hoffman May 1, 2018. http://time.com/5261257/soccer-match-turkey-crane/.
3. http://jokes.christiansunite.com/Cops/Crowd_Control.shtml.
4. Steve Beard, “The Way of Faith for Alice Cooper,” Good News Magazine (May/June 2002) p. 29. Cited in Davis, Barry L. 52 Topical Sermons Volume 1 (Pulpit Outlines), p. 125. GodSpeed Publishing. Kindle Edition.
5. By Brian Bell https://www.preceptaustin.org/luke-19-commentary.
6. Jesus Freaks, compiled by dc Talk and The Voice of the Martyrs (Tulsa, OK: Albury Publishing, 1999), pp. 231-234.
7. “From Mad-Man to Missionary,” https://idcraleigh.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Mark-5-1-20d.pdf.