Faith is like a sycamore

Zaccheus faced up to the fact that he was small and then he did something about it. He couldn't see Jesus, this curious man so many people were talking about, so he compensated for his physical disadvantage by climbing up the sycamore tree in order to get a better view.

Zaccheus was rewarded for his efforts with a most enviable dinner guest: Jesus Himself. What happened next cannot be explained by superficial means only; it was more than simply getting a good view of a famous visitor. Zaccheus encountered someone more then mere man in Jesus because his heart and mind were changed. More important than his promise to right the wrongs of his past, to do justice in order to repair the injustices he had committed, was the change of heart made possible by his meeting with Jesus. Zaccheus changed his life because his life was changed by meeting Jesus and seeing more than mere man.  Zaccheus began to encounter Jesus Christ through the gift of faith.

We know what faith is and talk about it all the time. Without faith we are very small because we will never go beyond life here and now. We stand on a height far greater than the sycamore of Zaccheus when, through faith, we acclaim Jesus as Lord and God and allow Him to change our lives, to give us the reason and the courage to change our lives. This means rejecting sin and through repentance seeking justice like Zaccheus. In this way faith gives us what we cannot give ourselves: the eternal life and love of God Whom Zaccheus encountered and loved for the first time in Jesus Christ.