During recent months, I have been pondering some of the Biblical accounts of Jesus’s encounters with people whom the Pharisees, and maybe even Christians today, would label as notorious sinners. When we think of Zacchaeus, or the woman caught in adultery, or even the woman at the well, we see the narratives through the lens of their outcome, because we have the blessing of being able to read about them after the event. So we know that Zacchaeus turned his life around and made amends for his stealing. We know the woman caught in adultery was saved from death by stoning, and we know the woman at the well became one of the first female evangelists, begging the men of her town to come and see the man who had told her everything she ever did. But how would we view these people, or others like them, if we didn’t know the end of their stories? Or indeed, what if we ourselves were living out some of these events?
If you had asked me thirty years ago what I knew about Zacchaeus, I would probably have answered that he was a very little man who climbed up a tree because he wanted to see Jesus. Children become fascinated by the oddest details, so whenever I heard this story, I had a picture in my mind of a tiny man hiding amongst the leaves of a big tree. Since it was quite a comical picture, I rarely paid enough attention to the rest of the account.
However, setting his stature aside, there is so much we can learn from our friend Zacchaeus. We can refer to him as friend, because one day, praise God, we will meet him in heaven. What a life turned around! We find his story in the first ten verses of Luke chapter 19. Zacchaeus was the chief tax collector in the Jericho region. We know from elsewhere in the scriptures that tax collectors were despised by the Jews. Being a Hebrew himself, Zacchaeus would have been seen by his fellow countrymen as a traitor, because he was working for the enemy. I’m pretty sure the Jews hated having to pay taxes to the Romans, but it would have been even more galling to do so through one of their own.
Why did Zacchaeus want to see Jesus? The Bible doesn’t actually say. He had obviously heard about him, but was it just a kind of nosy curiosity? Many things have been inferred, but the truth is that we’ll never know. All we do know is that he wanted to see the Saviour pretty badly, because he went to the lengths of climbing a tree. Was he trying to hide, so he could see Jesus without the Master knowing he was there? Was he avoiding the crowd because he knew how they felt about him?
The most amazing part of this story was what happened next. Even if no one else was aware, Jesus looked straight up into that tree and calmly told Zacchaeus to come down because he wanted to go to his house for tea. Can you imagine how Zacchaeus felt! I think if it had been me, I would have fallen out of the tree in shock! Yet we are told in verse six that Zacchaeus quickly climbed down and took Jesus to his house in great excitement and joy. Far from being nervous or upset, he was excited and happy.
As the people outside grumbled, Zacchaeus found himself alone with the Master, and before Jesus had time to bring up anything good or bad, he promised in verse 8 to give half his wealth to the poor, and to return four times as much to those whom he had cheated on their taxes. Why was he doing this? The Bible gives no indication that it was because Jesus had presented him with a long list of his sins. As far as we are aware, all Jesus did was invite himself to Zacchaeus’s house for tea. Yet something about the very presence of our Lord convicted this man and transformed his whole life. Jesus offered love and requested hospitality, and Zacchaeus stood before him in repentance and humility.
Next, let’s think about the woman caught in adultery in John chapter 8. Again, the Pharisees were gunning for her blood. Another notorious sinner. This woman had been caught in the very act of adultery. Was this possibly a setup to see how Jesus would react? If so, I think he shocked them, as he startles us the first time we read it. Verse 6 says that the people were trying to trap Jesus into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus simply bent down and wrote in the dust with his finger.
I’m sure whole books have been filled with speculation over what Jesus wrote. Some people say it was the ten commandments, and others a list of some of the sins the woman’s accusers had committed. Or perhaps it was his calm reaction and not what he actually wrote that convicted them. They had worked themselves up into a frenzy of righteous indignation, and here was Jesus, calmly scribbling away in the sand.
When they continued demanding an answer, the one he gave was the final nail in the coffin. “All right but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone.” (John 8: 7.) Game over. The accusers slipped away one by one, interestingly beginning with the oldest, because their longer lives had allowed them to commit more sin. Finally, when Jesus was left alone with the adulterous woman, rather than lecturing her on the evils of her promiscuity, Jesus assured her there would be no condemnation from him but encouraged her to go and sin no more.
Finally, let’s consider the story of the woman at the well. For a start, she was a Samaritan, so why was a Jewish Rabbi even passing the time of day with her? Furthermore, she was drawing water during the hottest time of the day, and she had come to the well alone, signifying that she was doing everything in her power to avoid the rest of the women in her village. No wonder she was surprised when Jesus spoke to her. (John 4:9.)
Since Jesus is God, he would have known that woman’s whole life history, just as he knows everything about you and me. Yet again, all we see in his conversation with her is grace and love. He invited her to ask him for living water. (Verse 10.) he knew she had a need that she had been trying to fill with things that would never satisfy. In her case, with multiple relationships. So many people are still doing this today. They seek someone to fill the gaping empty hole in their lives. When they think they’ve found that person, they cling on for dear life, until they realise their needs aren’t going to be met, so they go looking for the next person. Some seek fulfilment in money or possessions. Wherever they look, they are just trying to fill a void that only Jesus can fill.
The conversation between Jesus and the Samaritan woman is fascinating, because she gave as good as she got. She asked intelligent questions, and he was happy to answer them, although he baffled her more by his answers. Through it all, he held out a promise of the living water that would quench her eternal thirst. Becoming intrigued, the woman declared that she wanted this water, and it was at that point that Jesus simply told her to go and get her husband. She was forced to confess she had no husband, and all Jesus did was present the facts. She has had five husbands, and the man with whom she was currently living wasn’t her husband. Rather than condemning her, he commended her for having given a truthful answer to his question.
In verse 19, the woman realises Jesus must be a prophet, as he knows things about her without even being told. As their conversation progresses, she realises he is the Messiah, and runs into the village to tell everyone they need to come and hear what he has to say. Rather than being angry because he knows the truth about her, she seems to be filled with a joy that overcomes her inhibitions and transforms her from being fearful to go to the well with the rest of the villagers to urging them to come with her and see this man who is surely the Messiah.
In all three of these encounters, Jesus loved rather than condemned. Yet lives were changed. There was something about his very presence that went beyond words. I wish I understood a little more about how the Lord was able to convict with such love and compassion. I feel so inept when I seek to handle things the way he did. However, my prayer is simply this. Lord, when I am faced with a Zacchaeus, or a woman caught in adultery, or a woman at the well, please give me the wisdom to love with the compassion with which you loved. I am not saying we should belittle sin any more than our Saviour did. He thought it was such a serious problem that he gave up his life for it. yet he showed a wisdom in dealing with sin that I feel so many of us lack. These people were convicted, yet not condemned. Condemnation just fuels the vicious cycle of guilt and shame, but conviction comes with a hope that real transformation and a better life is not only possible, but attainable. Surely that is the message we want to share.