“Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay in your house today.” (Lk. 19:5).

Can a soul find rest without Jesus? Can the sinner find peace without the grace of God through Jesus Christ? Modern homo sapiens will say yes, but deep within the recesses of their heart, the contrary screams for attention. Their mind is in constant torment, except for flashes of brilliance and celebrated accomplishments, power, wealth, and pleasure. Defiantly, they plow on with concealed agitation and deep agony. He seeks a savior but unwisely designs and creates one for himself. Money deceives them, friends forsake them, power eventually fails them, their acquisitions lose their luster, and the future presents them with a bleak painting they dare not hang in their living rooms. Many crave to be like them, ignorant of their disgust for life and the hollowness in their hearts. Yet, their smiles continue to deceive. Their gusto mesmerizes the seeker of power, sex, and pleasure until one day, the cracks in the mask reveal the emptiness in their hearts. Such was Israel’s notorious chief tax collector, Zacchaeus.

His people scorned him, despite his wealth. They considered him a betrayer and sinner (Lk.19:3). But on this day, something different attracted Zacchaeus that piqued his curiosity. He wanted to see Jesus, who was passing through his town, and Zacchaeus could not hold back the yearning in his heart for Jesus. Despite his diminutive size, he was determined, so he ran ahead and climbed a Sycamore tree, hoping nobody would see him.

Jesus, however, stopped where he was, called him by name, and invited Himself to his house (Lk. 19:5). The crowd grumbled and sneered, but Zacchaeus showed genuine repentance by promising restitution (7-8). What a man!

No soul genuinely receives the grace of God through Jesus and remains the same (2 Cor. 5:17). When Jesus transforms a heart, its tendency towards wickedness gets a new direction towards righteousness. The very presence of Jesus in a soul inclines it towards conformity with His nature. Zacchaeus started the day as a sinner, but found forgiveness and a new life in Jesus. The world did not matter to him anymore. Money and possessions lost their appeal and grip over his heart, exchanged for peace with God in Jesus (Rm. 5:1). For every renewed person, heaven resounds with affirmation in Christ (9-10).

Like Zacchaeus, Jesus is seeking after the lost soul who seeks rest in Him (Matthew 11:28). The Savior knows the anxious moments and emotional struggles of everybody and sees those who stand afar as if they do not need Him but are checking Him out, anyway. Christ knows how careful they are, hoping, like Zacchaeus, that no one sees them. He smiles when people put on the appearance of civility but are desperately crying for a rescue. The Lord pities those who fill church pews every Sunday but snubs what they call this born-again nonsense.

These are the people Jesus has commissioned you and me to reach out to and invite to Him (Matt. 28: 19-20). They are in our homes, offices, markets, favorite stores, neighborhoods, towns, regions, and countries. Our hearts must cry for their souls as we ask God for wisdom and boldness to evangelize them in love. The rest is the work of the Holy Spirit.

There is always a Zacchaeus perched in the tree near you to invite them to Jesus today.