A Wee Little Man’s Lesson

Zacchaeus stood before the Lord and said, “I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have cheated people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!”

Luke 19:8

“Zacchaeus was a wee little man. . . .” If you grew up in the church as we did, you probably know this little song whether you want to or not. Even as small children, many of us learned through song the story of this tax collector who took advantage of everyone else.

But the profound message of Zacchaeus’s conversation with Jesus and what brought it about may take a bit of maturity to fully comprehend. Think about the scenario. Jesus knew all about Zacchaeus and his reputation as a dishonest tax collector. When he saw him up there in that sycamore-fig tree, he could have pointed a finger of condemnation and ridiculed him in front of the crowd. But he didn’t. He called him down from his perch and went to his home. The townspeople scoffed at Jesus, but it didn’t matter.

What mattered was that Jesus took the heavy blanket of condemnation off of Zacchaeus’s back and gave him an opportunity to change. No blame. No ridicule. No harsh words. In effect, Jesus was saying to this greedy little man, “I don’t condemn you, but how would you like your life to be different?” And different it became! Zacchaeus made restitution and then some for his misdeeds.

There is a lesson for every married couple in this story. It has to do with how we respond to our spouse when we could rightfully point to his or her faults. We somehow think that “help” will be the catalyst for change. But it’s not. True change comes only when the heavy blanket of condemnation is removed and the guilty person has the opportunity to choose a different way—not out of fear or pressure, but because he or she wants to be a better person.

As much as we thirst for approval we dread condemnation.

—Hans Selye

From the book