Intimate Moment with Zacchaeus

Sorry I'm so late in posting, but we left early this morning for the Holy Cross funeral and have just returned. It was beautiful and sad and uplifting and underscored that for us who believe in Jesus Christ, death cannot triumph.

I've always loved the story of Zacchaeus. We used to sing about him in Sunday school. And later, as an adult, when I learned a few more Bible stories, I compared him to the man who said "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" That same man went away sad, because he was very wealthy. But Zacchaeus was also wealthy and the perfect consolation prize for Jesus.

Jesus didn't win over every person who met him. Some were transformed, some stayed just the way they were. It's the case both for and against free will, I think. I remember once being in a personal growth workshop. The facilitator issued a warning at the beginning. He said, "Once you start on this path, there is no turning back. You can decide to stop growing at any time, but you can never go back to the way you were before." For those of us who have been transformed by Christ, there is no turning back either. And certainly not for Zacchaeus.