Coming to our senses - Week One - Sight

Friday – In the Bible          Read Luke 19.1-10

Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through it. A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax-collector and was rich. He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycomore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, ‘Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.’ So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. All who saw it began to grumble and said, ‘He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.’ Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, ‘Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.’ Then Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.’

Imagine yourself in this story. Perhaps you are Zaccheus, who longed to “see who Jesus was” but, being small, had to climb a tree to see over the heads of the crowd. Perhaps you are one of the crowd, who have always “seen” Zaccheus as a traitor and a thief, since he is a tax collector who collaborated with the Romans. Perhaps you are one of the disciples watching as Jesus “sees” Zaccheus as precious and beloved, someone who God cares about.

·         Visualise the scene. Try to see it in your imagination as vividly as you can. What can you see to your left and right, straight ahead of you? What is the weather like? Where are you standing?

·         Let the story unfold in your imagination. What does Jesus say and do? How do others respond?

·         What does it feel like to be part of this story?