Jesus and Zacchaeus: Lectio Divina Luke 19:1-10
Good morning, everyone. Happy Friday.
I am so excited to see each of you. I am so excited to share with you a Lectio Divina for today.
This is really special. We read through this and sensed God’s invitation in our Building Your Ministry Business group that meets once a month, supporting each other as we build businesses.
I wanted to and promised I would do the full Lectio for them.
Also, we are leading (this afternoon or morning depending on where you live) — Amy Dalke and I are leading a How to Lead a Lectio Divina Group webinar.
So you can find more information about that in the Vault or probably our Facebook page.
I am honored to read through Luke 19:1-10 today.
You will remember that the invitation is that I’m going to read through this three times.
You’re invited into a real conversation with the experience of listening and speaking, conversing with God.
We see that Jesus is teaching. He is blessing little children, he’s teaching us through parables, he’s foretelling us death, he helps a blind man, he talks to the rich ruler.
Then we see Zacchaeus.
I’m going to read through this.
The first time is an invitation to the one word or phrase that Holy Spirit is impressing on you.
You’re going to invite that experience in.
Prayer
But before we begin, I’d love to invite you to pray with me. So let’s pray.
Loving God, you are ever present, ever loving, ever in our midst, and we love you.
Thank you for this time, together with you, with your Spirit, who you pour out upon us.
And we thank you.
Be with us now. Speak, Lord, for Your servants are listening.
In Jesus’s name, Amen.
First Reading
So this first time around, you’re going to look for, invite in, and listen for the one word or phrase.
So 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 of short stature.
So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore fig tree to see him because he was going to pass that way.
When Jesus came to the place, he looked up to him and said, “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 your house, because he too, is the son of Abraham. For the son of a Man came to seek out and to save the lost.”
Reflection
We’re going to spend a few moments here just listening for that word or phrase.
If you are listening to this on replay and need more time, please feel free to pause this and keep in silent prayer and meditation at any point.
Second Reading
So I’m going to read this again and I want you to focus on what you feel.
We’re letting go of the cognitive wrestlings, and the experience of wanting to seek intellectual insights.
We’re going to go into what you’re feeling right now.
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 sycamore fig tree to see him because he was going to pass that way.
When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and saw him and said, “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 your house, because he too, is the son of Abraham. For the son of a Man came to seek out and to save the lost.”
Reflection
What are you feeling? What specific situation in your life does this relate?
Write down your prayer or just pray quietly in this space.
Third Reading
I’m going to read this again, this time from The Message translation. And I want you to listen for God’s personal invitation to you.
Then Jesus entered and walked through Jericho. There was a man there, his name Zacchaeus, the head tax man and quite rich.
He wanted desperately to see Jesus, but the crowd was in his way—he was a short man and couldn’t see over the crowd.
So he ran on ahead and climbed up in a sycamore tree so he could see Jesus when he came by.
When Jesus got to the tree, he looked up and said, “Zacchaeus, hurry down. Today is my day to be a guest in your home.”
Zacchaeus scrambled out of the tree, hardly believing his good luck, delighted to take Jesus home with him.
Everyone who saw the incident was indignant and grumped, “What business does he have getting cozy with this crook?”
Zacchaeus just stood there, a little stunned.
He stammered apologetically, “Master, I give away half my income to the poor—and if I’m caught cheating, I pay four times the damages.”
Jesus said, “Today is salvation day in this home! Here he is: Zacchaeus, son of Abraham! For the Son of Man came to find and restore the lost.”
Reflection
So what is God’s personal invitation to you in the Scripture?
You can write it down, you can pray through what the Lord is saying to you, or just offer a prayer of thanks.
Maybe you just need to simply rest in the Spirit’s presence now.
Maybe if you’re listening to the replay, you want to pause here and spend more time in the quiet in-between listening to the invitation.
I wonder for those of you that have listened, what has this meant for you?
What was the invitation for you in this?
For me I read it again and was struck by Zacchaeus’ surrender.
He was so excited and desperate to see Jesus.
In that, the one word or phrase was “See who Jesus was.”
I felt that desperation and I was invited in this experience to see Jesus.
That I don’t have to be perfect. It was like this beautiful warm invitation.
So I wonder what is it for you?
Prayer
Let us pray now together.
Loving God, thank you.
Thank you for speaking to us in this moment, in this space.
Thank you for each of the opportunities and the invitations to see your face.
Thank you for meeting us as we are.
Thank you for not disqualifying us.
Thank you for your love and grace and commitment.
Thank you that you look and see us.
We love you.
Be with us today. Be with us in all those ways that we need.
We love you and we praise you.
In Jesus’s name, Amen.
I hope you enjoyed this Lectio.
You know, it was very interesting.
We talked about this as an invitation from God, to take a risk in our Building Your Ministry group.
That so many of us are called to build a ministry to serve others, whether it’s through spiritual direction, or coaching, or in our ministry work as a pastor.
We don’t go out on a limb like Zacchaeus did, right? We stay in the crowd. We can’t see. What is Zacchaeus saying to us in this story?
It’s very challenging to stay with the feelings and the insight of what God is inviting me into.
I know what comes next. And it’s another invitation right?
Luke 19: 11 – 27 is the parable of the 10 talents.
So then I read through that by myself and was listening and it was like God was inviting me into that.
That it is this relationship with the living Word.
So I love you all.
By the way, I was reading from the Renovare NRSV translation.
So I love you all. Thank you for being with us in the Network.
Thank you for loving Jesus. And please know we’re always here for you.
I’ll see you soon. Thanks. Bye
