He Gets Us: Who Did Jesus Love? | Plan 4Sample

Jesus loved the person we hate.

When Jesus came into town that day, he did the unthinkable. That’s what the people of Jericho might have thought the day Jesus turned his attention to the one person in the town everyone despised. Imagine what someone from Jericho might have said . . .

“We gave him a heroes’ welcome and the first thing he did was find the traitor among us. Zacchaeus was one of us until he turned on all of us. To make an easy buck off his community, he became a tax collector. This IRS agent working for the enemy doubled our debts and pocketed the difference. While he got rich, we couldn’t feed our children. He hustled and swindled us out of our hard-earned income and stole our livelihoods, inch by inch."

“I never imagined myself to be the violent kind, but there I was that day with a brick in my hand, so angry, feeling misunderstood and righteous in my rage against a political system I couldn’t control."

“When I heard that Jesus was coming to town, I thought, Well finally, Zacchaeus is going to get it. One of our own Jewish rabbis will call him to task. ‘Tell him not to rob us anymore, Jesus!’ "

“Instead, Jesus found Zacchaeus at the edge of the crowd (where we pushed him)—and he said to him, C’mon man, I want to spend the day with you."

“Jesus put his arm on Zacchaeus’ shoulder and they disappeared into his house."

“I would give them anything to know what they talked about all day. We stood outside with our fists clenched and our hearts hard."

“But when they came out again, Zacchaeus was a different man. For years after, the town remembered that day that Zacchaeus turned over half his bank account to the poor and paid back personally, four to one, all the cash he’d extorted from us."

“We never elected him mayor or anything, but on that day Zacchaeus captured the heart of our town. It all goes back to what Jesus said when they came out of Zacchaeus’ house. ‘Today is salvation day in this home!’"

“Jesus saw something different in Zacchaeus than we ever did.”

It was the same thing Jesus saw in every outcast—even to his last breath on the cross. The person we despise, he loved. And not for anything they did to deserve it but because of who he was. And with his love, we see something new in them . . . and also in ourselves.