Divine Dining March 29, 2026 Devotional

LUKE 19:1-14 | ¹ He entered Jericho and was passing through it. ² A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax      collector and was rich. ³ He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. ⁴ So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way.

LUKE 9:51 | ⁵¹ When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.

Many of us learned this story of Zaccheus in Sunday school. But then I didn’t understand just how remarkable this moment was in the context of Jesus’ life. Back in chapter 9, He had “set his face” for Jerusalem and began heading for the painful conclusion of His earthly ministry; yet with the cross looming, He can take nearly a full day for one beleaguered man, Zaccheus.

In these verses we learn Zaccheus is a rich tax collector, and thus a marked and hated individual, a social outcast to his Jewish neighbors. He is a chief tax collector for the Romans, setting tax rates and fleecing his own people as they suffer under Roman oppression.

But he is also a seeker. He takes the risk of public ridicule or harm to enter a crowd because he wants to see Jesus. He climbs a tree and becomes visible for the same reason. With the arrival of Jesus, the world is divided into three categories; followers of Jesus, seekers who are open to Him, and people who do not seek or follow due to indifference or hostility. What matters most about our spiritual state is no longer our history of virtue or vice in itself, but rather our attitude to the One who can heal and change us.

Which category are you?

Gracious God,

The spiritual journey isn’t a highly individualized trek to a destination of choice, it is a coming home to Your house. May I be a follower or a true seeker on the way there.

Amen.