Meetings with Jesus changed people, sometimes very radically. Luke tells us of Zacchaeus the tax-collector, who climbed into a tree to see Jesus passing by. Jesus invites himself to dinner, and Zacchaeus, touched by grace, gives his money away and turns his life around.
It's a well-loved story, not least by preachers; it's a classic story of repentance, and we like that. Only it isn't, not quite. The timelines are wrong. Take the tree-climbing: an odd thing for any respectable businessman, but unthinkable then; it was dishonourable, shaming. Zacchaeus' profession put him beyond the pale with his fellow-Jews, but at least he could keep his dignity; climbing a tree made him a laughing-stock. There's an element of desperation in what he does.
So Jesus doesn't initiate, he responds; he honours the unspoken cry for help, by crossing the threshold of a sinner as his guest, not his judge. No other conversation is recorded, but that's enough for Zacchaeus, and he comes to repentance as a migrating bird comes home.
I worry when Christians try to lay down too many conditions for salvation, and imagine it has to happen in particular ways, or through a particular form of words, or after particular conditions have been met. For someone to be a Christian there has to be belonging, believing and behaving. Jesus didn't worry which order they came in – but he was much harder on people who only behaved and belonged than he was on people who only believed.
The Son of Man came to seek and save what was lost; it's those who know they're lost who are most likely to be found.
Follow Mark Woods on Twitter: @RevMarkWoods
