YOU ARE SEEN

Have you ever wished that someone could look past all the exterior things of your life and see you as you really are?

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Luke 19 tells a wonderful story about a man named Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus worked as a tax collector for the Roman government. But the Romans were the enemies of Zacchaeus’s people. So, even though working for the Romans had made him a wealthy man, Zacchaeus was an outcast among his own people and, because of his choice of profession, he was judged to be a sinner. 

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One day, Zacchaeus heard that Jesus of Nazareth was passing through Jericho. He sincerely desired to see Jesus, but Zacchaeus was a short man. The crowd was taller than him, and they were pressing so close around Jesus that catching a glimpse of Him was impossible for Zacchaeus.  Undeterred, Zacchaeus looked around, saw a sycamore tree, and decided to climb it. 

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The sycamore tree had two possible advantages for Zacchaeus. The first, of course, was height. It gave Zacchaeus the view of Christ he hoped for. But the second possible advantage was that of not being seen. Zacchaeus knew what his peers thought of him. Could he have worried that the Savior would judge him as well? Hidden among the large leaves of a sycamore tree, perhaps Zacchaeus thought he could see Jesus without being seen. Perhaps the possibility of anonymity was comforting to Zacchaeus. If so, he wasn’t left in his comfort zone for long. When Jesus passed beneath Zacchaeus’s hiding place, he stopped and called up to him, saying: 

“Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for today I must abide at thy house.”

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When the people in the crowd heard this, they were shocked. Didn’t this man, who was supposed to be a prophet, know Zacchaeus was a sinner?

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As soon as Zacchaeus was down from the tree, he felt a need to account for himself. “Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor: and if I have taken anything from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold,” he said.

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Jesus’ answer to him was full of tender assurance.

 

“This day is salvation come to this house, forasmuch as he is also as a son of Abraham.”

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Sharon E. Eubank, who served in the Relief Society General Presidency in 2019, said, ” When Jesus saw the goodness of Zacchaeus' heart and the things he did for others, He accepted his offering. Christ tenderly told the Nephites, ' I have commanded that none of you should go away,' Peter had that powerful epiphany in Acts 10 when he declared, ‘God hath shewed me that I should not call any (person) common or unclean.’ It is an unwavering requirement of Christian disciples and Latter-day Saints to show true love to one another. Jesus extends the same kind of invitation to us that He did to Zacchaeus: “ Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if (you) hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to (you), and will sup with (you) and (you)  with me.’” 

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These images are a reminder that Christ truly does see us, just as we are, even when we are hidden in a tree.

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If you would like to read more of Sharon E. Eubank’s talk, you are invited to go here.