Missing Jesus

“…he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature. So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was going to pass that way” Luke 19:3-4

Zacchaeus climbing the sycamore tree to see Jesus is commonly praised as an act of spiritual curiosity and faith, but have you thought about the effort involved and how weird that would have been? As a successful tax collector he wouldn’t have been young. An older short guy up in a tree? Ha! But what if he hadn’t done that? What if he hadn’t made the climbing effort and risked the weirdness and potential laughter? Well, he would have missed Jesus. He would have missed the possibility of salvation!

The Samaritan woman in John chapter 4 got into a conversation with Jesus even though Jews and Samaritans didn’t generally have anything to do with each other. If she had let bias and prejudice stop her, she would have missed Jesus. She would have missed the possibility of salvation!

When Andrew met Jesus, he went and found his brother Simon Peter and said, “We have found the Messiah…” (Jn 1:40-41). If Andrew hadn’t brought Peter to Jesus, he might have missed Jesus. He might have missed the possibility of being an apostle and salvation!

In John 1:45, Philip found Nathanael and said, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote – Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” Nathanael said, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” If Philip hadn’t said, “Come and see” (1:46), we might not know Nathanael’s name because he would have missed Jesus. And he might have missed the possibility of salvation in Christ Jesus!

Seeing Jesus isn’t always as simple as Him (or even His teaching) standing right in front of us. We have to climb, take risks, put aside bias and prejudice, and listen to someone who has seen Him. We don’t get to see Jesus on our terms or in the most convenient way. It happens as it happens in our lives and we have to take advantage of the opportunity. So, the next time there is a time to study the Bible, worship, listen, learn, read, be around others who know Jesus – that’s your chance to see Jesus. What if you don’t? What if you miss Jesus?  dd