When You Just Want to See Jesus: What Zacchaeus Teaches Us About True Transformation
The Heart of the Message
In Luke 19, a despised tax collector named Zacchaeus climbs a tree — not to ask Jesus for anything, but simply to catch a glimpse of Him. Pastor Kirt Anderson uses this familiar story to draw a sharp contrast between those who approach faith as a tool to get what they already want and those who seek Jesus Himself. The result of genuinely encountering Christ, as Zacchaeus discovered, is not just a changed behavior — it’s a changed identity.
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Why Do So Many People Feel Like Something Is Still Missing Even After Going to Church?
Pastor Kirt Anderson points to a tension at the heart of this passage: the tendency to treat faith as what he calls an “instrumentality” — a means to achieve the life we’ve already decided we want. In the same journey toward Jerusalem, Jesus encounters a wealthy, religiously observant man who asks what he must do to secure eternal life, only to walk away dejected when the answer costs him more than he was willing to give. Pastor Kirt notes that this man “didn’t see Jesus — he saw Jesus as a means to an end,” and that pattern is alive and well today whenever we approach church primarily to have our existing beliefs and desires confirmed rather than genuinely challenged or transformed.
What Does It Actually Mean to Be Transformed by Faith?
The turning point in Zacchaeus’s story is not a transaction — he doesn’t ask Jesus for healing, prosperity, or status. He simply wants to see Jesus, and Jesus, remarkably, calls him by name. Pastor Kirt draws on the philosopher Søren Kierkegaard’s observation that “sin is the steadfast refusal to be your own true self,” explaining that sin separates us not only from God but from ourselves. What Zacchaeus found in that encounter was not just forgiveness — he found his true identity. The generosity that followed, giving half his wealth to the poor and repaying anyone he’d cheated four times over, wasn’t the result of a rule. It was the overflow of someone who had finally been made whole.
Does Focusing on Heaven Make You Less Useful in the Real World?
This is a question Pastor Kirt addresses directly, citing a response C.S. Lewis gave to the famous charge — often attributed to George Bernard Shaw — that Christians who are “so heavenly minded are no earthly good.” Lewis argued the opposite is historically true: the Christians who accomplished the most for the present world were precisely those who thought most seriously about the next one. Pastor Kirt frames it simply: “Aim at heaven and you get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither.” Zacchaeus, the man who climbed a tree just to see Jesus, became a force for good in his community — not despite his focus on Christ, but because of it.
Scripture Focus
Primary Anchor Verse — Luke 19:1–10 (NLT):
“Jesus entered Jericho and made his way through the town. There was a man there named Zacchaeus. He was the chief tax collector in the region, and he had become very rich. He tried to get a look at Jesus, but he was too short to see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree beside the road, for Jesus was going to pass that way. When Jesus came by, he looked up at Zacchaeus and called him by name. ‘Zacchaeus!’ he said. ‘Quick, come down! I must be a guest in your home today.’ Zacchaeus quickly climbed down and took Jesus to his house in great excitement and joy. But the people were displeased. ‘He has gone to be the guest of a notorious sinner,’ they grumbled. Meanwhile, Zacchaeus stood before the Lord and said, ‘I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have cheated people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!’ Jesus responded, ‘Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.'”
Supporting References:
- The Rich Young Ruler — Luke 18:18–25
- The Healing of Blind Bartimaeus — Luke 18:35–43
- C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity — on the relationship between heavenly-mindedness and earthly effectiveness
- Søren Kierkegaard — on sin as the refusal to be one’s true self
