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This is a very special post. This is the 100th on this blog.

With that said, I wanted to take a look at something in this post that was revealed to me a couple of months ago. How we see people is very important. But how we see certain people might cause drama in our lives. Jesus experienced such trouble with the people that He chose to interact with. One such instance can be seen in Luke 19:

“Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy.” - Luke 19:1-2 NIV

This is worth explaining: Tax collectors were notorious for being criminals. Just as verse 2 states, tax collectors would often charge people higher than needed and then take the extra money and pocket it. For example, if the tax was 2%, tax collectors would charge 5% and tax the 2% where needed to go and they would pocket the 3%.

So with that said it makes the next part of the story more understandable:

“He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way. When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, ‘Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.’ So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. All the people saw this and began to mutter, ‘He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.’” - Luke 19:3-7 NIV

Jesus made a shocking statement when He said that He was going to go to Zacchaeus’ house. The people couldn’t believe that Jesus would even be near a person like Zacchaeus - let alone go to his house! But for Jesus, this wasn’t a shocking statement - this is who He was and is.

All of the people the “began to mutter” saw Zacchaeus for who he was - a tax collector and a sinner. Jesus saw Zacchaeus for who he was - a masterpiece created in the image of God (Ephesians 2:10 (NLT) + Genesis 1:26-27).

This is how Jesus saw people during His earthly ministry and currently sees people. He saw everyone created in God’s image. This is the way He saw Peter, Paul, James, Matthew (a former tax collector - now disciple), Zacchaeus, the woman caught in adultery, the woman at the well, the woman that washed His feet, the Samaritans, the Jews, the Gentiles, the Pharisees, the person with the porn addiction, the person with a drinking problem, the person that cusses like a sailor and so on.

Jesus sees us all through the image of God. He sees us as who we are. This is how He was able to show love to the unloveable and outcasted. This is the way He wants us to see people as well. He wants to see people the way that He does.

There is a saying “you catch more flies with honey.” Jesus brought people to Him because of the way that He acted toward them. He simply loved them and treated them like they never had been treated before. He accepted people that never had been accepted before. He talked to people that no one else would talk to. He changed the game. He came to save people (Matthew 1:21).

Imagine what we could do. The people we could help meet Jesus or bring closer to Jesus if we just chose to see people the way that Jesus did.
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