“Observations From the Life of a Rich Man Who Was Tiny Enough to Fit Through the Eye of a Needle”

Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem where he will suffer greatly but just before he arrives there he enters a city named Jericho.  There was a rich man who did not have a very good reputation with the people of the city, he had a tendency to have sticky fingers when it came to his job of collecting money from them and they were well aware of his crookedness.  But, he was seeking to see who Jesus was (Lk. 19:3).  That is always a good thing, to be seeking to see Jesus.  But he found himself not able to see who Jesus was because he was a short man and the tall people were in the way.  He wanted to see Jesus so badly that he ran and even climbed up into a tree (v.4).  This man had no shame, how silly for a grown man with a job and a lot of money to be running and climbing up a tree like a young boy.  I believe Jesus is looking for this kind of desire.  In the previous chapter Jesus said, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it (18:17).  I wonder if I am running like a child to see Jesus.  Not caring about who is watching and what they are thinking.  Doing the crazy things like staying up late praying, singing, and reading the Scripture or getting up early to meditate on God’s mercy that is new every morning (Lam. 3:22,23).  When Jesus sees these childish silly people who care about him more than the world… he stays at their house (19:5).  I want Jesus to stay at my house.  When childish people see Jesus they receive him joyfully (19:6) and they’re so overwhelmed by the goodness of Christ that they start to give to the poor and restore any direct wrongs that they have done (v.8).  Not because they have to do these things in order to have Jesus stay at their house but rather they do them precisely because Jesus is staying at their house… there is a world of difference.  A chapter before this story of the little rich man there is another story of a rich man… sadly, he was not willing to run and climb up a tree to see Jesus, he was too busy keeping his life in order.  The little rich man in chapter 19 probably dealt with the issue of being a tiny man his whole life, people making fun of him, looking down on him as the childish boy looking man who is greedy and climbs trees.  But it was this very attribute that saw him to glory, see he was tiny enough to fit through the eye of a needle (18:25). 

Father, I pray that you would make me very small.  I pray that I would run, and climb, and abandon the concern of what others think, all so that I may see your beautiful face.