Lent Day Thirty Four
“Coming up short”
Luke 19:1–10 Taken from The Passion Translation
1–3 In the city of Jericho there lived a very wealthy man named Zacchaeus, who was the supervisor over all the tax collectors. As Jesus made his way through the city, Zacchaeus was eager to see Jesus. He kept trying to get a look at him, but the crowd around Jesus was massive. Zacchaeus was a very short man and couldn’t see over the heads of the people.
4 So he ran on ahead of everyone and climbed up a blossoming fig tree so he could get a glimpse of Jesus as he passed by.
5 When Jesus got to that place, he looked up into the tree and said, “Zacchaeus, hurry on down, for I am appointed to stay at your house today!”
6 So he scurried down the tree and came face-to-face with Jesus.
7 As Jesus left to go with Zacchaeus, many in the crowd complained, “Look at this! Of all the people to have dinner with, he’s going to eat in the house of a crook.”
8 Zacchaeus joyously welcomed Jesus and was amazed over Jesus’ gracious visit to his home. Zacchaeus stood in front of the Lord and said, “Half of all that I own I will give to the poor. And Lord, if I have cheated anyone, I promise to pay back four times as much as I stole.”
9–10 Jesus said to him, “This shows that today life has come to you and your household, for you are a true son of Abraham. The Son of Man has come to seek out and to give life to those who are lost.”
Zacchaeus was a man who was ‘coming up short’ in more ways than one. He was short in stature as well as short on morals.
At 5’4 I feel like I’m pretty average in height. However, at the tender age of 11, a boy at school said he wouldn’t go out with me as I was too titchy. Then when our school did a production of ‘The Wizard of Oz’, I was selected for the starring role of …… a minuscule munchkin. No sympathy needed - I have come to terms with being a ‘Bottom-shelf Brenda’ and have moved on with my life!
The phrase ‘coming up short’ means that we don’t meet expectations, we are inadequate, we fail, we disappoint.
I often feel a sense of ‘coming up short’ in my Christian life - when I stray from God’s Word and his ways - in wrong thoughts, selfish behaviour and bad attitudes. I recognise that I’ve ‘come up short’, then I’m flooded with feelings of not being a good enough Christian, and fear that God must be disappointed in me. This leads to shame, discouragement and self-focused living.
The story of Zacchaeus gives me ‘high’ hopes! He was a dishonest, dodgy geezer, but he had the ‘treemendous’ (v4!) inspiration to climb up high to get a good view of Jesus. Jesus' heart was full of love and mercy towards Zacchaeus. He invited himself to Zaccheus’ home which communicated that he wanted to be with him - despite his sin, struggles and shortcomings! This immense love and acceptance clearly blew Zacchaeus away as he responded to his time with Jesus by significantly making amends for his dodgy deeds. (V8)
Jesus loves and accepts you and me too. In this life we will all come up short, but thankfully, Jesus is never short on love, grace, patience, forgiveness or compassion. If we truly grasped the depth of his love for us we could shake off the shame and live secure, free and full of confidence, which will overflow from our lives, significantly impacting others around us.
Lent is a great time to remember to look away from ourselves and our failings and to look up to Jesus’ perfection. His grace is sufficient for us. (2 Corinthians 12:9). When we mess up we should keep short accounts with God - confess our failings, accept his forgiveness and make amends where we can. But we’d also be wise to spend a long time reflecting on God’s deep, unconditional love for us. We are his dearly loved children. He died to set us free from shame and guilt. When you come up short, keep your eyes and hopes up high.
Kate Williams
Kate Williams is a Yorkshire based writer and speaker. She is in her happy place when she is typing away in a coffee shop with a one shot latte and a caramel shortbread. Kate also loves British Sign Language, and currently works as a communication support worker with deaf students. Kate enjoys writing devotional plans for the Youversion Bible app.