Today I must stay at your house.
One of the most popular places for Bollywood fans to visit is Shah Rukh Khan’s bungalow in Mumbai. People stand outside all day, their cameras ready, just to catch a glimpse of him or his car.
I bet that if there were trees around the house that people could climb to get a look inside, they would. All this trouble for a star they’ve only ever seen in movies and heard things about, but never met personally.
It reminds me of the story of Zacchaeus, who climbed a tree so he could see Jesus pass by, this rabbi he had heard so much about.
Surprisingly, Jesus stopped and looked at Zacchaeus:
And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to him, “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” – Luke 19:5
When Jesus looked up to Zacchaeus and told him to come down and take Him home, He essentially told Zacchaeus, “Your place is not up in that tree; that’s my place.”
Jesus was hung on a tree (the cross) so that we don’t have to climb trees anymore just to get a glimpse of Him. He reconciled us with God:
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. – Romans 5:8-11
We no longer have to look at a God who is distant and stretch ourselves in hopes of a shimmer of hope. No, we get to know God personally and approach Him boldly, just like Zacchaeus did when he received Jesus into his home.
Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. – Hebrews 4:16
