“耶稣到了那里，抬头一看，对他说：‘撒该，快下来！今天我必住在你家里。’” - 路 19:5

贪婪的人大多数是不受欢迎的，部份原因是他们不可靠。你若不予理会，他们便可能会尝试为自己谋取更多的东西：金钱、财产、权力。我们通常总会避开或排斥这种人。

对耶利哥城的人来说，撒该是一个令人讨厌的人，他领导一群行事贪婪的税吏。他们经常在罗马治权下滥收税款，然后把超额的税银据为己有。

然而耶稣却没有排斥罪人，刚刚相反，正如今天的经文所说的，“耶稣抬头一看”撒该，他爬到树上围观路过的耶稣。耶稣立即宣告，衪要到撒该家里 － 这件事推动了撒该彻底的悔改，并促使他偿还曾被他讹诈的人。

目光接触是一种无言却有力的沟通方式。当四目相对时，心灵便相通了。当耶稣的目光接触到我们每一个人 － 与生俱来的罪人 － 衪赐下慈爱、赦免、和复原。当我们遇到失落的人时，我们是会避开视线、还是专注凝视呢？

作为跟从基督的人，我们是衪的代理人、在沉溺于罪的世人当中生活和作工。“人子来，为要寻找、拯救失丧的人” － 衪如今已经把接力棒传给我们了。

（BMB）

祷告

主啊，求你帮助我们，看到我们周围失丧和伤痛的灵魂，并且与他们分享你的慈爱和恩典。阿们。

路加福音 19:1-10

1耶稣进了耶利哥，正经过的时候，
2有一个人名叫撒该，做税吏长，是个财主，
3他要看看耶稣是怎样的人。只因人多，他的身量又矮，所以不得看见。
4就跑到前头，爬上桑树，要看耶稣，因为耶稣必从那里经过。
5耶稣到了那里，抬头一看，对他说：“撒该，快下来！今天我必住在你家里。”
6他就急忙下来，欢欢喜喜地接待耶稣。
7众人看见，都私下议论说：“他竟到罪人家里去住宿！”
8撒该站着对主说：“主啊，我把所有的一半给穷人，我若讹诈了谁，就还他四倍。”
9耶稣说：“今天救恩到了这家，因为他也是亚伯拉罕的子孙。
10人子来，为要寻找、拯救

Making Eye Contact

“When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, ‘Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.’” - Luke 19:5

Greedy people tend to be rather unpopular, partly because they can’t be trusted. Look the other way, and they might try to get more of something for themselves: money, possessions, power. We tend to avoid or exclude such people.

To the people in Jericho, Zacchaeus was detestable. He was chief of a network of tax collectors whose guiding principle was greed. They constantly overcharged for Roman taxes and kept the extra money for themselves.

But Jesus didn’t avoid or exclude sinners. Rather, as our text today says, “Jesus looked up” at Zacchaeus, who had climbed a tree in order to see Jesus as he came by. Then Jesus announced that he would go to Zacchaeus’s house—and that set in motion a radical repentance and repayment of all that Zacchaeus had stolen from others.

Eye contact is a powerful form of nonverbal communication. When eyes meet, souls connect. Jesus looks at each one of us—sinners by nature—and he offers love, forgiveness, and restoration. Do we avert our glance or do we fix our gaze on the lost people we encounter?

As Christ’s followers, we are his agents as we live and work among people drowning in a life of sin. “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost”—and he has passed the baton to us.

(BMB)

Prayer

Lord, help us to see the lost and hurting souls around us, and to share your love and grace with them. Amen.