Jason Allen promised he wouldn’t sing the song, but he said he knew everyone in the room knew a few things about Zacchaeus, the short tax collector who climbed the tree to see Jesus.

It’s such a familiar story that it’s “easy to miss the power of what takes place,” said Allen, president of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Missouri.

Preaching from Luke 19:1–10, he shared with those present at the Tuesday evening session of the Alabama Baptist State Convention annual meeting Nov. 12 that “in this text we celebrate anew our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who goes about His ministry … changing lives.”

Allen challenged his listeners to reflect on three parts of the passage.

1. The sinner Jesus sought.

What about Zacchaeus commends him to Jesus? What makes him particularly attractive?

Zacchaeus was in a job that made him one of the least-liked people in any room, Allen said. In his job as chief tax collector, he dealt corruptly and cheated people out of money.

But “something was stirring in him,” Allen said. He was curious and determined to run ahead and climb the tree so he could see Jesus.

“The work of the Spirit is drawing him to Christ, it’s drawing him to take a closer look,” Allen said. “Jesus states His intent to go to his house … and we begin to see Jesus chipping away at the heart of this short little tax collector.”

To answer the question, there’s nothing objective about Zacchaeus’ soul that says it’s of worth, Allen said. “But Jesus is a Savior of affection and compassion. And He sees this man and He loves this man and He knows that he is hopelessly lost, but He sets His affection on Him. … Jesus looks at the most unlikely convert in the city and says, ‘He’s the one.’”

And ultimately, Jesus would die for that sinner, Allen said.

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This article was originally published at TheAlabamaBaptist.org.