Was Jesus Curious?

Was Jesus curious? I think so.

Obviously, people were curious about Jesus. That is why the crowd followed him wherever he went.

There is a beautiful story of a man in the gospel of Luke chapter 19, who was so curious about Jesus that he climbed on a sycamore tree to see him. His name was Zacheus. Visualize a short, pudgy guy, who was a tax collector, who was despised by society, climbing on a tree and hiding behind leaves to take a peek at Jesus.

It seems like Jesus was equally curious about Zacheus. Zacheus wanted to just look at Jesus from a distance. Jesus’ curiosity was more personal. He not only stopped under the tree and looked up, but he also wanted to visit with Zacheus in his house.

We know what happened after that visit. A curious look turned into a life changing event for Zacheus. A greedy man who was exploiting the poor, was transformed and he was willing to give away half of his wealth to the poor and pay restitution for all his misdeeds.

Look at the story of Nathaniel in the first chapter of the gospel of John. He was a friend of Philip whom Jesus had called as a disciple. Philip went and told Nathaniel about Jesus, but Nathaniel brushed him off asking, what good can come out of Nazareth? But Philip invited him to come and see.

When he saw Nathaniel approaching, Jesus complimented him by saying:

Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is no guile.

Look at the generosity of Jesus complementing a man who had ridiculed him.

Nathaniel was surprised by what Jesus said: How do you know me? We haven’t met before; we have had no prior contacts.

And Jesus said: I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.

Nathaniel was dumbfounded.

He was humbled that Jesus was interested in him even though he was not interested in Jesus.

He didn’t notice Jesus. But Jesus noticed him.

He didn’t care for Jesus, but Jesus cared for him. And that changed his life.

When I tell my colleagues that I know what kind of car they drive, they are surprised. They look at me like Nathaniel. How do you know, we never spoke about cars?

And I would tell them: When you were getting out of your car at that Assisted Living Facility, I saw you.

As humans, we are called to pay attention to others. We are called to connect with others, and care about them. That is our calling card.

Refuse to go through life all wrapped-up in your little life.

Pay attention to the people around you.

Expand your horizons;

Show concern; be interested in others;

Be curious about who they are and what they do;

Share stories.

It will change your life and theirs too.

If you are tempted to withdraw from life thinking that you are not that interesting, remember this:

You don’t have to be interesting, but interested!

One of the first things to do in this process is to acknowledge our ignorance about a lot of things and embrace an attitude of humility.

Banish hubris, the evil twin of humility and embrace its cousin, curiosity!