I been waiting all week to tell you this… I overheard somebody you can’t stand just got blessed in a major way. And you know exactly who I’m talking about… don’t act like you don’t. I’m talking about the one who did you dirty a couple of years ago and they’re still doing fine today. The business partner who stoled from you and just posted their new house on IG. That ex who cheated on you and got married a year after. The cousin who drained your grandmother’s account and still stood up at the funeral to give remarks with no remorse. The preacher who fell in front of everybody and still somehow is back on a bigger stage right now. That person who owes you money and just landed in Greece for vacation.
Go on… say what you’re thinking… don’t try to clean it up. Say it the way it feels right now in your chest…
Luke 19, verse 7.
“But when they saw it, they all complained, saying, “He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner.”
I’m sure your reaction was something like that verse…
For the last few weeks, I’ve been writing to you about my purpose journey map. And if you’ve been following these letters, by now you probably feel like you know and possibly figured out the entire story… and I let you be Zacchaeus for almost a month now. And I did that on purpose.
I wrote these three letters:
because i really, really wanted you to stand in the “short man’s” shoes and feel overlooked and feel the climb and feel your name getting called… And you took it.
Every week you read and saw yourself in the man in the tree and it felt good to finally be seen… to be noticed… to hear your name called.
In spite of all of that, I been withholding something… and here is what I did not tell you. While all of this is happening to Zacchaeus and for Zacchaeus… there is another character in this story… in your life… that we have barely talked about.
The crowd.
I promise I’m going to get to the last two spots on the map but I first have to reroute your attention for a moment. Because the more you look at the crowd, the stranger this story will become.
Consequently, Zacchaeus was the most hated man in that city.
Catch that, a chief tax collector… which means he worked for Rome. He collected money from his own people, in which he added his cut on top, and got rich off their backs. In other words, he was basically stealing from those who lived among him. So every last person in that crowd following Jesus had been robbed by him.
That’s why Luke said he wanted to see Jesus but could not “because of the crowd”.
I know I told you it was because he was short… and that was a valid reason. But if we are honest, anyone in that crowd could have allowed him to pass through towards the front so he could have a better view. But the crowd would not. This crowd saw him… they felt him pushing at their backs trying to get in front of them, and decided, one by one, without saying a word to each other, that this in one area they would not move one inch for the man that did them wrong.
And they had a point. They were not trying to be villains… they were just the crowd. That is what makes a crowd dangerous. A crowd is made of people with a unified reason. They were just upset at how Zacchaeus had wronged them.
Can you see yourself… just like Luke says… you’re standing in the crowd, holding your many reasons. I’m sure you would have blocked him too. You know it. And the reason I know this is true is because you just did it at the start of this letter when I started talking about the person who did you wrong… you started doing it in your own head, with your own list of people who do not deserve what they got.
Jesus gets to the tree, looks up, and stops for the one man they refused to let see Him.
The crowd came to see Jesus. But little did they know that Jesus came to see the man the crowd was hurt by… wronged by… the one the crowd was hiding.
Catch that.
That is the thing about this purpose journey map… it’s not a straight path nor is it one that you go through once and when you reach the end, think it’s all over. No this map is cyclical, repetitive, happening at regular intervals in your life. That’s why you feel like you can identify at being at different spots on the map all at the same time. Because yes you are one person but with different compartments… so on this journey you may find yourself at the spot of disadvantage in one compartment of your life, like in your romantic relationships. But than in your professional life you might identify with being at the spot of positioning. Then in your personal life you might find that you are at the encounter stage.
And then there’s this… and this might wreck you… while on this purpose journey there will even be times when you are Zacchaeus and other times when you are the crowd. Times when you are trying to see and a crowd is blocking you… and than times when you are the one in the crowd blocking someone behind you. This is why I must make you aware that while you think it’s great to be recognized finally… keep in mind you are not perfect and there may be others you have wronged watching this season of your life and they can’t believe you are getting blessed. And on the other hand you may be the one who feels like you are doing everything right and you are following Jesus but soon as someone you believe don’t deserve what God is doing for them… you start to complain about them. No matter what role you find yourself in… the crowd and Zacchaeus are both on their journey on the map. And both require self awareness of their actions.
Now let’s step back into our map.
We have finally came to the last two spots on the map.
7. TRANSFORMATION
8. Living In Purpose
I hope you have found value in this series of letters over the last few weeks. On October 10, 2026 at 11am EST… I want to sit with you and answer your questions and help you find where you are on the Purpose Journey Map. Click below to rsvp.
I’ll write you next sunday.
Gold -
I get so much from these teachings. I have spent years connecting the dots in my life.
Jesus already knew what was in Zecheus.
The timing of this is amazing. I write every morning. Here is yesterday's.
GOD PLACED THE DESIRES OF MY HEART WITHIN ME LONG BEFORE I BECAME AWARE OF IT, YET EVERYTHING I HAVE EXPERIENCED AND LEARNED HAS ALWAYS SOFTLY BEEN PULLING ME TOWARDS THE DESIRE ITSELF.
I have spent a lot of time wandering around parts unknown and each new discovery leaves me with nothing but awe and wonder at the pure perfection of its workings.
Thank you.
Powerful observations.