Little Big Man Series

Little big man.

Lk.19:1-10

Story of Zacheus, who was a man of small stature, who did everything that he could, in order to get a glimpse of Jesus passing by.

He was a rich man, who was also a tax collector. In those days, much similar to now, the tax man was not a very well liked man among his peers.

While the text that we read tells us of a man who climbed a tree so that he could see Jesus, there is more to the story.

Jesus entered into Jericho, which was the first city that the children of Israel had captured, when they went into the promised land. Remember, The spies were sent into the land, and they found Rahab the harlot, who ended up giving sanctuary to the children of Israel……………….

Jericho was the first city for the Israelites, but Jesus did not visit it until his last journey into Jerusalem. Its amazing, that just as Rahab and her household were the only ones that were spared, that Jesus made his way into the same city of Jericho, just for the household of Zacheus to be saved.

In the O.T. it was a woman who was a harlot, and was no doubt at the bottom rung of the social ladder, to the new testament it was a rich man, who was hated by everyone. There is no wonder that the bible says the first shall be last, and the last shall be first.

I’m here to tell you that it does not matter your social status. It doesn’t matter what your position or your job may be, nor what your neighbors may think of you, when God has a plan for your life, its his will that will prevail.

Its not by accident that God sent Joshua, who was an Old testament type of Christ as one of the spies that were sent in. There name actually comes from the same Hebrew word Yeshua. God is salvation.

As Jesus entered into Jericho, he noticed this man Zacheus perched up in a tree, trying to get just a glimpse of him.

Jesus looked up and said to him, Zaccheus, make haste, or hurry and get down here, for I need to go to your house.

Isn’t funny how, sometimes when we are just looking out of curiosity, Jesus will call us. Perhaps this is the case with some of us, we were just coming to church, trying to get a glimpse of what everyone else was seeing.

Maybe this is you now, in the process of separating yourself from the people around you who know you as…. Or people who judge you by the things that you used to do.

Can I tell you today, that it does not matter what kind of person you were before you got saved. It doesn’t matter if you were the biggest harlot in town, nor the most hated man in the streets, because the bible says that God uses the foolish things of this world to confound the wise.

This is why Paul said this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Forget about the past, and look forward unto what God is doing now, and what is about to become.

The point of the story that grabbed me, was the fact that Zaccheus separated himself from the rest of the crowd. He was not just going to stand back and watch the crowds try to press in closer to Jesus, but he made just that little extra effort, in climbing the tree to get a new perspective.

He did not just want to come and see what everyone else was seeing, but he wanted to see the face of the savior. The situation that goes on in all too many churches, is that many are just there to see what is going on. Many people will show up just to have some place to go, while others are there to receive a word from the Lord.

Tell someone, its time to go higher.

As you begin to go higher in God, or climb up to the next level, you will begin to find that others around you will begin to walk away. Because the truth is, misery loves company. People who say friends to the end, often times end up farthest away from you because they are afraid of what you are becoming.

If you are coming to a point in your life where there is starting to become a separation between you, and people who you used to hang with, chances are you are beginning to walk in the will of God.

When Moses went up to the mountain for 40 days, he did not bring everyone of the children of Israel with him, the only one who came along, was Joshua.