Getting A Better View Of Jesus

"GETTING A BETTER VIEW OF JESUS"

Text: Luke 19:1-10

Introduction: There was a man living in the city of Jericho by the name of Zaccheus. When Zaccheus heard that Jesus was coming to Jericho he sought to see Him. There was a crowd of people and Zaccheus was a little man and the people were blocking his view. Zaccheus climbed up into a sycamore tree and became a man above the crowd. He had the best seat in the house, he had a bird’s eye view. Sometimes we need to climb a little higher if we want to see Jesus! The higher you go the better you can see. There are times, however, when the crowd is blocking our view and we can’t see Him. If we aren’t careful we will allow people to hinder us and keep us from seeing Christ. People will distract us, obstruct us and occupy us. The best view is from higher ground, in heavenly places and in the upper room. Not only did Zaccheus get to see Jesus but he also had Jesus to go home with him. Isn’t that what usually happens? When we get close enough to see Him in His power and glory, we end up taking Him home with us! They took notice of the disciples that they had been with Jesus. It becomes evident that He abides with us and His fragrance is with us. When we make the effort to see Jesus, He is compelled to go home with us. It is when we seek Him with all our heart that we find Him. Jesus said, "Zaccheus, make haste, and come down; for today I MUST abide at thy house." Our Lord loves to have fellowship with us. When we desire to have a better view of Jesus, then He MUST abide with us!

I. BLINDED BY RICHES

A. When we think of Zaccheus, we think of a delight-

ful little man who climbed up a tree to see Jesus

a. We probably have visions of our children sing-

ing the song about Zaccheus and making ges-

tures.

b. We see Zacchesus as a good person.

B. But that is far from the truth!

a. Zaccheus was a chief tax collector.

b. The Roman government had usurped authority

over the Jews and forced them to pay exorbi-

tant taxes to Rome.

c. The Romans hired many tax collectors and some

were Jews.

d. They weren’t paid a salary, so they would add

a surcharge of any amount they wanted to the

Roman tax.

e. They skimmed off the top and in order for

someone to be as rich as Zaccheus they had to

add a rather large surcharge.

C. Zaccheus would have been perceived as a Traitor,

a turncoat, and as someone who would abandon

their faith for money.

a. He didn’t have any friends but he had plenty

of enemies.

b. Zaccheus was a very lonely man!

D. He was hated and reviled by his own people be-

cause he was a Jew serving the Roman cause.

a. A publican or a tax collector was a despised

human being.

b. When the Pharisee prayed in the temple, along

side of the tax collector, he thanked God that

he was not like other men who were extortion-

ers, unjust, adulterers and at the bottom of

his list was even as this publican.

E. Zaccheus had been blinded by riches!

a. He had been caught up in the race to have more

b. We think that if a man has riches that he will

be so happy and not have any problems.

ILLUSTRATION:

On March 5, 1995, Don and Shirley Pence of

Phoenix, Arizona, won 101.8 million dollars in

the Arizona Powerball Lottery. She said, "I

guess it means a dream come true. We’ve worked

hard all of our lives, and now we don’t have

to. I guess that means the most to us"

They would receive 3.3 million a year for

20 years after taxes. The interest alone on

101 million at 5% is about 5 million dollars.

F. We might think that if we had that much money or

just the interest from that much money, that we

would have it made.

a. Yet the richest and most powerful man that

ever lived said, "Vanity of vainities, all is

vanity!"

b. Solomon was a man that was left deflated, de-

pressed, and disillusioned.

G. Empty is a word that describes how a lot of

people feel.

a. To them, life is a vapor, a puff of wind,

hollow, with an empty ring and a big fat zero.

b. James 4:14 "For what is your life? It is even

a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and

then vanisheth away."

H. It doesn’t matter what you have in this life be-