TO SEE WHO JESUS WAS...
Luke 19:1 “Then Jesus entered and passed through Jericho.
19:2 Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich.
19:3 And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature.
19:4 So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was going to pass that way.
19:5 And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to him, ‘Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.’
19:6 So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully.
19:7 But when they saw it, they all complained, saying, ‘He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner.’
19:8 Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, ‘Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.’
19:9 And Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham;
19:10 for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
Introduction
“If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent us an educator; If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist; If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist; If our greatest need had been pleasure, God would have sent us an entertainer; But our greatest need was forgiveness, so God sent us a Savior.”
http://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/c/christ.htm
This is a story about that Saviour. A lost person is found and a sinner reborn to experience the joy of God’s salvation in Christ.
Zacchaeus
So Zacchaeus. Who was Zacchaeus? He was a little man with a big, bad reputation.
He was Rich, at the expense of other people, but that did not bother Zacchaeus!
Zacchaeus was at the top of his profession. As chief tax collector of the district, probably getting there by being more devious than the last chief tax collector, Zacchaeus took a cut from every tax collector in his taxation area. This made him very rich.
He was influential. People would do deals with him in order to avoid paying too much tax.
“You owe 500 denarii/drachmas, pay me 100 and say 200 to the government I will record that you paid in full. Save you a couple of hundred.”
Or, in his position as chief tax collector he could accuse people of not paying what they owed the Roman government and have them thrown into prison. He could use his power to extort money from them.
Rich, professionally successful and powerful.
The down side was that he was shunned by the majority of people. People hated him and did not trust his family.
He probably had to protect himself from his enemies, so he lived in fear as well as being arrogant.
He was sad and needy. He was spiritually lost. He was a sinner. Socially he was “on the outer.”
Just as Christ accepted the lepers although they were among the outcasts from society of His day, so He accepted Zacchaeus.
We dislike such people. I put it to you that we dislike people like Zacchaeus more than we dislike lepers.
Why?
1. Because we don’t have much to do with lepers, the outcasts of our society. We don’t have to mix with them. We look down on them. We feel sorry for outcasts and the people they associate with because they are socially beneath us; because they don’t fit into “good, acceptable” society, whatever that is. (Substitute the drug "P" and the sickened drug dealers, prostitutes with AIDS and pimps or car thieves for lepers…)
The second reason we dislike Zacchaeus types more that societies’ lepers…
2. Because we have to mix from time to time with them. We have to meet some people we know are extortionists, who take our money and often misuse it: Members of Parliament and Local Body Councillors, Local Body officials, lawyers, even my dentist!
What is going to remove all that prejudice from our hearts?
John Calvin said: “we cannot aspire to Him (God) in earnest until we have begun to be displeased with ourselves.” (Institutes of the Christian Religion, Chapt 1. Para.1. Bible Explorer 4)
Zacchaeus was not pleased. He was not happy with himself as he was.
He had probably heard Jesus preaching at another occasion: [Matthew 9:10; Mk 2:15; Lk 5:29]
Lk 15:1 tells us that “all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him.”
Once Jesus had invited the little man to come down and to have Jesus stay it his house, something happened to Zacchaeus.
Something had really changed in his heart because it tells us that he was prepared to give his money away!
‘Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.’(verse 8)
Jesus saw that it was hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven (Mt 19:23) and that a sure sign of a change of heart was Zacchaeus giving up of that which he prized most - his money!
Only the loving kindness of God can do that.
So while we may think that this is a story of Zacchaeus looking for Jesus, it is in fact a story of Jesus seeking the lost. (v10)
Speaking of Himself in verse 10, Jesus says to His listeners: “for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Lk19:10)
It’s another Lost Coin story, a Lost Son story if you want, but this time it is not a parable, but a particular changed human being who comes to Jesus Christ and surrenders to Him.
It is nothing less than a miracle.
Any person who recognises this loving acceptance by God, who comes to know God as the Bible states, submits their will to Him. Without exception those who come to know God’s love in their experience, come to love and serve him.
Think of those God has called in the past:
Moses before the burning bush…”take off your shoes Moses, for the place you are standing is holy ground.”
“Clean up your mouth Isaiah, for I am holy, holy, holy God.”
“Lord, I will go for you…” was Isaiah’s reply. (Isa 6)
“Depart from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!” (The great Apostle Peter.) (Lk 5:8)
“Lord, who are you? Then the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ So he, trembling and astonished, said, ‘Lord, what do You want me to do?’ ” said Paul. (Acts 9:5-6)
Who Was Jesus?
What did Zacchaeus do?
He went out of his way to see who Jesus was…Jesus revealed Himself to Zacchaeus. It was a spiritual revelation (see Matthew Henry: "He had a great curiosity to see Jesus, what kind of a man he was, having heard great talk of him, Luk_19:3. It is natural to us to come in sight, if we can, of those whose fame has filled our ears, as being apt to imagine there is something extraordinary in their countenances; at least, we shall be able to say hereafter that we have seen such and such great men. But the eye is not satisfied with seeing. We should now seek to see Jesus with an eye of faith, to see who he is; we should address ourselves in holy ordinances with this in our eye, We would see Jesus." (MH Comm in e-Sword Bible)
Who was this Jesus? A curiosity?
If He was at the beginning, He did not remain so in Zacchaeus’ mind.
Why?
Is Jesus a curiosity to you?
This is a curiosity! (I hold up my wooden crocodile, bush pig, or snake and put it away again)
You cannot know a curio! You cannot have a relationship with a curio.
But you can know Jesus Christ!
Since we are on African curios let me tell you an African tale. It’s an urban myth actually, but it has a moral to it.
An African goes into flash new car showroom in his tattered clothes and suitcase.
The new cars are all very nice and clean and shiny.
He is not!
He asks to see one of the most classy cars in the showroom.
He has that: “do these come is red? look”, in his eye.
The salesman looks at the shabby clothes and glances at the suitcase. After a few moments the salesman turns him away and out of the showroom.
What the salesman does not know is that the man has a suitcase full of money (cash money).
The man goes down the street and pays cash for a brand new car of his choice (red if he likes) at a different car dealer.
We must not judge people by their outward appearance. Not that having money is a positive character trait.
It’s just that the story reminds us not to judge a book by it’s cover.
Now Zacchaeus was a rich man…everybody knew it and they all knew how he had become so rich as well...he took more than his share of the tax that he collected.
Jesus looked beyond that and called Zacchaeus to Himself in love. This is what the Bible calls grace:
GOD’S UNMERITED (un-worked for) FAVOUR TOWARD US IN CHRIST.
God’s
Riches
At
Christ’s
Expense
“God’s mercy...goes before the unwilling to make him willing; it follows the willing to make his will effectual.”
(St Augustine of Hippo, Handbook on Faith, Hope, and Love, http://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/g/grace.htm)
A story
A young man has rich father who has provided him with money.
He travels all around the world not caring about the love and generosity of the father for his son.
He does not attribute any worth to the use of this money. The trust account is just there for him to use.
He forgets his father who provided it.
He becomes a bit older and wiser and when he gets ill, he gets dissatisfied with life. Life seems not all it was once cracked up to be.
He feels empty and bored.
He returns to his home land to find that his mother is alive but his father is dead. He feels even more empty…
At last he thinks of ending his life, but because he has been brought up with good values and realising that he has departed from them, he finds that he cannot end it all, so he tries to think.
What would my father want of me?
What would he want me to do?
Why can I not feel right and grieve for my father as I should?
Why do I not comfort my mother?
You put your own end to the story.
Imagine you are that person who has wasted what you have been given. You regret the feelings that rise up inside you.
What will you do?
Jesus said: “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. These things I command you, that you love one another.” (Jn 15:16-17)
What will you do? Amen.
