HE KNOWS MY NAME!
Lk. 19:1-10
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR: THE IRS SHUFFLE (2 days ago – tax day)
1. Tax his cow, Tax his goat; Tax his pants, Tax his coat;
Tax his crop, Tax his work; Tax his ties, Tax his shirt;
2. Tax his chew, Tax his smoke; Teach him taxing is no joke.Tax his tractor,
Tax his mule; Tell him,Taxing is the rule.
3. Tax his oil, Tax his gas; Tax his notes, Tax his cash;
Tax him good and let him know, That after taxes, he has no dough.
4. If he hollers, Tax him more; Tax him till he's good and sore.
Tax his coffin, Tax his grave, Tax his sod in which he's laid.
5. Put these words upon his tomb, Taxes drove him to his doom.
After he's gone, we won't relax, We'll still collect inheritance tax.
B. TEXT
1 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. 3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way. 5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. 7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a ‘sinner.’” 8 But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”
C. THESIS
1. Everyone has the need to be loved, to know that we’re unique and special.
2. A life-changing moment can happen when the All-powerful Creator, who made all the vast universe we see, loves us personally and calls us by name.
3. We’re going to take a few minutes to look at the life of one man who had a God-moment and made this discovery.
4. The title of tonight’s message is “He Knows My Name!”
I. ZACCHAEUS, A NEEDY PERSON
A. ZACCHEAUS & HIS CONTEMPORARIES
1. I’m sure that Zaccheaus, to the people of Jericho, looked like he was happy, successful, proud to be who he was, and self-assured.
2. But that was just the façade he paraded before people. In truth, he was a very needy & unhappy man.
3. PHYSIQUE. It’s not bad to be a short woman, but short men are in a disadvantage in a fight with other men, and typically can’t date taller women.
4. It's one thing to be short, but when Jews start calling you short -- that's short! Have you ever heard of a Jewish basketball star? No!
5. AS A JEW, he was hated by the Romans.
a. Cicero wrote: "The Jews belong to a dark and repulsive force….They are a nation of rascals and deceivers."
b. Diodorus Siculus, first century Greek historian, observed that Jews treated other peoples as enemies & inferiors. By "usury" they caused great misery and poverty for Gentiles.
c. Jews called Gentiles “dogs” commonly. The Romans knew their attitudes & despised them.
6. AS A TAX COLLECTOR
a. Just like today, even back then, almost nobody liked the tax man. Jewish tax collectors were oppressors & traitors to Rome. They exacted more taxes than required to enrich themselves; legal highway robbers!
b. Jewish tax collectors were quarantined as "Moral Lepers." The Pharisees wouldn't acknowledge them on the streets or enter their houses;
c. They were turned away from synagogues and the Temple.
7. SUMMARY. So in reality, although he looked good, Zacchaeus undoubtedly had an inferiority complex. He was hated by his bosses, a traitor to his people, cut off from God. No one was his friend or would speak to him.
B. THOUGHT: “CERTAINLY GOD CONDEMNS ME”
1. WHY WOULDN’T HE? Everybody else loathes me – God must too.
2. My job makes me hurt people – rob them.
3. All the spiritual people shout at me that I’m destined to burn in hell.
4. Since I’m despised by everybody, surely I’m despised by God!
5. (But everybody longs to be loved – even Zacchaeus!)
6. HOW WRONG HE WAS! God DID care about him. God predestined that meeting with Jesus that day, from all eternity.
II. ZACH WANTED TO KNOW GOD
A. VISUALIZE THIS COMICAL SCENE:
1. This short guy running around the edge of the crowd – JUMPING – trying to see Jesus!
2. This short rich man, dressed up like a King, sitting up in a tree, like a bird!
3. Then sliding down the tree like a fire pole.
4. What made him do it? He wanted to know God; Do we?
B. NATURE OF JESUS
1. Jesus was different than all the religious crowd; He was even labeled/ridiculed as "the Friend of Sinners" by them, as a ‘put-down.’
2. Jesus routinely met society’s “rejects” and saw in them the best material for His purpose.
3. You see – it’s not what we already are that Jesus wants, but He wants those who are ready to be changed into something new! That’s why Jesus went to the marginalized.
4. Almost the first thing He did (in ministry) was speak to a woman who'd had five husbands and was a half-breed Samaritan, and the last thing He did was to hang between two thieves and pardon one of them!
5. He likes to hang around people who are ready to change! Are you?
C. NATURE OF HIS MISSION
1. The whole nature of Jesus’ mission is redemptive: to transform that which is contrary to God into that which is pleasing to Him.
2. Paul said, "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am chief" 1 Tim. 1:5.
3. Jesus said, "For I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance" Matthew 9:13.
4. Since this is true, this church should not be a museum or a monument, but a mission station to rescue the perishing!
5. Verse 10 has sixteen monosyllables, yet they tell the story of God’s eternal mission;
6. “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Don’t give up on people!
D. WASN’T A CHANCE MEETING
1. Zach had pursued the world's priorities, made it to the top, and found it EMPTY!
2. Many men would love to lead the life of Sean Connery. Tall, handsome, and dashing, Connery played the glamorous part of 007 in six James bond movies. Connery also travels the world to shoot movies as an executive producer.
Yet when asked in an interview why, at age 62, he
continued to act, Connery gave a surprising reply: "Because I get the opportunity to be somebody better and more interesting than I am."
Many people feel like their lives aren't all they could be, aren't as good as they should be. Something is missing. Only Christ makes a person's life what it can be, should be and must be.
3. Zach was up that tree because he became a SEEKER. He stood out to Jesus (from the crowd) because he had become a SEEKER.
4. Have you begun to seek after God?
a. "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you."
b. "Those that seek Me early shall find Me."
c. "But seek ye first the kingdom of God and all these other things will be added to you as well."
d. "He is the rewarder of them that diligently seek Him."
5. Like a kid, Zach climbed a tree. Zach had to quit worrying about his image; he had to stop worrying about being in control. So do we.
III. WHAT ZACCHAEUS FOUND IN JESUS
A. JESUS (GOD) KNEW HIS NAME
1. These days we’re seldom known by our names. The Gov’t knows us by our S.S. #, the IRS by our taxpayer #, the police by our driver’s license #, doctors by our patient #. We’re just another number to them: impersonal.
2. But we read in the Bible, God, “determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name” Psalms 147:4.
3. The Milky Way is estimated to have between 100 and 400 billion stars! Astronomers estimate that there are at least 100 billion galaxies in the observable universe.
4. Kornreich estimates there are 10 trillion galaxies in the universe, resulting in 100 octillion stars, or 100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 stars, or a "1" with 29 zeros after it. (14 quintillion X # of humans!)
5. Yet God has the capacity to name each one and to call them by their names. Such a colossal mind obviously wouldn’t have any difficulty keeping up with the mere 7+ billion humans, how many hairs they have on their heads, what their thoughts are, and keeping each atom in the universe swinging in its own orbit, held together by His invisible hand! These are mere child’s play to the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe.
6. The politicians don’t know you, nor does the pope, nor the actors & actresses in Hollywood, nor the bankers on Wall Street; nor am I known at the Ivy League schools, at the Pentagon, nor at the NFL, NBA, or the PGA – but God knows my name!
7. I’ve never been mentioned on network news, never went viral on Facebook, never made the front page of a big newspaper or magazine, I’ve never made any top ten chart – but the God of the Universe knows every detail of my life!
8. Jesus said, “And the sheep listen to the voice of the Shepherd. He calls his own sheep, using their names, and He leads them out.” Jn. 10:3, ERV.
9. Psalm 139 says, “O Lord, you have searched me and known me. 2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from far away. 3 You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. 4 Even before a word is on my tongue, O Lord, you know it completely. 5 You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is so high that I cannot attain it.” (Vss. 1-6 NRSV).
B. HE FOUND ACCEPTANCE
1. We’re all plagued by fears that God doesn’t think we’re worthy to be accepted by Him, or He has a bad opinion of us.
2. But Jesus blew that away. He was the opposite. He ate with sinners. He greeted and received the tax collectors, the lepers, the wayward women. He accepted them just as they were & loved them.
C. HE FOUND FORGIVENESS
1. Jesus allowed him to be forgiven of his past and to start over!
2. OTHERS MAY HAVE GIVEN UP ON YOU, AND YOU MAY HAVE GIVEN UP ON YOURSELF – BUT GOD HASN’T GIVEN UP ON YOU!
3. "I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with loving kindness I have drawn you" Jeremiah 31:3.
4. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command” John 15:13-14. Jesus demonstrated His love on the Cross.
D. WAS RESTORED TO FAMILY OF GOD
1. Verse 9 says, “Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham.’”
2. This statement re-bestowed on Zacchaeus his sonship in the spiritual line of Abraham.
3. Yes, this man was a son of God by faith, justified and qualified to walk the golden streets of Paradise with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Hallelujah!
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION
1. W. E. Nelson tells the true story about a ship that was wrecked at sea. When they let down the life boats, they realized that there wasn't room in them for all of the crew.
2. They drew straws to determine who’d be left to die. One was drawn by a young, wild, and very lost sailor. When he faced the reality of his death, he began to cry, "Oh God! I'm going to hell!"
3. Suddenly he was picked up bodily and thrown into one of the boats. The man who did it, said to him, "You aren't ready to die, but I am, and I'm willing to die for you. My only condition is that you get your heart right with God so that you someday make it to heaven."
4. It was an older sailor who had often told him of the Lord, but he had laughed him off. Now he realized the reality of life and death and how important the death of Jesus was for him. He and the others watched from a distance as the ship finally sank and the abandoned sailors died.
5. Later, once the young man had received Jesus as his personal Savior, he frequently ended his testimony with the words, "Two men died for me!"
6. Just as certainly as that sailor died for him, Jesus died in your place, so that you could go to heaven!
B. THE CALL
1. Are you willing to trust God...
a. With your life? healing? marriage?
b. With your son/daughter? Raise your hand.
2. God wants to know if you’re ready to change, to fulfill His glorious purpose? If so, raise your hands.
3. Everyone who has raised your hands, join me at the front; we’re going to have special prayer together.
ADDENDUM:
A few quotes by N.T era Jews about the tax collectors:
1. "As one robber disgraced his whole family, so one publican in a family; promises were not to be kept with murderers, thieves and publicans" -Nedar 3:4
2. "The synagogue alms box and the temple corban must not receive their alms" -Baba Kama 10:1
3. "It was not lawful to use riches received from them, as gotten by rapine; nor could they judge or give testimony in court -Sanhedr. 25, sec. 2.
