It has many intriguing things about it. For example, when Jesus was going through Jericho and He met Zacchaeus there, what kind of man did He meet?
1. Zacchaeus was wealthy.
We read in verse 2, "And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich."
2. Zacchaeus was curious.
Verse 3, "And he sought to see Jesus who he was; and could not for the press, because he was little of stature."
3. He was determined.
Verse 4, "And he ran before, and climbed up into a sycomore tree to see him..."
It was probably those characteristics that account for Zacchaeus' being a rich man. He knew how to solve a problem. He wanted to see Jesus, but because of his size he was not able to see him among the rest of the people so he ran ahead of where the crowds had gathered. There he climbed up into a high perch and when the crowd followed Jesus that way they did not block his view. The first four verses of our text tell us a great deal about the man, Zacchaeus. In the remaining verses we are told a great deal about the Lord Jesus as He teaches us about soul winning. He shows us -
I. THE PLACE OF EVANGELISM.
Wherever Jesus went opportunities to win people to Him presented themselves and He took advantage of every opportunity. The reason many folks have never won anyone to Christ is because they have never learned that most soul winning takes place in awkward, and in every day, situations and times. Some have wasted years waiting for the perfect time and the perfect place to witness to a person.
Look at verses 5 - 6, "And when Jesus came to the PLACE, he looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for today I must abide at thy home. And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully."
Most of us would think that with that multitude following Jesus that would be a rather awkward time for Jesus to be carrying on a conversation with some rich man who happened to be sitting high in a sycomore tree. But, it was not awkward for Jesus!
Illus: Delos Miles said, "Evangelism is where you find it."
What did he mean by that? He meant that every day awkward situations will confront us at awkward times.
Illus: Just look at what happened to Christ. He was surrounded by a cheering crowd as He walked down the road. Then He came to a particular sycamore tree. He looked up and saw Zacchaeus looking at Him with eyes that seemed to pierce right through Him. Notice what Jesus did then. He ignored the crowd of people surrounding Him and focused His eyes on one man. Why? Jesus knew that many of the people who were following Him were there for the wrong reason. Jesus also knew that for a rich man, who was on a high level in society, to climb a tree because he was too small to see Jesus in the crowd, he was different from all the rest.
This was an awkward situation and an awkward time, but when Jesus got to that sycomore tree, He was not about to pass Zacchaeus without reaching out to him. Jesus knew, better than anyone, that evangelism can take place wherever we are.
Illus: Remember when Jesus sat at the public well and the woman came to draw water. Again He was in an awkward situation at an awkward time. The woman had a reputation for living an evil life so no decent person in town wanted to be caught in broad daylight talking to her. But, Jesus knew He might never go that way again and that was a one-time chance to share the gospel of Who He was and why He had come in that very awkward time and place. It was at THAT TIME and THAT PLACE, beside that well, that He told her everything she needed to know to have eternal life in Heaven.
Here is the bad news to those Christians who are waiting for the ideal time and the ideal situation before they will witness: the devil will see to it that what you consider to be an ideal time and place will never come! The place for you to evangelise is wherever you are whenever you are there.
Illus: J. H. Jowett said of the Lord Jesus, the Master soul winner, "His eyes were like two eagle scouts:
• He saw Nathanael under the fig tree.
• He saw Matthew at the seat of customs.
• He saw that blind beggar beside the road outside Jericho.
• And He saw Zacchaeus, up in that sycomore tree."
The story of Zacchaeus not only teaches us that evangelism is appropriate where ever the opportunity presents itself, but the story of Zacchaeus also teaches us -
II. THE PLAN OF EVANGELISM.
After Jesus left Samaria He went through Jericho on His way to Jerusalem. Now why would he take that route when there was a shorter route? Because He knew there was a man named Zacchaeus who needed to be saved. It was Jesus' PLAN TO GO TO JERICHO AND WIN HIM!
Illus: Luke 19:1 says, "And Jesus entered and passed through Jericho." God did not have to include that statement in His Word - unless He was trying to teach us something. What are some of the things we can learn from this portion of our text?
• In the Old Testament Jericho was given to Joshua.
• After it was destroyed, God said anyone who would try to rebuild it would be cursed. This was tested during the days of Ahab.
• During the days of Christ, that area was a resort area. It was the Las Vegas of that day.
• That was where the publicans lived. The publicans could be likened to our modern-day mafia.
• The publicans were tax collectors who were despised by so many. They would pay Rome for the right to collect taxes in certain territories, but they would always collect a great deal more than they paid Rome.
Here, the Bible tells us, Jesus "...entered and passed through Jericho." The ONLY reason Jesus was at that CURSED PLACE was because Zacchaeus was there. Jesus spent some time there, perhaps the whole night at Zacchaeus' house, for He had told Zacchaeus he was going to his house. It is thought that Zacchaeus did not live in Jericho itself because God's Word tells us that Jesus "...passed through..."
Who is Zacchaeus?
He was not only a tax collector, but verse 2 tells us he, "...was the chief among the publicans and he was rich."
Here is something ironic, the name "Zacchaeus," meant "PURE." His parents had named him, never dreaming he would grow up to be a thief.
The Bible says that he, "...was the chief among the publicans..." He was the Al Capone, the Jesse James of his day and time.
Remember, Jesus was on His way to carry out the most IMPORTANT MISSION anyone would ever carry out that would affect mankind. His mission was to die on the cross for the sins of mankind.
In Isaiah 50:7 We read, "For the Lord God will help me...therefore have I set my face like a flint..."
This indicates He recognized that Satan would do all kinds of things to try to stop him from completing His mission, but He "set" His "...face like a flint..." and determined not to let anything stop Him. As important as the final part of His mission was, He did not forget the lessons He wanted to teach on the way there. On his way to Jerusalem to die for the sins of mankind He made time to stop at that sycomore tree and talk to Zacchaeus, whom everyone despised. Everyone, that is, except Jesus.
Notice, Jesus loved him. He did not love his ways, but He loved him. If we had lived in that day we probably have said that there was hope for everyone to accept Jesus, except for Zacchaeus.
The hope for all mankind is the Lord Jesus! Listen, if the Lord cannot help you, you can rest assured that no man can help you. Jesus took time out, on His way to carrying out the most important mission that has ever been carried out, to talk to Zacchaeus, who was despised by everyone.
When you talk to Christians about witnessing these days many of them will tell you they would love to be able to witness, but they have so many important things to do they really do not have time. What they are saying is, "Soul winning is important, but I do not consider it as important as what I am doing with my life."
You see, we do what we consider to be important! When Jesus was on His way to carry out the greatest mission that has ever been carried out, He had time to stop and talk to Zacchaeus about his spiritual condition. Zacchaeus was truly despised by everyone.
In verse 6, the Lord's PLAN was to convert him and he was gloriously saved. The Bible says that he received Christ "joyfully." This was the last thing the so-called religious leaders of that day wanted to see Zacchaeus do to receive Jesus "joyfully."
Look at verse 7, "And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, That he was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner."
They did not care if Zacchaeus died and went to a Christless eternity, but Christ cared. He cared enough to stop, on His way to carrying out the greatest mission of mankind, and tell a man in a sycomore tree how he could be saved.
Also in this passage the Lord is teaching us that if we are going to win anyone to Christ, we have to be active in...
III. THE PRACTICE OF EVANGELISM.
Zacchaeus had all the money he needed, but he was not happy. He needed the Lord! When a person has the Lord in his heart it makes a difference in his life. Before accepting Christ he PRACTICES SIN.
Illus: For example, before Zacchaeus got saved he did not care how he hurt the poor families by over-taxing them. All he cared about was himself.
After a person accepts the Lord Jesus he starts PRACTICING RIGHTEOUSNESS. One of the shortcomings in our evangelizing today is that we fail to teach new converts their need to LIVE for the Lord and PRACTICE RIGHTEOUSNESS. Christ not only initially saves us from sin, He also wants to continue to save us from practicing sin after we have accepted Him.
Illus: Suppose a medical student goes all the way through med school and when he graduates he never practices what he has learned. Would this not be strange? Certainly it would! After learning of all those great ways to help unfortunate people he needs to practice what he has learned!
When a person has come to know Christ as his Lord and Savior, he needs to incorporate the things of God in his life. Obeying God's Word is evidence that a person has truly gotten saved. Look at verse 8. It says when Zacchaeus got saved... "And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken anything from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold." Zacchaeus, like many of us, wasted too much of his life as a sinner. When he came to know Christ he wanted to dedicate the rest of his life undoing the harm he had caused as a lost person. Most likely he spent the rest of his life promoting the gospel of Christ.
In Colossians 4:5-6 Paul says, "Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time. Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man."
Illus: Notice the words, "...redeeming the time." In New Testament Greek there are two words for time. One is "chronos" from which we get our word "chronology." This deals with seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years, and centuries. The other is "kairos" which speaks of the seasons - winter, summer, autumn, and spring. This was the word Paul used when he spoke of "...redeeming the time." In other words, if we are ever going to witness for Christ, this is the season to do it!
Illus: Any hunter in the Carolinas can tell you what SEASON it is, whether it be dove season or deer season. Every year they look forward to these seasons.
God wants His people to recognize NOW is the SEASON for us to WIN SOULS! One day there will no longer be an opportunity. WE NEED TO BEGIN PRACTICING EVANGELISM NOW!
Conclusion/Summary: An evangelist who was a great soul winner kept records of his witnessing. He had made almost 10,000 visits to sinners. He had this to say, "I never made one of those visits without:
• Being tempted not to go.
• Finding that God was there before I arrived.
• Being glad I went after I had gone.
I. THE PLACE OF EVANGELISM.
II. THE PLAN OF EVANGELISM.
III. THE PRACTICE OF EVANGELISM.
