A lot of people like to have the title of Christian. Now I use the word title because they want it in name only. Know that to be a Christian you must meet this simple criterion: being a Christian refers to a person who follows or belongs to a religion based on the worship of one God and the teachings of Jesus Christ as described in the Bible. So, if you do not believe that God the Father is the only God, and you have not accepted Jesus of Nazareth as the Christ, the One who died for you on the cross and rose again three days later…then you are a not a true Christian.
I know that there are some of us today, who have accepted Christ are still unsure of their standing with God, even though they have accepted Jesus, been baptized, and believe they are following Him to the best of their abilities. Wel for you, and those who are name only, I want to take this time to help you understand if you are truly converted.
Then Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature.
So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was going to pass that way. 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.” So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully.
But when they saw it, they all complained, saying, “He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner.” 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.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
Luke 19:1-10
The story of Zacchaeus demonstrates for us three clear aspects of a true conversion. We need to know them, as God’s desire is for us to live them. A true conversion means:
1. You must successfully overcome the barriers keeping you from Christ (Luke 19:1-4). For each one of us, there are barriers that stand between us and a live and full relationship with Jesus. And we are assured that there is a full relationship with Christ, as He tells us this in John 10:10:
The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
Jesus Himself wants us to have a full and complete life, but we need to act to receive that full and complete life. Notice that Jesus uses the word “may”, “that they may have it more abundantly.” Now Jesus is not saying that it is impossible for Him, but that we must accept His offer of life. Remember that salvation is a gift that we must accept…it is there for the taking, and all it takes is to accept Jesus as the Christ and the gift is yours…but you must act. There are no exceptions to this rule. So, until those barriers are overcome true conversion is not possible. And from our story we can see that Zacchaeus had some barriers to overcome.
a. He was wealthy
i. Zacchaeus was a rich chief tax collector. Being a chief tax official is a line of work, for a Jew of the day where the people viewed you with disgust. And as for the matter of wealth it was and is not a problem in having great wealth. But the problem was his approach to his job of attaining his wealth. He was known as a thieving tax collector who would collect more than the Roman government called for and would pocket the rest. He lived his life for what he could get, with no compassion for others. He lacked any sensitivity to the needs of the people. A true conversion would mean that all this would need to change.
ii. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. ~2 Corinthians 5:17
iii. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation. ~Galatians 6:15
iv. Scripture is very clear on the subject…we must undergo a change if a true conversion is to take place, and that change takes more than your own will power. It is a change that starts when Jesus becomes part of your life and God makes that change happen in you.
b. He was a short man
i. Zacchaeus was a short man. In those days, people in general were not as tall as what is considered normal height for today. So, Zacchaeus might have been somewhat less than five feet tall. This story occurred about a week before the crucifixion of Jesus. Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem. And at this point in His ministry Jesus was very popular with the people, and so wherever He went He would draw a huge crowd. Zacchaeus was too short to see Jesus in the crowd, so he ran ahead to climb a tree along the path Jesus surely would take.
c. Until conversion, every one of us has barriers that stand in the way of seeing Jesus like we need to see Him, and it is those barriers that cause us to steer clear of Jesus, but not Zacchaeus, he takes extra effort to see Jesus. Are we taking that extra effort?
d. “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, Lest they should see with their eyes, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them.” ~John 12:40
e. But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. ~2 Corinthians 4:3-4
f. Some of us have the barrier of the loss of spiritual sight because of the evil one who has blinded us to the truth that Jesus came to save that which is lost.
g. You may think yourself unworthy to be loved by Jesus. Satan would have you believe that there is something in your life that will keep you from accepting and being accepted by Christ. Maybe you think that you’re not good enough or that you don’t need a savior. We need to stop letting the past from becoming a barrier, because God forgives sins. We must get over hurtles like these if we are going to have a true and authentic conversion to Christ.
2. Jesus must intersect your life in some fashion (Luke 19:5-6). It’s important to be able to see Jesus, but you can’t be converted unless Jesus has made a clear entrance into your life.
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. ~Revelation 3:20
As we continue in our story, we will see that Jesus came to Zacchaeus’ door and he answered. When Jesus came to the tree, He looked up and said, “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” This verse is packed with meaning.
a. Jesus knew His name. Jesus knew his name just like He knows the hearts of man and just like he knows you and me by name. He knew all about Zacchaeus and loved him despite his sin. Jesus knows everything about us and loves us as well.
b. This meeting was not by chance. Jesus said in verse 5, “for today I must stay at your house.” In this sentence we need to notice the key word “must.” And the Greek word used for must in this verse states that it is a necessity that Jesus comes to Zacchaeus’ home. So, we see that it is not only the proper thing to do but the unavoidable thing to do. Because you see, Jesus had to meet Zacchaeus if he was to be converted. Nobody is ever converted without this “divine must.” Like Zacchaeus, Jesus must intersect our lives in some way, shape, or form for us to respond to Him. If we have no encounter with Jesus, we cannot be converted.
c. So how do we have an encounter with Jesus? Paul tells us in Romans 10:13-17
i. For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent?
As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!” But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?” So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
d. Zacchaeus had most definitely heard of Jesus, because he lost one of his employees to Jesus’ call, the call for Matthew to leave the tax collectors table when Jesus told him to follow me.
e. Jesus, though headed to the Cross, had time to stop for Zacchaeus. Often our days are busy. We have plans. We are working on a specific thing or needing to go to a specific place. We meet someone along the way or we’re at home and the phone rings. It’s not part of your plan and it may even seem like an intrusion. But guess what? It may be a divine “must.”
3. Your life will be radically changed (Luke 19:8-10). Zacchaeus opened his life to Jesus and Jesus changed him from the inside out. Zacchaeus promised half of what he owned to the poor; he saw for the first time the plight of those he bypassed in his day-to-day routine. He went on to promise restitution to those he has cheated, according to an Old Testament standard from Numbers 5:7
“then he shall confess the sin which he has committed. He shall make restitution for his trespass in full, plus one-fifth of it, and give it to the one he has wronged.”
And it was going to cost him a bundle! When Zacchaeus was finished Jesus said, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham.”
a. The problem we face today is religion without a changed life…Christian in name only. When Jesus truly saves immoral people, they stop sleeping around. When He saves drunks, they leave the booze alone. When He saves people who mistreat others they become kind. When He saves people with money, they become generous. True conversion does not mean that we become perfect. No, far from it, but with the Holy Spirit as our guide we are walking down that road to perfection, and we may have many miles to go. We will sometimes stumble in our walk with Jesus until the day we met Him in the clouds. But we will not live the way we used to.
