“True Significance is Found in Christ”
Luke 19:1-10
Steve Hanchett, pastor
Berry Road Baptist Church
April, 8, 2001
“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 hp 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.’”
You might have seen the movie “Forest Gump.” If you did you might remember one particular scene in which Lt. Dan asks forest if he had found Jesus, to which Forest responds, “I didn’t know I was supposed to be looking for him.” Not all that many years ago it was a common occurrence to see bumper stickers on vehicles that proclaimed, “Jesus is the answer.” Someone with a sarcastic spirit later printed up bumper stickers that read, “What’s the question.”
Well, even though that bumper sticker may have been a little caustic, it raises a good point. What is the question. The answer is there is not one question that people are asking. There are many. People are asking, and mankind has always asked, important questions like: Do I matter? Why am I here? Is there life after death? Can I really know God? Can my life have real purpose?
The questions people ask differ based upon their own status in life. The one whose life has been destroyed by sin is asking if there is any forgiveness. The man dying of cancer wants to know if there is life after death. The senior adult might be asking what purpose their life has. The person who has failed God is wondering if there is a second chance. The one who has lost a loved one stands beside the grave and wonders if there is any hope. The skeptic asks if one can really know God. The parent of the rebellious child asks if God can do anything to change their son or daughter. The religious man wants to know if there is any realism or is it just ritual.
People are asking a lot of very important, serious, spiritual questions. I tell you what I have come to believe and what I am firmly convinced of - Jesus is the answer. There are a lot of questions, but there is really only once answer. The answer if Jesus Christ.
One of the things about Jesus that has captured my imagination, and has birthed in me a desire to be like Jesus is the way in which Jesus Christ was able to meet people where they were, discern the real questions and desires of their heart and then show that person how He was the answer. Jesus knew when to be stern and harsh and he knew when to be soft and gentle. Jesus knew how to get to the root problem. He knew how to explain Himself to others.
The fact is in a diverse congregation like this one, we are all asking different kinds of questions. We are all facing different circumstances and difficulties. We have as many different concerns here as there are people. My conviction is that the answers you are seeking are going to be found in Jesus Christ. The next few Sunday’s I want to take us on a journey with Jesus as He encounters different individuals in the gospels. As we examine these encounters I hope to be able to look at many of the questions that we face and how Jesus Christ is the answer.
The first encounter I want us to consider is Jesus meeting Zacchaeus as recorded in Luke 19:1-10. Almost anyone who has ever been in Vacation Bible School, Sunday School, or Children’s Church knows the story of Zacchaeus. We know it so well because of the song we sing about him.
Zacchaeus was a wee little man,
And a wee little man was he.
He climbed up in a sycamore tree,
For the Lord he wanted to see.
And as the Savior passed that way,
He looked up in the tree.
And he said:
Zacchaeus, you come down,
For I’m going to your house today,
For I’m going to your house today.
This meeting between Jesus and Zacchaeus took place in Jericho. Jericho was a common stopping place for travelers on their way to Jerusalem. Most people found it important to rest there before continuing on the dangerous road between Jericho and Jerusalem. Jesus himself recognized the danger of this road in his parable of the Good Samaritan recorded in Luke 10.
This parable is a good accounting for what that road was like. Jesus spoke of a man “going down from Jerusalem to Jericho.” Jerusalem is about 3,000 feet above sea level and Jericho is at about 600 feet above sea level. The road between the two cities at that time was nothing more than a dangerous, rocky, thief-infested gorge that required about six hours travel time.
You might also remember in Jesus parable of the Good Samaritan that a Levite and a priest both passed by the man who had been beaten and robbed. This itself was a historically accurate part of the story as well. Jericho was a Levitical city at the time. Thus, many of the residents there were priests.
Jericho was also a very wealthy city. Several things in the gospels make this clear. The blind beggars near the city were there because it was a place they could count on people having money to give them. Jericho was chosen as the winter capital for Herod and became an integral part of the government of that area. It had become a large trade center and many wealthy merchants carried on their business from Jericho.
The wealth of the city becomes important to the story of Zacchaeus as well. You see, Zacchaeus was a tax collector and a very wealthy one at that. How does a tax agent become wealthy? Simple, you collect more that you are required to and then you pocket the difference.
It is interesting that the name Zacchaeus means “the just” or “pure” or “holy.” But it is clear that his life didn’t live up to his name. He is a picture of each one of us. God made us to be a holy people who live in a joyous relationship with Him. But we never live up to the design that God had for our lives.
The tax agents of Jesus day were not very well liked. It would not be overstating the case to say that they were hated. They were hated because they represented the domination of Rome over Israel. Every tax collector was a living reminder that Israel was not free. They were despised because they sold their services to the foreign oppressor in order to make money at the expense of their fellow countrymen.
They were also hated because they almost always overcharged people and pocketed the surplus. The Roman government had a certain amount of tax the publicans were required to collect. They gave these tax agents wide power and authority to get the job done and they had very little oversight. The tax collectors could collect as much as they wanted, give the required amount to Rome and become wealthy at the expense of others. This is the life that Zacchaeus was living.
The key thing I want us to notice today about Jesus encounter with Zacchaeus is that the biblical account emphasizes Jesus’ self-invitation to Zacchaeus house as the catalyst that changed Zacchaeus heart. We obviously don’t know all that transpired between them, but there was clearly something about Jesus’ willingness to be a friend to Zacchaeus that moved his heart to trust in Christ and repent of sin.
Have you ever given much thought to why going to Zacchaeus’ house seemed to be such a critical part of this story? I have personally wondered about it for years. I hope I can show you why that seems to be such an important part of the story. I think in doing so you will also see that what happened in Zacchaeus’ heart can happen in your heart today as well.
I don’t think I am exaggerating when I say that Zacchaeus was a despised person. The story makes that obvious. Another way of saying that is to say that Zacchaeus had experienced a tremendous amount of rejection in his life. And I believe this is why Jesus desire to be in his home had such an impact on Zacchaeus life. Jesus was probably one of the few, if not the only person, who expressed acceptance and love for Zacchaeus.
First, let’s consider why Zacchaeus had such a problem with rejection. I think he probably suffered some feelings of rejection for things that were out of his control. The text itself points out that Zacchaeus was a short man. It tells us that first of all to let us know what he had to do to get to see Jesus. But I also think that common sense tells us that he probably experienced some harsh words and cutting comments simply because he was short.
Every one of us has probably experienced some rejection in life for things that are completely out of our control. This cruel world we live in is full of people that will tear us down because of things that are none of our doing. We were born a certain way, or because of something that has happened to us we are hurt by others.
Sometimes we experience rejection because of our physical characteristics. People rip on us because we are skinny, fat, short, tall, bald, we have to wear glasses, we’ve got a birth mark, we have a long nose, big ears, and on we could go. Other times we are torn down because of our mental capabilities. Someone doesn’t think we measure up and they let us know about it. Then, the way we talk, or walk or our social status all become fair game.
These things are out of our control and yet people judge us and condemn us for these things. It should go without saying, but I have to say it anyway, it ought not ever be that anyone who claims to be a Christian would ever reject another person because of those things. God, deliver us from the cruel, evil mindset of this world. We ought never value or devalue someone based upon their looks, social status, mental ability, physical scars or any such thing. People get enough rejection in the world, they sure don’t need it in church.
There is another reason Zacchaeus experienced rejection. Some of his problem was self-induced. He cheated people out of their money. If you ever want to make someone mad at you take their money away unjustly. He also, by his actions, bordered on being a traitor to the people of Israel. The point is that we often are the cause of the rejection we experience. Our own behavior drives people away and keeps them at arms length from us.
If you are hateful, spiteful, vindictive, dishonest, mean, immoral, a loudmouth, rude, discourteous, a know-it-all, arrogant, or self-centered don’t be surprised if folks turn you away. With Zacchaeus it was his own immoral and dishonest behavior that had earned him the reputation of being a sinner that no one ought to have anything to do with. He had become wealthy but he certainly had not become respected. You know how we know that? Easy enough. If he had been respected people would have let him through to get a look at Jesus.
There is a third reason we experience rejection. Sometimes we experience rejection simply because people are sinful. People may hurt us, not because of any defect in us or any action we have taken, but simply because people are mean and sinful and like to hurt others.
Let me add one final note here. Sometimes we feel like we have been rejected when we really have not. There are times when we think someone has done something to shun us or hurt us and they didn’t really do anything wrong at all. One of the blessings of getting older is you begin to realize that. When you are in your teens and twenties you worry what people think of you. By the time you hit your thirties you get tough and think to yourself, “I don’t care what they think.” Praise God, when you hit your forties and fifties you suddenly realize all these people weren’t thinking about you at all.
We experience rejection because of things we can’t help. We experience rejection because we bring it on ourselves. We experience rejection because people are just flat out mean. And sometimes we think we have been rejected when we really haven’t. But what it comes down to is one of the great unmet needs for many people is that they long to be accepted.
What happens when people feel rejected. Different people react differently. Some people react with anger, hostility, bitterness, and resentment. They become mean hard people. They hate others and become generally mean. Their inward bitterness only compounds their problem because they are constantly destroying their relationships.
Some people respond by becoming people pleasers. So strong is their desire to be accepted by others that they become a chameleon, adapting to whoever is around them and becoming like them in order to gain their approval. This person becomes an approval addict. They don’t know who they really are.
Still others deal with rejection by avoiding people altogether. The relationships they have are shallow and lack any real depth. They don’t want people to get to know them because they are afraid that they will reject them once the know them.
Finally, some people deal with rejection by becoming a controller. They demand to be in charge of everyone and every situation. In a vain attempt to prevent further rejection, they dominate everyone around them.
The strange thing about each of these reactions to rejection is that they all only serve to bring about further rejection and further hurt in our relationships. Zacchaeus had most likely gone through what most people experience when they are a little different. His response was to get back at people and to further drive a wedge between himself and everyone else around him.
It is into that situation that Jesus steps. How does Jesus Christ make a difference in our lives when it comes to dealing with rejection?
First, what we see is that we are valued and loved by Jesus Christ - period. There are no conditions on His love. He does not value only if we meet certain standards. He values us as men and women, boys and girls who are made in the image of God. Nothing we do, and nothing we are will ever change that. Jesus Christ loves and values us unconditionally.
This, I believe, is what was so dramatic about Jesus going to Zacchaeus’ house. I don’t believe it would have ever crossed Zacchaeus’ mind to invite Jesus to his home. He must have believed that someone like Jesus would never have stepped one foot in his house. So when Jesus said, “I’m going to your house today,” something sparked in Zacchaeus spirit that brought about a dramatic change in his life.
Today, if somehow, the Spirit of God could help you to understand how much Christ values and loves you it would transform your life. Let me see if I can distill everything I have already said down into a couple of very brief statements. You might want to write this down. Now after I give this to you I want you to ask yourself which way you are living your life.
1. Performance + the approval of others = self-worth
2. Reconciliation to God = self-worth
Jesus does a couple of things here that totally transformed Zacchaeus. First, He demonstrated that He loved Zacchaeus just like he was. His actions showed that He wasn’t waiting for Ol Zack to clean up his act before he would love him. Jesus loved Zac just like he was.
Second, He brought the good news to Zac that he could be reconciled to God and experience forgiveness of sin and acceptance in Christ.
Here is the good news. Christ wants to do the same thing in your life. Some of you are deeply hurt by the way others have treated you. As a result some of you live your life with the goal of trying to please everyone. You addicted to the approval of others.
Others have become just plain bitter. Maybe you never felt like you could do anything good enough to please your dad, and now you are just a bitter hateful person. Some of you have become defensive and hostile. Still, others are just cold and shallow, without any deep relationships.
The problem is you believe the lie that your value depends upon other people’s approval. The truth is it doesn’t. You have value to the most important person in the world - Jesus Christ. You are loved by the one who really counts - Jesus Christ. And once you come to see that, you will be set free. Instead of living for the opinion of others, why not give your life to Christ. He will transform you.
Church, there is something we need to learn from this today as well. We better take a lesson from Jesus. We better treat with contempt people that Jesus treats with love. We better not reject people that Christ accepts. We better be careful, lest we wake up and find out that we are the Pharisees saying, “What is he doing going to eat in the home of a sinner like that!” We must just find ourselves on the opposite side of Jesus.
Some of you might need to repent today. You are critical, and cutting toward other people. You run folks down for the way they look, the way they talk, the color of their skin, for some physical blemish - and these are people created in the image of God. These are people that are loved and valued by Jesus Christ. Where do you get off rejecting them?
Let me also say that I know that even for some Christians you still struggle with this whole issue of acceptance and rejection. Probably we all struggle with it to some degree. With all my heart I want you to be free. The approval of people is always conditional. If you base your self-worth on what everyone else says about you, you will end up getting hurt. Freedom comes when we begin to live under the constant approval and acceptance of God in Christ. Look at Ephesians 1:6 with me. . .
The reason some of you are not free to serve is you are still trying to prove to everyone else around you that you are somebody. You know who is really free to serve? The person who realizes that they are somebody to a very important Someone, can volunteer to be a nobody (John 13:1-4)
The sun shines over all of creation, but a magnifying glass can pin-point its power and effect in one spot. God’s love shines over all of His creation, but Jesus Christ is the spiritual magnifier that pin-points his love on you.
