INTRODUCTION
All of us have been to the doctor because we needed help. We may have started with self-medication - taking pills, resting, drinking water - until the point we say, "It’s time I go to see a doctor." We go with expectation that they would be able to diagnose the cause of your illness and prescribe the right medicine. And if they can’t, we are referred to the specialist. They will run a number of tests to determine your problem. These are times of great anxiety, because we do not know what’s wrong with us, and how it can be solved.
Zacchaeus was in a similar situation. Not that he was physically sick - in fact, he was probably quite fit being able to climb a tree. He was an outcast of the society. He needs acceptance, he needs fulfilment... he was spiritually sick. There was this emptiness in his heart. How do we know?
The Bible says he was a tax-collector, and he was rich, being the chief tax-collector. In Jesus’ time, they were hated by the society. Verse 7 - when Jesus wanted to go to his house, the crowd mutter, "He has gone to be the guest of a "sinner".
But why? Why was he looked down upon?
1. because of who they work for - the Romans. Jews were forced to pay taxes to Roman government. They were unhappy, but they have no choice. And yet these tax-collecting Jews are helping "foreigners" to collect their taxes - they were considered as traitor to Israel.
2. From what he shared at the end of this story - he has been cheating. People knows them to be dishonest. Why are they so rich? Through dishonest means.
In the Gospels, when tax collectors were mentioned, they were mentioned together with "sinners", "prostitutes". They were of the same class. In Jewish (rabbinical) writings they are classified with robbers.
Zacchaeus was not only a tax collector but the chief tax collector, so he was likely hated even more.
As an outcast, Zacchaeus was not popular among the people, and most likely very lonely. He needed something - probably acceptance, probably fulfilment in life... something that can fill the emptiness in his heart. He was rich, he can buy anything he wants, but money cannot satisfy the longing in his heart.
That probably explain why he has such a great desire to see Jesus. Having heard so much about Jesus, he wanted to see Him personally. He was so passionate about it that he was willing to climb up a tree - Middle Eastern adult, chief tax-collector, wealthy - wearing nice clothes.
This encounter with Jesus changed him completely. He realises TWO things:
(1) HE REALISE THAT JESUS WAS THE ONE LOOKING FOR HIM
He was up on the tree. Jesus was walking by. Everyone’s eyes were on Jesus. Nobody probably take note of him. Yet the Bible says Jesus reached the spot and stopped. He looked up to Zacchaeus and called him!
Was Zacchaeus looking for Jesus? Or was it Jesus who found Zacchaeus? Apparently, it was Jesus who sought Zacchaeus. It was Jesus who stopped under that tree. It was Jesus who looked up. And it was Jesus who called him... by his name! Jesus KNEW his name!
No wonder God revealed to prophet Jeremiah(29:13) "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." God is not playing hide-and-seek with us. He wants us to know him - as our Creator and our God.
Today, man search for God. We use all kind of means and ways to find God. We thought that by our own efforts we can make it to God. Yet the truth is, God is reaching down towards man. God is revealing Himself to us. The Bible revealed that God came down to this world in the Person of Jesus. Jesus himself said in verse 10, "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."
Religion - man looking for God. Christianity - God looking for man. For man looking for God - many obstacles - our finite mind, limited intelligence, language.
Can man really find God? If we play a hide-and-seek game with God, who do you think will win? When God hides, can man find Him. If man hides, can God finds him?
Shopping Centre - mom and child separated - phone call connected - mom will ask child to stay put; child will not ask mom to stay put and he comes to her. Mom looks for child is so much easier. The one more intelligent being - God - will find the one less intelligent - us.
No wonder the Psalmist says (Ps 139:1-14)
1 O LORD, you have searched me and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD.
7 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,"
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.
13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
Dear friends, you may be small, nobody take notice of you... but God knows you. Even if you’re up on a tree, Jesus knows you’re there. Jesus came to look for you. He is your Saviour. Accept Him today.
Zacchaeus experienced Jesus’ seeking love...
(2) HE REALISE THAT JESUS CAN TRANSFORM HIS LIFE
Zacchaeus experienced Jesus’ saving power...
Jesus knew Zacchaeus. He called out his name. First time - never met but he knew his name. "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today." (v.5)
He knew Zacchaeus’ heart. He was seeking for Jesus. There was emptiness in his heart.
Jesus inviting Himself to his home. This was the only instance in the 4 Gospels where we see Jesus inviting Himself to someone’s home.
Rev 3:20 "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me." Zacchaeus’ heart longs for Jesus.
Jesus did not merely visit him. He probably stayed for a day or two. No one would want to go into a "sinner’s" house, yet Jesus did because that is why He has come. Luke 19:10 "For the Son of Man came to SEEK and to save what was lost."
Zacchaeus got to know Jesus - who is He and why has He come. He came to know God and His will. Not only did he receive Jesus into his house, he eventually received Him into His heart. He believed Him. He realised he was in need of forgiveness - for his sin and the wrongs he has done. He did that and experienced God’s grace.
It is so beautiful. Jesus came for Zacchaeus because He knew he was lost. We are all lost, the Bible says. Isa 53:6 "We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way..." We do not know God, our Creator. We have sinned. Unless there is some intervention, we are eternally lost. But God came for us... by sending Jesus.
Jesus came therefore to show us who God is, and redeemed us from our sin. How? By paying that price on the cross. He bore the penalty of sin upon Himself on the cross, so that we can be freed from this judgement.
Zacchaeus too was lost in sin, until God intervened in a merciful way. It is the same for us today.
God knows you... He came to look for you. How can we be hiding? How can He not know what is going on in our lives? If Jesus can calls Zacchaeus by name... God can call each one of us by name.
When Zacchaeus believed and accepted Jesus, something happened. He experienced a transformation... His heart was changed. Jesus states in verse 9: This day[today] is salvation come to this house. Zacchaeus experienced a new life - "abundant" life.
Verse 8 - give half of my possessions to the poor - love for the needy...; pay back 3 times the amount those I have cheated...
Previously - living for self, now - care for the poor, needy. Previously - cheating others, now repaying those whom he had cheated; he was utterly honest.
Zacchaeus was deeply convicted by his sin and desired to walk right, in obedience to God. No one can change him, no rules can help him, no education can correct him - but Jesus transformed him. How? When he believed the words of Jesus. Faith in Christ changed him.
That’s our experience too... Plato says "Virtue cannot be taught."
2 Cor 5:17 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"
God can change your life and mine, if we allow Him. Put your trust in Jesus. We can become new creation in Christ. God will give us a new heart - a new desire to walk right and do good.
In England, there is a paper factory that makes the finest stationery in the world. One day, a man touring the factory asked what it was made from. He was shown a huge pile of old rags and told that the rag content was what determined the quality of the paper. The visitor couldn’t believe it.
In weeks he received from the company a package of paper with his initials embossed on it. On the top piece were written the words, "Dirty Rags Transformed."
The same is true of the Christian life. Only Jesus can transform our lives from what we were, into something new and wonderful.
CONCLUSION
Luke 19:9-10
Jesus said, "Today salvation has come to this house... For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."
We are lost, but we do not know. Many followed Jesus, but few truly believe what He says. Zacchaeus believed and was blessed. Would you want to believe Him today?
Do you know that you are lost and in need of rescuing?
The boss of a big company needed to call one of his employees about an urgent problem with one of the main computers. He dialled the employees home telephone number and was greeted with a child’s whispered, "Hello?"
Feeling put out at the inconvenience of having to talk to a youngster, the boss asked, "Is your Daddy home?" "Yes," whispered the small voice. "May I talk with him?" the man asked. To the surprise of the boss, the small voice whispered, "No."
Wanting to talk with an adult, the boss asked, "Is your Mommy there?" "Yes," came the answer. "May I talk with her?" Again, the small voice whispered, "No."
Knowing that it was not likely that a young child would be left home alone, the boss decided he would just leave a message with the person who should be there watching over the child. "Is there any one there besides you?" the boss asked the child. "Yes," whispered the child, "a policeman."
Wondering what a cop would be doing at his employee’s home, the boss asked, "May I speak with the policeman?" "No, he is busy," whispered the child. "Busy doing what?" asked the boss. "Talking to Daddy and Mommy and the Fireman," came the whispered answer.
Growing concerned and even worried as he heard what sounded like a helicopter through the ear piece on the phone, the boss asked, "What is that noise?" "A hello-copper," answered the whispering voice. "What is going on there?" asked the boss, now alarmed. In an awed whispering voice, the child answered, "The search team just landed the hello-copper!"
Alarmed, concerned and more than just a little frustrated, the boss asked, "Why are they there?"
Still whispering, the young voice replied (along with a muffled giggle), "They are looking for me!"
God loves you today. He came to seek and save you. Zacchaeus experienced Jesus’ seeking love and saving power. There was nothing special in Zacchaeus for Jesus to single him out. Jesus simply loved him.
God can change Zacchaeus, He can change you. He made you in the first place. You came to look for God. Actually, God has led you into this church so that you can hear Him. He is calling you to return to Him today. Invite Him today into your life.
Then we will experience the same joy Zacchaeus had that very day!
