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A man from the back mountains of Tennessee found himself one day in a large city, for the first time standing outside an elevator. He watched as an old, haggard woman hobbled on, and the doors closed. A few minutes later the doors opened and a young, attractive woman marched smartly off. The father hollered to his youngest son, “Billy, go get mother.”
What a transformation!
I am sure many of you have heard the story of Zacchaeus. He is a very rich chief tax collector of the city of Jericho. One day Jesus passed through Jericho and a large crowd lined up to see him. Zacchaeus was short in stature, so he couldn’t see Jesus through the crowd. He came up with an idea. He ran ahead of the crowd, climb up a sycamore tree, and wait for Jesus to pass by. It’s interesting that Jesus knew his name and as he came to the place he looked up and say, “Zaccaeus, hurry and come down because I must stay at your house today.” And that transformed the life of Zacchaeus.
This morning we will look at what Jesus did in saving this man’s life and transformed him from a broken sinner into a joyful peacemaker. The key message of this story is in verse 9 and 10, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.”
Jesus came to seek out and save the lost. As followers of Jesus Christ, we also want to seek and save the lost, and today we will see how Jesus did so that we can learn from him and be Christ-like.
The first Christ-like action we need to learn is
1. Seek the Lost
Jesus came to seek the lost. He has an eye to identify the lost. In the previous chapters, Jesus healed those who are physically sick, the lappers and the blind. But, his eye is on those who are spiritually lost. He told a parable of a tax collector and a Pharisee praying in the temple. He said that the Pharisee was praying arrogantly, but the tax collector was praying humbly at the corner asking God to forgive his sin. Zacchaeus must be like one of those that Jesus described.
Most of the time when we heard this story, it was presented in a comical sense, depicting Zacchaeus as a funny little guy who climbed a tree to see Jesus. I guess it is mainly because children like to hear this kind of tree climbing stories and we like to tell them and made it cute. But if you think seriously, it is not a cute story. It is about a chief tax collector, a rich man, a government officer of a big city climbing a tree to see a rabbi.
What kind of a person would climb a tree to see a spiritual teacher passing by? He must be desperate! He must be exactly like the tax collector at the temple beating his chest, not even dare to look up to heaven and cried, “God, have mercy on me, for I am a sinner.” Remember this story that we talked about last week? If you don’t remember, read Luke 18:9-14.
Zacchaeus is a broken man. He is rich, but broken, or he wouldn’t be desperate enough to climb a tree to see Jesus. Who cares! He was just another rabbi passing through our town. What a big deal? But the fact that he desperately want to see Jesus tells a lot about him. He is rejected by his own race, the Jews despised him, the church treated him as an outcast, the religious leaders, and the Pharisees treated him like a despicable sinner.
In his prayers, he must be praying, “Lord, how can I change my life?” Some people might not express this agony outwardly, but their action speaks louder than words. Jesus sees their heart through their behavior, and so should we. Zacchaeus might have been seeking Jesus simply out of curiosity or desperation to heal his hidden wounds, but based on the passage Jesus was actually the one seeking him to save him.
As Christ’s followers, we need to identify people like these and reach out to them. They may be blocked by the crowd that is around you. They may be short in stature, which means that they might be short of opportunity to know who Jesus is and hear the good news.
2. Visit the Lost
These people will not come to the church because they feel they don’t want to see the righteous people and be judged by them like the Pharisee in the previous chapter who judged the tax collector. The Bible says, When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.” So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. When Jesus saw him on the tree, he knows what’s going on in this man’s heart. This man is hungry for a spiritual invitation. He is lost and wants to be found. Jesus cared so much about this man and he went through the trouble of finding out his name. He must have asked those who walked with him who that little guy on the tree was, and they might told him his famous name and asked him to stay away from him.
But, Jesus didn’t come to this earth to stay away from the sinner. His very purpose on earth is to seek the sinners.
Jesus was headed to Jerusalem to fulfill his mission to save the world, but a lost person is important enough for him to stop in on his journey. There is not rush for Jerusalem, but there is an urgency to save this man. Notice he says, “Zacchaeus, hurry...I must stay at your house today.” The words “hurry” and “I must” shows the divine urgency. Staying with this man is more important than going to Jerusalem because Jesus came to seek and save the lost.
The Bible says Zacchaeus hurried down and was happy to welcome him. There is full of actions and joy in this scene. There are broken people around us hunger for a divine communion. In the Middle Eastern tradition, eating together means forgiveness because you don’t eat with your enemy. The scoffers out there criticized Jesus action in allowing himself to be the guess of a sinner, but they don’t understand the joy of reconciliation that is taking place in this house.
In the past half a century in America, the church is the center of the community. Anyone that moved to the community will seek for a church to join. But, now the church is no longer the center of community, we are back to the first century. We have to go out to their home and environment to seek them, bringing the message of reconciliation, forgiveness, and salvation.
3. Bless the Found
Then Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.” (Luke 19:9)
We need to know that we are not entering someone’s house to twist their arms and force any information on them. Jesus didn’t say anything but his presence in this house was the presence of reconciliation, forgiveness, and joy. Zacchaeus might have asked him questions and Jesus might have answered to help him understand God’s grace and transform his life. Zacchaeus respond to the grace he received by his generosity in giving half of his wealth away to the poor.
Not everyone would response to the message of reconciliation like Zacchaeus. There is a story right before this chapter about a rich young ruler, who came to seek Jesus and asked him a question. He said, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus said to him, “... You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; Honor your father and mother.’ ” He replied, “I have kept all these since my youth.” When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “There is still one thing lacking. Sell all that you own and distribute the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” But when he heard this, he became sad; for he was very rich. (Luke 18:18-23)
It is quite a contrast to this scene where Zacchaeus was giving away his money to the poor. We can see the first five beatitudes fulfilled in Zacchaeus. He was poor in spirit, which is the first beatitude. There must be mourning behind the scene, like the tax collector at the temple, which is the second beatitude. He shows meekness by the fact that he climbed on the tree and welcomed Jesus into his house; that is the third beatitude. He was obviously hungry and thirsty for righteousness and made restitution with those he has cheated; the fourth beatitude. He showed mercy to the poor; the fifth beatitude. He is on his way to purity of heart, the sixth beatitude.
The Gospel
The last verse is the not only the key verse of this passage, but also the key verse of the entire Gospel of Luke, “For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.” I can imagine Zacchaeus singing the song, “I once was lost, but now am found.” Are any of you still lost? The good news is that Jesus came not to condemn the world but to save the lost. Our sins are forgiven but not out of a thin air. Someone has to pay the price. In this passage, he was headed to Jerusalem, to be crucified on the cross for the redemption of the lost, for you and for me. On the third day he rose again from the death validating that he truly is God and his promises to us will be fulfilled. His resurrected body is what our bodies will be like, which is the very source of our hope. The Good Friday, Black Saturday, and Easter Sunday is our yesterday, today, and tomorrow. It summarizes our entire human history. May God bless you! Amen. |
