Z is for Zacchaeus!
Zacchaeus the Tax Collector from Luke 19
1 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. 3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.
5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.
7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”
8 But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”
9 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
There are so many things that in this story that got my ol’ brain a pondering. Do you wonder why Zacchaeus wanted to see Christ so bad? And to climb a tree? How many grown men climb a tree, especially if they are in the upper class of society? One of the things that struck me was Christ’s reaction: It doesn’t say Christ condemned Zacchaeus, or scolded him, or guilted him…Christ just says, “Come.” And Zacchaeus responded. This story is just another demonstration of God’s grace when we repent. What a story of encouragement and hope!
1 comment:
I've always looked at it as Seek and Ye shall find. When Z was open to receiving Christ, Christ came to him. Plus, he has a great song.
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