Jericho to Jerusalem

Lk.19:9, ‘⁹ And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; ¹⁰ for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

Salvation being the greatest gift to mankind and the greatest miracle ever seen, our hope and trust continues to be centered around this. Without salvation, no blessing has a good purpose and no life is worth living.

Zacchaeus was a rich man and was chief among the publicans. He had wealth and good position in the society. He was well known. Yet he had an empty place in his heart, which neither his wealth nor position could fill. Often various kinds of problems forces a man to turn to God. But here we see Zachhaeus having a heart to seek to see Jesus even when all in his life seems to be well. It might have been just a curiosity as all in the town were talking about Jesus. Let us ponder on few phrases used in this narration.

He sought : Lk.19: 3, “ And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature.”  Seeking is a result of attraction. The news about Jesus created an attraction in Zacchaeus, but the Word makes it clear that the heavenly Father caused this attraction. We find many around us who have heard about Christ and yet have no attraction towards Him.  Jn.6:44, ‘No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.’  So is it that all who are perishing could not come to Christ as they were not attracted ? God does not desire that anyone should perish (2 Pet.3:9). God attracts all but the ones who respond continues with seeking. Zacchaeus responded by seeking to see Him. He could have continued his life without this. He did not have any grievance which needed immediate attention. But he did not resist the attraction.

He ran : Lk.19:4, ‘So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was going to pass that way.’ .  His seeking was hindered by his small stature and the crowd. Seeking for divine blessings are often hindered. True seeking overcomes hindrances. When Jacob sought God’s blessings in the midnight hours, the angel touched the hollow of his thigh and the angel was about to leave. But Jacob overcame the great pain in his thigh and refused to let the angel go away without blessing him(Gen.32:22-26). Similarly, Zacchaeus overcame the hindrances by running ahead and climbing up a tree. We are called to overcome the hindrances coming in the way of our spiritual walk with Christ.

He made haste. Lk.19:6, ‘So he ^[c]made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully.’ Zacchaeus was filled with joy and excitement when he heard his name  being called out by the Lord. He never expected the Lord to stay in his house. The way he came down the tree rightly expressed the joy and excitement of his heart.  The response to  divine call cannot be delayed for it is too powerful. When the small boy Samuel heard his name being called out, he was in deep sleep. But the call woke him up and the boy ran to Eli priest thinking he had called him. He heard his name being called thrice and the boy Samuel responded all the 3 times (1 Sam.3:3-10). He could not resist the power and love of that divine call.

He stood. Gen.19:8,” 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.” Zacchaeus walked with Jesus and stayed with Christ. We don’t read about Jesus pointing out his sins to him. But His presence and fellowship did it all. Zacchaeus was meeting Christ for the first time. A little time with Jesus sowed the seeds of eternal life in his heart. His faith in Christ was expressed as confession and restoration. James wrote about dead and living faith. Abraham believed God and it was imputed to him as righteousness. But he had to obey God in offering Isaac as an offering to make his faith perfect. Faith without works is dead faith (james 2:26). And repentance is the work of faith.  Its easy to sing for the Lord, to give tithe and to even preach His Word. But only a strong conviction of sins enables one to repent, which in turn is the true expression of realization of the real meaning of sacrifice of Christ on the cross. Zacchaeus boldly and joyfully spoke about his sinfulness, transformation and restoration. We need not be ashamed of our past sinfulness for they are ‘past’ and washed away by His blood. Zacchaeus was not concerned about others opinion about his transformation and open confession of his past sinfulness. Now his aim was to stand and preach the transformation available through Christ.

Lk.19:9, ‘And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; ¹⁰ for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”’ Jesus confirmed the repentance of Zacchaeus by declaring this statement. One more soul was saved. That was the purpose for which Christ came to this earth….to save each of us….who were born in sin. Today, God has placed us as lights in this dark world with the sole purpose of spreading this light. We deal with so many lives in our daily lives in our neighborhood, office, families etc. Is our communication and fellowship  sowing the seed of God in any heart ? Is our life style being a light to all around us ?

Jesus was passing through Jericho when he met Zacchaeus. And He was close to Jerusalem as He continued to speak further to the crowd. Jericho represents a place deprived of God’s presence while Jerusalem represents a place where God’s presence dwells. As we pass through this life journey, many have been placed in our way. Just as Zacchaeus was waiting for Jesus, many are awaiting the words of eternal life from our mouth, many are expecting a word of hope and comfort from us. May God strengthen us to be channels of  attraction to our Saviour.

God bless us all.

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