Forgiveness
for Cheaters, Hustlers and Crooks
[Luke
chapter 19, verses 1-10]
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Today
as we start chapter 19 of the Gospel of Luke, Jesus and the Twelve –
along with an entourage consisting of many believers plus a few
accusers – has left the place where Jesus had healed the blind
beggar and had just arrived in Jericho. Presumably the beggar Jesus
had healed was among that number, if for no other reason than he was
actually able to see Jericho for the first time. But there was more
to it than just that, as I pointed out last week. That formerly blind
beggar was transformed in his mind, not just his eyesight. He put
those newly healed eyes to good use, as the scripture says
(“Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, praising
God”). He became a follower of Jesus in Spirit and in Truth, which
is exactly what should happen when we give our lives to Christ! The
blind beggar who had been healed became a minister of the Good News
of Jesus, and we have a responsibility as authentic believers to
emulate Jesus just like that healed beggar did. One thing you can be
sure of – that formerly blind ex-beggar was well taken care of for
the entire remainder of his life, so long as he kept on telling
everyone what Jesus had done for him. We are all charged with the
task of aspiring to be the same. Bearing that in mind, let's go ahead
and get started with this week's lesson right from the top of chapter
19.
“Jesus
entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name
of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted
to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of
the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see
him, since Jesus was coming that way. When Jesus reached the spot,
Jesus looked up and said to him, 'Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I
must stay at your house today.' So he came down at once and welcomed
him gladly. All the people saw this and began to mutter, 'He has gone
to be the guest of a sinner.' But Zacchaeus looked up and said to the
Lord, 'Look, Lord! Here and now I give half my possessions to the
poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back
four times the amount.' Jesus said to him, 'Today salvation has come
to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the
Son of Man came to seek and save that which was lost.'”
(Luke 19, verses 1-10)
Make
no mistake about this, the tax collectors worked for the Roman
Empire. They were the enforcement arm of Rome's equivalent to the
modern IRS here in America. As such, they routinely misused and often
abused their authority to squeeze ever-increasing sums of money from
their subjects, in a manner eerily similar to what the US government
does today with the federal income tax. Like the IRS in modern times,
the Roman tax collectors like
Zacchaeus in Jesus' time were universally hated and despised, and
were considered by the people to be a symbol of corruption. So now
you know why everybody started muttering to each other when Jesus
became “the
guest of a sinner.”
So
Jesus and the Twelve were passing through Jericho on their way to
Jerusalem to celebrate Passover, as was their custom. When Jesus
spotted Zacchaeus perched in the tree along the roadside and asked to
stay at his house that day, he undoubtedly upset the Pharisees who
followed along with Jesus and the Twelve. They did this mainly to
gather some 'intelligence' about Jesus for the Sanhedrin, or ruling
religious body at the Temple in Jerusalem, and to look for evidence
to use against him. But Zacchaeus, the 'corrupt official' of no
account among the people, recognized immediately who Jesus was, while
the Pharisees and teachers of the Law still did not understand that
he was the Messiah, or the Promised One. How ironic! The person there
with the worst reputation among the people is the first to see Jesus
for who he is, while those with the best reputations were 'stuck on
stupid'!
“But
Zacchaeus looked up and said to the Lord, 'Look, Lord! Here and now I
give half my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody
out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”
Here is proof in black and white that Zacchaeus knew exactly who
Jesus was. He must have reasoned to himself, “I am the most hated
man in town. If I profess any belief in this man, I will have many
accusers accusing me of giving false testimony about myself. So I had
better seek forgiveness from this man called 'Jesus'.” We have a
word for what Zacchaeus did, and that word is 'repentance'. Zacchaeus
repented of his old ways and discontinued his old habits the instant
he recognized Jesus as the Savior and Redeemer of all humankind.
Moreover, he did it publicly in the presence of many eyewitnesses so
there could be no room for doubt in the minds of Christ and the
people that Zacchaeus' repentance was authentic.
Because
this occurred, Jesus responded, “Today
salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of
Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and save that which was
lost.”
What did Jesus mean by 'son of Abraham'? He was referring to Genesis
chapter 15, verses 1-6, when God made his covenant with Abram. The
Lord Jesus then stated to Zacchaeus that he was one of the “sons of
Abram”, the founding father of the Israeli people who God later
renamed “Abraham” (see Genesis 17, verses 4-9). Then Jesus said,
“....the Son of
Man came to seek and save that which was lost.”
Jesus doesn't care about the self-righteous. You know, like the
Pharisees that had Jesus under surveillance? Or like the vendors in
the Temple whose tables and chairs Jesus tossed around like match
sticks? (except that didn't happen yet in the apostle Luke's
narrative)
Jesus
came to rescue sinners like us, people who struggle daily with their
own selfish and sometimes evil natures and with all their
imperfections, character flaws, inconsistencies and even occasional
insanity. But these kinds of things are the very reason why Jesus
went to the cross of Calvary and sacrificed himself so selflessly.
The ugly truth is we're not strong or good enough to live up to the
standards of our Creator. Consequently, we would be unfit to live
forever in eternity with Christ, and we would be irretrievably lost.
Try to see this from God's point of view. Because, in the end, His
viewpoint is the only one that's going to matter.
Think
all these things over very carefully this week as we close out our
Biblical study. Our eternities after our physical lives are over are
nothing to be playing around with! The truth of this matter is that
those who live their lives only for themselves, for fame and fortune,
for riches and wealth and the power that goes with them all, will
have nothing when their lifetimes run out. They can't take their
materialistic junk with them when they pass away, and neither can we.
But, placing our complete trust in Jesus who saved us all from
eternal death and shame, and being willing to hand over control of
our lives to him, guarantees life for all eternity with the One who
made us. As for myself, anything less than this simply won't do. I
can only hope and pray that you all agree. And next week we'll move
on to part 2 of Luke chapter 19.
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