Message by Larry Thacker Jr from October 6, “To Seek and Save the Lost”
Christians believe that no one is beyond God’s reach, but do we really? I’ll bet every one of us can think of particular individuals that seem to us to be unreachable. They may be people we know personally, or people we think we know about because of their fame. But God specializes in unlikely redemptions. The apostle Paul may be the most well known to us. A man who once violently persecuted followers of Jesus became foremost among them.
These were my thoughts as I read a story well known to us who group up in Sunday school. We even have a little song about it. We read it in Luke 19:1-10. Jesus Himself could often be found reaching out to those with whom no one else would have anything to do. We’re not too fond of tax collectors today, but imagine if we were overrun by another nation, and the tax collectors were Americans who went to work for the invading country. That was the situation for the Israelites of Jesus’ day. A tax collector was a special category of sinner worthy of utter contempt. Not only did they collect taxes for the invaders, they lined their own pockets by taking more than they were supposed to.
Imagine now the controversy that would be created if a well-known religious figure took one of these people onto his staff, and starting hanging out with his friends. That’s what Jesus did when he called Matthew to follow Him. Then later when He was passing through Jericho he befriended another one, and everyone saw him do it. This guy was the worst of the worst. He was a chief tax collector and had made himself rich by this ill-gotten gain.
But Jesus saw who Zaccheus was about to become. In a move that we would consider rather rude in our culture but was an honor in that time and place, Jesus looked up into the tree where Zaccheus, a short man, had climbed up in order to see him over the crowds, and invited Himself to his home. Jesus was communicating acceptance to this man, and Zaccheus eagerly responded.
We see evidence of Zaccheus’s change of heart as he promises to give away half of his wealth and restore fourfold anything he took by extortion. Contrast this man with the rich young ruler from Chapter 18. He was a pretty upstanding guy, at least by his own account. He was looking for the one work he could do to achieve eternal life, but Jesus exposed his real problem. His wealth was his idol. Jesus said elsewhere that what we treasure will reveal where our heart is. Zaccheus showed by his vow that his heart was now with Jesus.
So, let us never presume that we know who God will choose. Let us be always ready to share the hope that lives within us. Let us be slow to anger and quick to forgive. Let us love even our enemies, because he told us to do that, and He did it himself.
