This is the gospel of God that he sent his Son to seek and
to save the lost. Who is the lost? In fact, all is lost, but not all the lost
are found and saved. The lost who are found and saved are the ones who know
that they are lost and fallen. Our God is the God of the fatherless and widows.
James tells bluntly what is a religion God our Father accepts. “Religion that
God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and
widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”
(James 1:27) The Mosaic Law also pays a great attention on the poor and the
foreigner. “When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very
edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the
poor and for the foreigner residing among you. I am the LORD your God.”
(Leviticus 23:22) There is no doubt that orphans and widows are used as the
symbol of the needy. In fact, our humanity is just like that. Before the eyes
of God the Father in heaven, everyone is like an orphan and widow. So, God the
Father has been seeking and saving the lost since the fall of Adam. Millions
have been found and saved and millions have not. Here is one example in the
Gospel of Luke Chapter 19. Jesus has found a man named Zacchaeus who is a chief
tax collector and has climbed a tree to see him passing. God the Father in
heaven is looking for such a man like Zacchaeus all time and space regardless
of their occupation, status, race, color, or social standings. This is the way
God answers the inwardly groaning prayers of the lost even though they do not
know what they ought to pray for.
“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 because he was short he could not see over
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, he 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 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.’ 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
to save the lost.’” (Luke 19:1-10)
Christ Jesus is heading toward Jerusalem where he would be
offered as the ransom sacrifice to God the Father for the sin of the world.
Entering into a historic city of Jericho, Jesus spots a man who has climbed a
sycamore-fig tree to see him passing because he is short. It tells of the significance
of story which indicates what kind of ministry Jesus has been doing on the
earth. It is the most crucial moment for
him. He made the visitation to the city of Jerusalem every Passover, but it is
the last one and no more on the earth. Our Lord knows what would be coming, the
death on a cross through the crucifixion. Jesus said, “I tell you, I will not
drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it
new with you in my Father's kingdom." (Matthew 26:29) Among many things
Jesus can do on the way to the city of death, he peculiarly chooses to have
dine with Zacchaeus who is known as a publican or traitor. He is a chief tax
man in Jericho, one of the busiest cities in the nation.
Why is the man interested and even desperate to see Jesus
that he even climbs a tree? Because he has been drawn by God the Father all
along his lives way before he started his tax career for fortune. Maybe his
parents objected him not to take that course. Maybe some of his friends gave
him an honest advise not to take it. Maybe his rabbi counseled him, giving a
serous warning shot to be branded as a traitor. Despite of all odds, he chose
to take it and promoted a chief tax man in Jericho. Zacchaeus must have been
heard of Jesus Christ who has been ministering the nation over three year
period of time. Maybe he might have witnessed Jesus of Nazareth speaking or
healing. We do not know. However, it is not difficult to see the fact that the
Nazarene’s rumors have made a significant impact and impression to the people
of the land including Zacchaeus. Why so? I believe he has probably been
searching for an escape from the mundane and routine work of taxing every day.
He might not have no idea why he is not filled and untasteful and depressing in
living. He must have been struggling to beat the feelings of emptiness and
hollowness, so are we. He would have been more disturbed and bothered by the
fact that he does not know why. His wealth would not do anything helpful except
feeding him three meals a day. But the rumors of the Nazarene might have
awakened his urge to see him teaching and healing. And the time has come. He
jumps out from the tax booth to the street to see Jesus of Nazarene. Amazingly,
he is called by his name by the man he has longed to see. God the Father knows
everyone by name.
It is significant to note how God the Father has drawn a man
like Zacchaeus. Is it not through the unbeatable and unquenchable emptiness and
hollowness in the man’s heart? Things in the world are temporal and fleeting
away like wind and mist. “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will
never pass away,” says our Lord Jesus. (Matthew 24:35) Money is an inevitable commodity
in our daily living. But money cannot beat the boredom of life at all. As long
as we hope for the fulfillment of life from the earthly things of the world, we
cannot get over from the terrible feelings of emptiness and boredom. All things
are from the hand of God including wealth. Some get more and some little. But
both the rich and the poor are equally thirsty and hungry to get something
more, desiring to be fulfilled and filled in the fullest possible. This missing
piece of our lives is a mystery which only God the Father can give the answer.
Why are we not able to get over from boredom and emptiness? The
answer is found in the Epistle to the Romans Chapter 1 Verse 18 and 19 which
say, “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the
godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their
wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has
made it plain to them.” Here the wrath of God doesn’t mean the burning sulfur
and fireball coming down from heaven. It means God allows whatever of the
choice of man. God is constraining the evil force till the departure of the
church of Christ as Paul says, “For the secret power of lawlessness is already
at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is
taken out of the way.” (2 Thessalonians 2:7) When man insists on doing things
wicked and godless, suppressing the truth by their evilness, God allows them to
take it but they cannot escape from the consequences of their choice. For example,
no matter what we cannot escape from the crushing guilty feelings when we
commit sins. As long as we rely on the earthly things to soothe down the
worries of life, we are doomed to persistent boredom and hollowness because we
are under the wrath of God. God is holy, which means he cannot change like shifting
shadows, compromise, or lie from what he is.
This unchanging God’s character is the means to reach out to
the lost in darkness. In fact, God is painfully and patiently waiting for man
to realize the fact that they cannot get out of the frustration and
bewilderment of lives no matter what, allowing them to take all the courses of
action whether foolish or wicked and evil. One thing God cannot do is to force
man to choose certain things. God has bestowed man the complete freedom of
choice. Although the tax profession in those days is a really bad choice
because the job demands to squeeze his own people and eventually pay to the
Romans whom Israel considers as the Gentiles, it is not bound to the curse of
boredom and emptiness. It is the mind of reliance on the earthly things, hoping
to be delivered and fulfilled in life. Even if the career is religious, it
would not matter. All job is job. Relying on the things below is the thing
blocking the flow of infinite grace and mercy from the throne of grace. Apostle
Paul says to set our hearts on things above, not on earthly things. “Since,
then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where
Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not
on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in
God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him
in glory.” (Colossians 3:1-4)
When the time comes, God has sent the Servant to teach the
truth. Jesus spots Zacchaeus on a tree and says something remarkable, “Zacchaeus,
come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” (Luke 19:5b) It seems
a coincidence, but it is not. When the time is ripe, God speaks to him through
the Son, saying “I must enter into your life and be the Lord and Advocate and
Helper.” His act of climbing a tree is the expression of his genuine heart of
searching for God who can answer all the questions he has including the
unbreakable and unbeatable agony of emptiness and hollowness inside. He expresses
his plea for an answer to the inner turmoil and unrest by making a tremendous
effort to climb a tree. He wants to see who Jesus is. Our Lord Jesus says, “Ask
and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be
opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7) So has he been answered by the thundering and yet
the kindest voice of God, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at
your house today.” The answer of God has swiftly and unexpectedly come to his
ears. Jesus is saying to him, “I must be your Master and Lord today and
forevermore!” Notice that Jesus is not asking the man’s permission to stay in
his house. Zacchaeus was lost but has been now found by God the Father and
become his beloved child.
Jericho is a historic place where Joshua led his people to a
great victory some 1,300 years before Christ. On the day of victory, there was
a great shout of joy and praise, powerfully shaking the land, shattering the
mind of the enemies, and swiftly spreading the fear of the Lord God throughout
the neighboring countries. However, when Jesus is entering this great city,
there is no one who shouts for joy and praise for the coming of the true
Messiah of Israel. But there is one man named Zacchaeus who is welcoming the
coming of the King and the Lord, inwardly groaning for not knowing what he
ought to pray for. Apostle Paul says the Holy Spirit intercedes for us through
wordless groans when we do not know what we ought to pray for (Romans 8:26). When
Zacchaeus hears of Jesus’ calling by his name, he comes down at once and
welcomes him gladly. People who see this begin to complain that Jesus has gone
to be the guest of a sinner. But Zacchaeus makes an important statement to the
Lord, saying “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.” (Luke 19:8) Now, to him Jesus Christ is the Lord, not money. Then,
the Lord Jesus has blessed 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
to save the lost.” (Luke 9:9-10)
What a beautiful moment of life to Zacchaeus and all
humanity for Christ the Lord has come in his possession that he has purchased
with a price! (1 Corinthians 6:19b-20a)
February 11, 2017
© 2015-2017 David
Lee Ministries – All Rights Reserved.
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