Our Walk with God and Zacchaeus 10~10~13

Zacchaeus' sycamore fig in Jericho (From Wikipedia)

Last evening at church we spoke about Zacchaeus.  And this information is really quite slim.  There really isn't a whole lot of information about Zacchaeus in the Bible, so I thought I would see what I can find on my own.  So first of all let me introduce you to who the Bible says Zacchaeus is:

Luke 19:1-11

King James Version (KJV)

19 And Jesus entered and passed through Jericho.

2 And, behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich.

3 And he sought to see Jesus who he was; and could not for the press, because he was little of stature.

4 And he ran before, and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him: for he was to pass that way.

5 And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at thy house.

6 And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully.

7 And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, That he was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner.

8 And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord: Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.

9 And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, for so much as he also is a son of Abraham.

10 For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.

11 And as they heard these things, he added and spake a parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear.

One of the really great things about Jesus is the fact that He knew He was needed for the sinners.  And while the publicans and the muckity mucks didn't particularly care for this Jesus knew who needed Him most!

Luke 5: 29 And Levi made him a great feast in his own house: and there was a great company of publicans and of others that sat down with them.

30 But their scribes and Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying, Why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners?

31 And Jesus answering said unto them, They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick.

32 I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

We shall now get back to Zacchaeus.  Do you know this man was part of the one group of people who really wasn't very well liked?  He was a tax collector.  And the way that tax collectors made there income back then was to collect money from the public to turn over to the government, however, if the government wanted 5%, they might collect 10% and the difference was their earnings.  Not really that ethical!  But in all fairness, I suppose they did have to earn their income in some way, but perhaps they might have taken a bit less....who am I to say?  
As we read thru what I reprinted from the Bible you can see in verse 8 that Zacchaeus was so pleased to be recognized by Jesus that he said he would make four-fold restitution to any that he had wrongly taken from.  He knew he had been living the wrong way and taking money that wasn't his to take. And what did Jesus then say to Zacchaeus, He said, "This day has salvation come to this house!"  Can you imagine how happy Zacchaeus would have been?  
Did you know that in some churches the story of Zacchaeus is read at the onset of Lent? And this is done because it is felt that Jesus' actions with Zacchaeus and the way that Zacchaeus responds to Jesus is actually a great representation of God calling us (The Bride) to humility,   Now just to make sure that you all know what humility means we are going to have a brief lesson on just that...first of all, can you imagine...Jesus is coming, Jesus is coming,  you are so excited, Jesus is coming!  But you are a person who is not terribly tall, so to make yourself taller, you go and get a pair of stilts!  NO, you climb a tree! 
Okay now what...you are sitting in your tree and Jesus finally comes along and He calls you by name! Gulp!  Jesus was (and is) great man, and it was know that He did (and does) great things!  And He is calling you by your name!  Now, I do not know about you, but this would be humbling to me.
Humble, humbling...having or showing a modest or low estimate of one's own importance., of low social, administrative, or political rank., This is what comes up if you just goggle this word.

¹hum·ble

 adjective \ˈhəm-bəl also chiefly Southern ˈəm-\

: not proud : not thinking of yourself as better than other people

: given or said in a way that shows you do not think you are better than other people

: showing that you do not think of yourself as better than other people

And this is what Merriam Webster says...

Do you now understand, that if Jesus would walk up to you and call you by name, would you feel humble?  I certainly would!

So for today I shall say Adieu and I pray that you all have a bless-ed and a blessed day, and that you find yourselves behaving in a humble fashion.  Never, Never, Never think yourself better than another!