Jesus was criticized for going to the house of Zacchaeus because Zacchaeus was viewed as a big time sinner. Jesus made it clear, “I have come to save that which was lost.”
He did not come to just feather the cap of someone who already had it going on, but He came to fill the lives of those who wanted their lives “filled to the brim.” He came to the lost who wanted salvation and those who were seeking something more fulfilling in their lives.
So was the case with Zacchaeus, who exercised the same kind of faith as Abraham. Jesus invited himself to the tax gatherer’s house. The tax gatherers were some of the most hated and despised. Jesus was and is now, the seeker. He is the caller and He is the gatherer. That’s how He is now.
He will come to you because there is a need. What is that need? We want more of Him. We yearn to know Him more and to know Him better. We want to partner with Him and share in Him that He will allot to us a portion of His goodness and greatness.
Zacchaeus brought a radical change into His life because of Jesus’ presence and self-invitation. He committed half of his goods to the poor, which before as a tax gatherer, he had gouged as much as he could from those he was collecting taxes.
He became a changed man, paying back what he had wrongfully exacted from the taxpayers! His conversion undoubted impressed those who were around him, too. Not only that he would make a fourfold restitution to those who he had cheated or overcharged for taxes and dealt dishonestly with the tax payers, now, being controlled by love, he paid off his debts and sought the pathway of love rather than greed. Oh’ My how the Lord changes hearts when He comes to the scene.
In John 10:10, Jesus said, “I have come that you may have life and that you may live life more abundantly.” When we respond to Jesus’ call with selflessness, giving, generosity and love, we have more of Jesus. When we have more of Jesus, we have more satisfying life.
Jesus came and said, “I have come to seek and to save.” He always has purpose; never aimless. When He was at the pool of Bethesda, what happened? He was seeking. He was calling. He was gathering. He knew exactly where to go to find the most needy.
There, he was at the pool where there was sick, paralyzed, crippled, lame, halt (couldn’t walk but a few steps, but had to stop and regain balance). The blind were there. They believed when the gushes of water came whoever got into the water first would be healed.
This one man, among many, Jesus selected for healing. He was a demonstration case, an object lesson, so that others around him could see and be witness to this miracle. He sought out the man who had been paralyzed for 38 years. He wanted to be healed, but there was no one to get him there first to be put in the gushing waters, which they believed an angel would come and bring healing.
Now that the paralyzed man had been healed, they must now see and realize there is something more to healing than “waiting for the moving of the waters.” There was another way where many could be healed. He was the “caller.”
His miracle called in the attention of many others there to let them know that healing was available to them too without waiting hopelessly, endlessly for the water to come gushing forth. This was an amazing new reality for them. His miracle working power brought joy and intense persecution and criticism to death.
How is it He dared violate the rules of the ecclesiastics that no work would be done on the Sabbath. The paralytic picked up his pallet and walked on the Sabbath and Jesus was in bold violation of it.
The Sabbath was sacred to them above saving a life and relieving pain, suffering and crippled body. They sought to pursue Him and kill him. This was their way. They believed themselves to be right.
Sometimes people think they are right in their own eyes, but in the eyes of the Almighty God, they are wrong. It’s difficult for people to come to their own wrongness.
The psalmist said it so correctly in Psalm 139 – “Thou has searched me and known me. You know when I sit down. You know when I get up. You know me wherever I am. If I am in the uttermost parts of the earth, you know where I am. Even before I was in the womb and before I was born, you knew me then.”
That’s how God is and let us not forget there is no place we can go and God doesn’t know. There is only one true God, and He had no partners in creation. I encourage you to get to know Him deeply. He knows each one of us intimately. He knows. He knows every beat of your heart, he knows.
Thanks for reading! Jeanette Grattan Parker is founder-superintendent Today’s Fresh Start Charter School 4514 Crenshaw Boulevard, LA 90043, 323-293-9826, www.todaysfreshstart.org (Ask Dr. Jeanette TM) Inquiring Minds Want to Know, All articles are copyright. All rights reserved © The Holy Bible New Testament, Errors? Let me know. Sundays for music & message: 11:30am {1-712-775-8971—code 266751}References: (The Holy Bible) Bible Believer’s Commentary Pray.