Do you think Jesus wants to change your life? When Jesus comes into our lives, he can CHANGE everything, like he changed Zacchaeus’s life. Do you remember that story? It’s in Luke 19:1-10. If it wasn’t for Luke, we would never know this story. It’s not in any other scripture. Zacchaeus was known to be a small man; in those days, the average height was about 5’5”, and Zacchaeus was probably 4’9” at the most. He was wealthy because he was a chief tax collector. In those days, the tax collectors not only took money for the government, but they took extra for themselves. That’s how they made their living. Zacchaeus was a chief tax collector, which means he had many providences. He had a big house with many servants but wasn’t someone who had a lot of integrity.
But there was something about Jesus Zacchaeus wanted to see. That’s why he decided to climb a fig tree to see Jesus for himself. What would a man like Zacchaeus want with Jesus? Better yet, what would Jesus want with Zacchaeus? Jesus knew Zacchaeus’s reputation, but he didn’t care about that. Jesus also had a reputation: dining with tax collectors and what the Pharisees called the wrong people because Jesus knew they needed him most. In Matthew 9:12, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. Jesus knew he made a difference. Jesus knew who needed him the most and he didn’t care who was upset about it.
After Jesus called Zacchaeus out of the tree, he told him he would stay at his house that day. Zacchaeus welcomed him with open arms. Zacchaeus wasn’t afraid of Jesus. He was happy to receive him at his home. Don’t you wonder what Jesus said to Zacchaeus to have such an impact on him? Do you think he yelled or lectured him to change his ways? No, that wasn’t Jesus’s style, Jesus talked, and he listened. He was kind and loving toward Zacchaeus. We see the change in Zacchaeus in Luke 19:8. It says, 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.” Four times the amount? So, if Zacchaeus took an extra $100 from someone, he would pay them back $400 to make things right. In those days if any tax collector had felt guilty and returned the money, he would only have to legally give what was expected, which was $20 out of $100. Zacchaeus was changed, to say the least.
Being kind-hearted to someone was how Jesus touched the lives of the people going down the wrong path. But we all know it’s tough to be kind to people that are not kind to us or kind to the ones we know and love. What’s worse is we get offended by people that are kind-hearted to someone that isn’t kind to them.
What Jesus did for Zacchaeus was to show him the right path to go down by treating him well. Remember what Jesus says in Luke 19:9-10 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.” Jesus died on the cross for all of us, especially the lost and hard to get along with. Maybe we should take our directive from Jesus and be kind to one another no matter the circumstance. That way, maybe one day, we will mimic Jesus and help a modern-day Zacchaeus find salvation in his own home and realize he is a son of Abraham too.
Let's Pray:
Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for your son Jesus and all he has done for us. We thank you that he came to save the lost and downtrodden. We pray that you give us the strength and ability to be like Jesus because, without him, we would never know how important it is to treat everyone with compassion and love. Thank you for filling our hearts with love and kindness to all people, Lord. Thank you for your Word that it will show us the way to you. In Jesus Holy name we pray. Amen.
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