[1] He entered Jericho and was passing through. [2] And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. [3] And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small in stature. [4] So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way. [5] And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” [6] So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully. [7] And when they saw it, they all grumbled, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” [8] And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” [9] And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. [10] For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
https://bible.com/bible/59/luk.19.1-10.ESV
The crowd here hated Zacchaeus. They knew he was a short man and had a bad reputation. So they closed tanks and became an obstacle. They kept him from meeting Jesus, even seeing a glimpse of him. How often are we obstructions to faith and a display of the gospel. Because of some sin against us, our need for social comfort, our view of who deserves salvation, who deserves the gospel.
Rich and powerful people so not climb trees. This is unheard of. Desperation does strange things to people. Zacchaeus was desperate. Jesus sees this man up a tree and says he must have a meal with him. There's not a rebuke. Jesus says he must break bread with this sinful man. This man was a traitor to his own people. He was not acceptable among his people.
The crowd, the people were offended. Sinners were to be shunned. Associating with sinners was bad. This is the way the common person at Jericho thought. The gospel is offensive. It is confounding. The people grumbled because this felt like Jesus was wrong to eat with this man.
So Jesus has a meal with Zacchaeus. Unprompted, he promises to give away half his possessions and provide four-fold restitution to those he's defrauded. As a chief tax collector, he has surely defrauded many. If Zacchaeus followed through, he likely bankrupted himself in the process. This is the effect of the gospel. This is a picture of true repentance. Accepting Jesus brings us to a place of immense generosity and turning away from things that dishonor God.
What does following Jesus mean? What does it mean to how we see and use money? Instead of tweaking our budget, will we consider it as a tool for God's kingdom? What does it mean to who gets invited to our table? Will we invite those that society has turned their back on? This is the gospel doing radical work in our lives.
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