Brown's Daily Word 11-5-07

Good Morning,
Praise the Lord for this new day. I trust you were blessed by the Lord this weekend. One of the readings for yesterday was take from Luke 19. This is story of Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus illustrates the truth that “things which are impossible with men are possible with God” (v. 27). Zacchaeus, meant “righteous one,” how ironic for he was an unscrupulous tax collector. Tax collectors in Jesus’ day were little more than government sanctioned crooks, in the Gospels they were mentioned together with “sinners” and “prostitutes.”
Zacchaeus, a wealthy tax collector, was a part of a crowd trying to see Jesus. But Zacchaeus, being a short man, was unable to see so he climbed a tree. That is the nice part about being filthy rich - he did not care what people thought. Zacchaeus was free to do something others might think was silly, like climb a tree.
But why did Zacchaeus want so desperately to see Jesus? It may be that he had heard of Jesus through the acquaintance of another tax collector, Levi, also called Matthew, who had also been a tax collector prior to becoming a disciple of Jesus (Luke 5:27-31). Perhaps Matthew, reaching out to his former circle of friends, had told Zacchaeus about Jesus and what a change he had made in his life. Regardless of the reason, Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus.
In verse five, we read, “And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to him, "Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house." When Jesus stopped under the sycamore tree in which Zacchaeus had hidden himself, he would have naturally tensed, perhaps even broken out in a sweat. Terror is likely to have grasped Zacchaeus’ heart as he braced himself to be made a spectacle for ridicule by Jesus. And then Jesus called him by name and invited himself to Zacchaeus’ home. Notice that Jesus did not say “I would like to stay at your home,” he said, “I must stay at your home.” “Must” is a translation of the Greek word (dei) meaning it was necessary. This meeting was ordained before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4-6). I believe that Jesus came to Jericho for the purpose of seeking Zacchaeus. “So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully.”
Have you ever wondered why, out of all the city of Jericho, that Jesus zeroed in on Zacchaeus. Though Zacchaeus may have seemed like the least honest or religious person, it is possible that he was the most hungry for a new life that only Jesus could give him. In the eyes of the world Zacchaeus was a traitorous, despised, nobody, but in the eyes of Jesus he was a precious lost sinner.
This was Zacchaeus’ moment. Zacchaeus scrambled out of the tree, hardly believing his good fortune, and delighted to take Jesus home with him.
“But when they saw it, they all complained, saying, "He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner." The reaction to Jesus’ choice of a host did not meet with popular approval. The religious leaders judged that Jesus had chosen to be “… a guest with a man who is a sinner" and “they all complained.”
Although it is not stated I believe that Jesus sat down to dinner with Zacchaeus. At some time, probably after dinner, verse eight discloses that “… Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.”
Let’s give Zacchaeus his due. When Zacchaeus got saved, he got saved all over. When he got saved, he immediately put his faith into practice. But it is easy to misunderstand Zacchaeus’ actions. More is going on than just a surface examination will gather! The text says that Zacchaeus says, “… if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation,” but in the original Greek it is a first class condition meaning “it is true, I have cheated.” Roman law dictated that if you defrauded someone you were to repay them fourfold. He was only meeting the requirements of the law, where he went beyond the law was his willingness to give away half of all his goods. He in effect placed his entire fortune in jeopardy in an effort to make things right. That was entirely voluntary.
I like what Kent Hughes says concerning this verse; “Jesus said over and over that it is useless to talk about loving him and trusting him and having the sweet assurance of forgiveness and the glorious hope of Heaven unless it makes a difference in our material attachments…. Jesus’ repeated emphasis is that though generosity is not the means of redemption, it is an evidence of redemption. In fact, generosity and giving are pillars of discipleship.” [Kent R. Hughes. Luke: That You Might Know the Truth Volume 2 (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Books, 1998) page 226]
It is my fear that this is a sticking point in the spiritual development of some Christians. You read your Bible, you are honest, but your just not sure about stepping out on faith in the area of giving. It may be that this is the very thing that is stifling your spiritual growth. Zacchaeus was not saved because he promised to do good works. He was saved because he responded by faith to Christ’s gracious words to him. The apostle Paul explains in Ephesians 2:8-10, “For by grace have you been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, (9) not of works, lest anyone should boast. (10) For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”
From the words that Jesus spoke to Zacchaeus in verse nine, we can learn two things. Jesus spoke to Zacchaeus and said, "Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham.” First, anyone who is genuinely saved can be assured of that salvation immediately. In John 5:13 we find, “These things have I written to you who believe in the name of the son of God, that you might know that you have eternal life….” It is possible to know and to know immediately that you are really saved. And secondly, once a person is saved, the evidence will be a changed life. In 2 Corinthians 5:17, the apostle Paul says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away, behold, all things have become new.” The deliverance that comes to us in the form of Jesus Christ is truly life changing.
In His Promises and In his Mercy,
Brown

Remember - The Russians are coming! They will be with us next Sunday, November 11, in the morning worship and for evening concert.
Sunita has returned safely from Africa, and is back in Washington, DC. Praise the Lord! All of Sunita and Andy's wedding pictures have now been posted on AyerPhoto.
Micah turned two on Saturday. Janice took her to the children's museum for her birthday, and then yesterday Janice and Jeremy took her to the Boston Aquarium.
Please Keep the following in prayer:
George Cameron, John Pipher, George Kossler, Linda Ayer, Jack Hoppes, Linda Allen, Kim Soundrajan, Becky Maney. Peter Gernses, Katherine B.


Dear friends in Christ,

Peggy Jones here! Early in the morning tomorrow (Nov. 5) 7:30 AM (Leroy is scheduled for cataract surgery. Would you please join me in prayer for successful surgery! The second one will be done on Friday, November 16. Leroy scheduled this surgery to be performed now at the end of the fall preaching schedule. As you know, Leroy's first love is proclaiming the Gospel of our Lord! Thank you for praying that he will be even better equipped to follow the call on his life as a result of improved vision. We place our faith in the ophthalmologist surgeon and in the healing power of Jesus Christ.

I hope you are having a wonderful day. Thanks for joining me in prayer!

With love,

Peg Jones