- Luke 19:1-10 As Jesus passed through Jericho, a man named Zacchaeus desperately sought to see who he was. Because he was small in stature, he climbed into a sycamore tree. Jesus came to him and said, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.“ Zacchaeus hurried down from the tree and received him joyfully. When the town saw that Jesus was going to stay with Zacchaeus, they all grumbled, “He has gone to be the guest of a man who is sinner.” The town was upset because Zaccheus was a chief tax collector and very rich. Now, not only did he collect money from people, but he would take more than supposed to, and would keep some for himself. After this interaction between the two, 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.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
Jesus came HERE to this EARTH as a man, a sinless, perfect man, to bridge the gap between his Father and the sinners of this world. Who is a sinner? ALL OF US (Romans 3:23). Jesus came for you and for me, he came to eat dinner with tax collectors and sinners just like us to demonstrate his great love for us.
What does that mean for us?
Jesus doesn’t need us to clean up our lives before we come to him. He called US knowing that we are sick, lowly, weak and sinners. He knows who we are! We don’t need to clean up our lives, do things right, “perform” for him because He already knows and already died for the worst of our days.
Jesus was a friend of sinners – Zacchaeus, Matthew and so many more – Jesus leaned into relationships with people that were messed up, broken and straight up bad. Just like he called up into the tree that Zacchaeus was sitting in, Jesus is calling you – wherever you’re hiding. He’s calling you to come down, to eat with him despite your shortcomings and your dirt. Jesus is friend of sinners, which means he’s friends of you and me.
Other similar stories: [Luke 7:36-50, John 4:7-26, Matthew 9]
What does that mean for us?
Jesus doesn’t need us to clean up our lives before we come to him. He called US knowing that we are sick, lowly, weak and sinners. He knows who we are! We don’t need to clean up our lives, do things right, “perform” for him because He already knows and already died for the worst of our days.
Jesus was a friend of sinners – Zacchaeus, Matthew and so many more – Jesus leaned into relationships with people that were messed up, broken and straight up bad. Just like he called up into the tree that Zacchaeus was sitting in, Jesus is calling you – wherever you’re hiding. He’s calling you to come down, to eat with him despite your shortcomings and your dirt. Jesus is friend of sinners, which means he’s friends of you and me.
Other similar stories: [Luke 7:36-50, John 4:7-26, Matthew 9]
No comments:
Post a Comment