Wednesday, August 10, 2016

Luke 19:1-4

Luke 19:1-4
And after entering, Jesus was passing through Jericho.  And behold!  A man – by name being called Zacchaeus – was chief of the tax-collectors and he was rich.  And he was desiring to see who this Jesus is, and he was not powerful enough for the sake of the crowd, because he was of such a small stature.  And after running ahead, he went up into a sycamore tree in order that he should see Him because that one was about to pass by.

Thoughts for Today


First Thought:

The tables are suddenly turned.  Instead of meeting a nameless blind man that the crowd loathes, we now meet a very man whose name we know.  What can we learn from the fact that these stories are put back to back?  We can’t conclude that because Jesus cares about the nameless that He doesn’t want anything to do with those whom the world finds important.  In fact, it is the opposite.  Jesus loves the nameless.  Jesus loves the famous.  Our popularity in the world – or lack thereof – does not mar the love that God bestows upon us.

Is it easy to forget that God loves both the famous and the nameless?  Who in that group are you most likely to overlook yourself?

Second Thought:

Zacchaeus desires to see Jesus.  In this we begin to understand why God loves.  He doesn’t love us because of who we are.  He is not impressed by our station.  What He wants is that we desire to be with Him.  Jesus notices Zacchaeus because Zacchaeus’ heart is right.  The rich man who probably already has everything he could want desires to meet with Jesus.  That should be inspirational to us.

How badly do you desire to meet Jesus?  How do you live this out?

Third Thought:

In spite of his desire, he cannot meet the focus of his desire.  He can’t come to Jesus because he is too small.  He’s not powerful enough.  Once more we hear that the crowd gets in the way.  Once more the crowd tries to prevent someone from meeting Jesus.  But like the blind man, Zacchaeus is not going to be stifled by the crowd.  He climbs a tree so that he can see Jesus.

When does the world around you desire to keep you down and try to keep your spirit from desiring God?  How do you conquer in such moments?


Passage for Tomorrow: Luke 19:5-6

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