Zacchaeus: A Transformative Encounter with Grace
Devotional
Sermon Summary
Bible Study Guide
Sermon Clips
He, being Jesus, entered Jericho and was passing through, and behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich, and he was seeking to see who Jesus was. But on the account of the crowd, he could not because he was small in stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way. [00:00:09] (35 seconds)
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 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 save the lost. [00:01:06] (26 seconds)
Now, if you get nothing else out of today, I want to encourage and challenge you to joyfully celebrate the Savior who came to seek and save the lost. If you walk out of here with no other challenge, I want you to sit with this. [00:02:06] (22 seconds)
Jesus doesn't just come that way. Jesus looks up and he calls Zacchaeus by name and says, hurry, come down, verse 5, for I must stay at your house today. Now, I love speculating about what was going through Zacchaeus' mind in this moment. Is he talking to me? Well, there's no one else in this tree. Surely it has to be me. [00:08:02] (31 seconds)
And it comes back to this place of understanding why is it that Jesus came to seek and save the lost. Now, there's surely a wide range of people standing in the crowd, all of which Jesus could have spoken to and yet there's great significance in the fact that Jesus sees speaks to and then sits with this chief tax collector in culture's eyes the lowest of the low a bottom feeder who prays on unsuspecting individuals in order to profit themselves and Jesus says I'm going to your house it says a lot about who Jesus was and why he came. [00:09:04] (52 seconds)
So to summarize this and just compact it down, Paul's writing and saying, the law, your work, can't save you, but having the faith that Abraham had in the God who created all things, that's what saves you. And if you have faith like Abraham had, then you are therefore a son or daughter of Abraham grafted into this eternal family. [00:12:43] (32 seconds)
Zacchaeus' actions of giving everything away, restoring wrongs, are not what Jesus emphasizes as saving him. Rather, he emphasizes his inclusion into the eternal family of multiple nations promised to Abraham centuries before. And that salvation is brought about by what? What did we say? What was it, church? Church, faith. Everyone say faith. [00:14:12] (32 seconds)
This brings out a reality I want you to see. Those convinced of their own idea of what is right are prone to ignore the exhortation of God to be transformed. Jesus came to seek and save sinners, but not so they could stay sinners. If anyone is in Christ, Paul writes to the Corinthian church, they are a new creation. [00:17:41] (35 seconds)
The problem for most people today is that they don't even realize they're lost. They don't even know. In their mind, they're on a course that they've set that's exactly what they hope to set. And then when things don't pan out and they don't go right and the world falls apart, and things happen because they do, then they go, what, what? I don't understand. And it drives people into depression, into anxiety, into fear. [00:24:30] (30 seconds)
Because every one of us at some level has to realize we're lost before we can be found. If we've never been lost before, then we can't be found. Here's where the celebration should truly come. those in Christ understand that they were lost and have been found not in a simple work promotion celebration kind of way but in an unbelievable transformational I'm never going back kind of way. [00:25:04] (51 seconds)
Consider our lostness and how that affects our response. Stop living like lost people. We don't have to wonder where to turn. We don't have to wonder what God asks of us. We don't have to fear that we aren't good enough. We need only keep our eyes fixed on the one who sought us, who saved us, and who is coming again. [00:28:14] (25 seconds)
Father, as we consider these truths, I pray that You would help us to fix our eyes more fully on Christ. That we would learn from the example response of Zacchaeus, this man who sought after Christ to know who He was, who received Him and was forever changed. [00:29:06] (25 seconds)
Ask a question about this sermon
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 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 save the lost. [00:01:06] (26 seconds)
Now, if you get nothing else out of today, I want to encourage and challenge you to joyfully celebrate the Savior who came to seek and save the lost. If you walk out of here with no other challenge, I want you to sit with this. [00:02:06] (22 seconds)
Jesus doesn't just come that way. Jesus looks up and he calls Zacchaeus by name and says, hurry, come down, verse 5, for I must stay at your house today. Now, I love speculating about what was going through Zacchaeus' mind in this moment. Is he talking to me? Well, there's no one else in this tree. Surely it has to be me. [00:08:02] (31 seconds)
And it comes back to this place of understanding why is it that Jesus came to seek and save the lost. Now, there's surely a wide range of people standing in the crowd, all of which Jesus could have spoken to and yet there's great significance in the fact that Jesus sees speaks to and then sits with this chief tax collector in culture's eyes the lowest of the low a bottom feeder who prays on unsuspecting individuals in order to profit themselves and Jesus says I'm going to your house it says a lot about who Jesus was and why he came. [00:09:04] (52 seconds)
So to summarize this and just compact it down, Paul's writing and saying, the law, your work, can't save you, but having the faith that Abraham had in the God who created all things, that's what saves you. And if you have faith like Abraham had, then you are therefore a son or daughter of Abraham grafted into this eternal family. [00:12:43] (32 seconds)
Zacchaeus' actions of giving everything away, restoring wrongs, are not what Jesus emphasizes as saving him. Rather, he emphasizes his inclusion into the eternal family of multiple nations promised to Abraham centuries before. And that salvation is brought about by what? What did we say? What was it, church? Church, faith. Everyone say faith. [00:14:12] (32 seconds)
This brings out a reality I want you to see. Those convinced of their own idea of what is right are prone to ignore the exhortation of God to be transformed. Jesus came to seek and save sinners, but not so they could stay sinners. If anyone is in Christ, Paul writes to the Corinthian church, they are a new creation. [00:17:41] (35 seconds)
The problem for most people today is that they don't even realize they're lost. They don't even know. In their mind, they're on a course that they've set that's exactly what they hope to set. And then when things don't pan out and they don't go right and the world falls apart, and things happen because they do, then they go, what, what? I don't understand. And it drives people into depression, into anxiety, into fear. [00:24:30] (30 seconds)
Because every one of us at some level has to realize we're lost before we can be found. If we've never been lost before, then we can't be found. Here's where the celebration should truly come. those in Christ understand that they were lost and have been found not in a simple work promotion celebration kind of way but in an unbelievable transformational I'm never going back kind of way. [00:25:04] (51 seconds)
Consider our lostness and how that affects our response. Stop living like lost people. We don't have to wonder where to turn. We don't have to wonder what God asks of us. We don't have to fear that we aren't good enough. We need only keep our eyes fixed on the one who sought us, who saved us, and who is coming again. [00:28:14] (25 seconds)
Father, as we consider these truths, I pray that You would help us to fix our eyes more fully on Christ. That we would learn from the example response of Zacchaeus, this man who sought after Christ to know who He was, who received Him and was forever changed. [00:29:06] (25 seconds)
Chatbot
-
I'm an AI bot trained specifically on the sermon from Dec 08, 2024. Do you have any questions about it?