The Word This Week
Luke 19:1…
As Jesus approached Jericho, He was accompanied by a massive crowd. We can only imagine those who comprised His crowd of followers at this point in His ministry. Were they true believers? Were they merely curious? Were they hard-hearted Jews who came to see what Jesus’ ministry was all about? Were they celebrity seekers?
We do know about one man. His name was Zaccheus. Having somehow heard about Jesus’ approach to his city of Jericho, he went out to see if he could lay eyes on Jesus, to see what this was all about.
There was no one in Israel this renowned since John the Baptist.
We wonder what kind of burden Zaccheus carried on his shoulders as he found the crowded location where Jesus was about to pass by? (Not physically, but spiritually.)
Zaccheus was a tax collector in Jericho, known of as the ‘City of Priests,’ because it was a training center for those entering the priesthood. What had turned Zaccheus away from God? What had caused this Jewish man to reject the priesthood and set him visibly and volitionally at odds with those in the priesthood? Tax collectors were despised by the Jews in general, but particularly by priests since they competed with the tax collectors for the people’s money. (Whatever money went to the tax collectors was deprived of the priests.)
And Zaccheus wasn’t merely a tax collector, he was a CHIEF tax collector, which would only make him all the more hated – since he worked on behalf of Rome, (as did all tax collectors.)
At some point along the way, Zaccheus set his heart on making money rather than pleasing God. In this way he was much like the priests – but was certainly at odds with them.
Zaccheus had a problem when he arrived where the crowd was. He was too short to see Jesus passing by. Being a problem-solver, he figured the solution was to get ahead of the crowd and climb a tree. All he wanted to do was to see for himself what Jesus was all about.
He discovered much more than that, as Jesus spotted him in the tree. The rest of the story is the testimony of how Zaccheus, a much-hated chief tax collector, got saved by the love of Jesus.
Pastor Bill
As Jesus approached Jericho, He was accompanied by a massive crowd. We can only imagine those who comprised His crowd of followers at this point in His ministry. Were they true believers? Were they merely curious? Were they hard-hearted Jews who came to see what Jesus’ ministry was all about? Were they celebrity seekers?
We do know about one man. His name was Zaccheus. Having somehow heard about Jesus’ approach to his city of Jericho, he went out to see if he could lay eyes on Jesus, to see what this was all about.
There was no one in Israel this renowned since John the Baptist.
We wonder what kind of burden Zaccheus carried on his shoulders as he found the crowded location where Jesus was about to pass by? (Not physically, but spiritually.)
Zaccheus was a tax collector in Jericho, known of as the ‘City of Priests,’ because it was a training center for those entering the priesthood. What had turned Zaccheus away from God? What had caused this Jewish man to reject the priesthood and set him visibly and volitionally at odds with those in the priesthood? Tax collectors were despised by the Jews in general, but particularly by priests since they competed with the tax collectors for the people’s money. (Whatever money went to the tax collectors was deprived of the priests.)
And Zaccheus wasn’t merely a tax collector, he was a CHIEF tax collector, which would only make him all the more hated – since he worked on behalf of Rome, (as did all tax collectors.)
At some point along the way, Zaccheus set his heart on making money rather than pleasing God. In this way he was much like the priests – but was certainly at odds with them.
Zaccheus had a problem when he arrived where the crowd was. He was too short to see Jesus passing by. Being a problem-solver, he figured the solution was to get ahead of the crowd and climb a tree. All he wanted to do was to see for himself what Jesus was all about.
He discovered much more than that, as Jesus spotted him in the tree. The rest of the story is the testimony of how Zaccheus, a much-hated chief tax collector, got saved by the love of Jesus.
Pastor Bill