When a shorty guy meets a Might God-Man. Imagine, the Lord Jesus visit the City of Jericho just to single out Zacchaeus. What is so special to this shorty guy that the Lord must abide at his house? Because he longed to see this "remarkable" Mighty God-Man for himself and received Him with excitement "joyfully".
In Luke 18:8, "Nevertheless, when the Son of Man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?" The crisis of the century. The Pride deleted our excitement to sought (faith) see Jesus, therefore learn from: What is behind the power of making haste to come down?
Do we have the same love of longing of Zacchaeus? If we do, then listen to that small audible voice of the Lord. "For today I must abide at thy house" Today, right now, you are going to have a refreshing . Not some other time. Now! Tell your neighbor: Shorty, make haste, come down (pride), be humble.
Introduction: Jesus reaches out to the smallest and the evilest among us with a very personal invitation. He calls us by name. He invites Himself over. He desires nothing less than a radically changed life, submitted to Him and all for our good! Zacchaeus was rich, greedy, corrupt, and short. And he knew something was missing from his life. What happened when Jesus passed by surprised him and deeply disturbed by the great throng of people following Jesus to Jerusalem. They're curious about Him and want to hear more about who Jesus is.
Zacchaeus eagerness to see Jesus (v-4),he ran ahead, climb up to sycamore trees because
A. Zacchaeus had at least two problems that day.
1. The first was physical - He was a shorty man, which kept him from Jesus, bouncing up and down, on his toes trying to see above the taller people in front of him. With such huge crowds, there's no way for him to get close enough to Jesus.
2. his second problem was Spiritual. - His sins were keeping him from Jesus. Not only was He short, but he like us, did not measure up to God's standards. He fell far short of ever being able to enter into a relationship with God. He was short on righteousness and tall on sin, such as PRIDE.
a.) Pride of life - origin. Eve was tempted by the serpent and committed a 3-fold sin. (Gen 3:16)
a-1) Lust of the flesh. Eve saw that the tree was good for food.
a-2) Lust of the eye. That it was pleasant to the eyes
a-3) Pride of life. A tree to be desired to make one wise.
b) Law of cause and effect. Adam is the federal head from whom every other man came. Like begets like. Apple begets apple. Dog begets dog. Anger begets anger. Pride begets pride.
B.) Christ reaches Zacchaeus. A publican (a sinner) and a rich man (v5a) Jesus looked up and saw him with the eye of compassion, that attract His eye as he "RAN" ahead, climb up a sycamore tree.
1. He is resourceful. Zacchaeus was short. but he was not slow! He ran ahead of the crowd, looking for a way that he could see Jesus.
2. His story. Is unsual for a couple of reasons, and it explains something about Zacchaeus:
a) First, He ran. It was considered undignified for a rich or dignified man to run. But he was running with as fast as he could to get to where he could see Jesus.
b) Second, He climb a tree. It is unimaginable that a rich man would climb up a tree to see Jesus.
b-1) He was determined to see Jesus and really didn't care what anybody thought about it.
b-2) He refused to allow ANYTHING, not the crowd nor his station in life, to stand between him and his desire to see the Lord Jesus.
C. Christ, the Seeking Savior - In (v5b) Make haste, and come down, for today I must abide at thy house.
2. First Move. This is how it always happen. Jesus makes the first move by coming to a spiritually dead & offering life through Himself. The truth is, none of us would be able to come to Jesus unless He came to us first!
3. Two-fold Instruction: Jesus told him a clear cut instruction to experience a spiritual revival.
a) First - He said, "Zacchaeus, hurry up and come down!" There's always a sense of urgency about following Christ. 2 Cor 6:2 says "...Behold, Now is the accepted time, behold, Now is the day of salvation"
a-1) Can we imagine what must have been going through the minds of those who were walking with Jesus that day?
a-2) How did Jesus know his name? Why did Jesus stop under that particular tree?
a-3) Why did Jesus want a notorious sinner to come down right away?
b) Second, part of Jesus' instruction was this: "I must stay at your house today"
b-1) Why the necessity of going to his house? Why the must?
b-2) Jesus must stay at his house because it pictures what His ministry is all about - He came to save sinners from their sins.
D. Spectacular praise and worship. In v6, He made haste and came down, received Him joyfully.
1. Jubilant exultation. Jesus said, "jump" and Zacchaeus jumped! He came down immediately & welcomed Jesus with great joy unspeakable and full of glory.
2. Dine with the Lord. And he got way more than he asked for: he just wanted to get a closer look at the Savior but now the Savior was coming to dinner! Communion, remembrance of Jesus' coming soon.
III. Conclusion: Please be reminded of the Lord said in Luke 18:8, "Nevertheless, when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?" This is the crisis of the century. The greatest nation on earth is powerless to confront the present crisis of the Pride of life that deleted our excitement to sought & to see Jesus and to receive Him joyfully.
Listen, when searching hearts encountered Jesus, they broke out into joyful praise! That should be reflected in our daily lives, and when we gather to worship.
TO GOD BE THE GLORY!