Guess, Who's Coming Over

Luke 19:1-9 -

The New International Version Chapter 19

Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. 3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.

5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.

7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”

8 But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”

9 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

Introduction

There will be times in your life where you will feel small

Saul felt small — When God spoke to him and told him that he was going to be king — apart of his response was “But I am from the LEAST of tribes.

Jeremiah felt small, when God calls him and tell him all that he had planned to give him to do, Jeremiah responses with “But I am ONLY a child?

We see in the book of Exodus When God tells Moses that he will be the one who will lead the Israelites out of Egypt Moses responses “But I AM A Nobody” I can barely speak!

and so what we see throughout the bible is Men and Women who responded to A Big God, through the lens of their smallness.

Although God saw one thing, their knowledge of their smallness made them doubt the big things God would do through them.

and so what that tells us is all of us are going to reach a point where we simple feel, like we are not enough.

There will be times when your money makes you feel small.

Your lack of friends can make you feel small.

Your lack of acceptance, can make you feel small

your lack of knowledge can make you feel small

Your lack of love can make you feel small.

There will come a time when you feel inadequate for the task, insufficient for the job, and how you respond in your small season will determine what the next one looks like

and one of the things ive noticed is sometimes God will let you see Big!

he will let you study big!

he will Expose you to Big,

but when you get home

small starts talking!!

and if you dont deal with your SELF about your SMALLNESS.

Big Can preach to you

Big Can encourage you

Big can Lay hands on you

But until you have made the decision!

That Im not going to always be this size

it does not matter how much effort the lords make to show you were your going,

your going to always be trapped by your current size.

and so Luke shows us here in Chapter 19 how God can use your small season to give you leverage in a place that the large do not have.

English Standard Version Chapter 19

And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. 3 And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small in stature. 4 So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way.

The text tells us that Jesus has just entered Jericho and was passing through.

and while hes passing though we learn that there is a man in Jericho by the name of Zacchaeus

The first things we see is his Character

Zacchaeus was a chief Tax collector and it was his responsibility to collect a certain amount of money for the maintenance of the state.

However, Tax Collectors were also permitted to collect more money than they were suppose to collect and keep the proceeds.

And because of this Tax collectors were considered sinners and hated for their tendency to abuse their power for their own gain.

and so not only was he considered a Sinner by the public, but he was wealthy.

This was not someone who you would normally expect trying to see jesus.

This was not someone who had a issue with blood and needed a miracle

This was not a man who was blind and wanted to regain his vision.

This was not a man who was homeless on the street, or lame in his body.

but we see this wealthy Tax Collector who is labeled as a Sinner wanting to see who jesus was.

But we see the problem in the text

Vs 3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd.

This is not my point

but it is interesting because what that shows us is who your around can determine what you are able to see.

it lets us know that your ability to see jesus will be determined by who’s around you.

Just look at somebody and say who’s around you??

Zacchaeus understood that If I was going to see this man Jesus, that he could not stay at the level where he was,

But he needed to position himself in a way that was different from everybody else.

and that can be challenging because wheneverbody else is doing it this way

and say it that way

and hanging out over here

and going over there, it gets a little bit more difficult because we all want to “Fit in with the crowd”

but if you are not able to see him, when you are with them,

If I stay with the crowd I risk missing moment with him.

and so the text says

American Standard Version Chapter 19

And he ran on before, and climbed up into a sycomore tree to see him: for he was to pass that way

The actions of the wealthy chief tax collector and his Character dont match

Communion - vs 5-6

American Standard Version Chapter 19

5And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for to-day I must abide at thy house.

Jesus said come down, and Zacchaeus

Come down out of your safety net that

All of us know how to hid in something that makes you look bigger

all of us know what it is, to hide behind something that

Complaining vs

American Standard Version Chapter 19

7And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, He is gone in to lodge with a man that is a sinner.

When a big God puts a small man on display.

Don’t get distracted when they get disgruntled.

Obeying God will irritate someone people.

You can not change how they see you, when God see’s you.

Conversion

American Standard Version Chapter 19

And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord, Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor, and if I have wrongfully exacted aught of any man, I restore fourfold.