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Hab 1
Introduction:
Hide and Seek
Rabbi Baruck’s grandson Jechiel was playing hide-and-seek with another child.
Jechiel hid and waited for his friend to search for him.
He waited a long time, and finally left his hiding place.
His playmate was nowhere to be found.
Now Jechiel realized that his friend had not even bothered to look for him.
With tears in his eyes he came running to his grandfather.
Then Rabbi Baruck also began to weep and said, “That is the way God acts: I hide, but nobody wants to look for me.”
(Gebhard Maria Behler, “What is God’s Game?” in A Treasury of Catholic Digest)
There are so many people in the world who hurt from rejection.
They feel unloved.
They are even convinced that God does not care.
However, in today’s story we find Jesus seeking out a man who is considered the lowest of the low.
Not only is this man a tax collector, but he is the chief tax collector.
Yet Jesus comes to him and calls him by name showing that God loves even the unlovable.
Pray
Introduction:
Jesus is in His final days before entering Jerusalem.
Today’s story takes place in Jericho.
Jericho is next to the last stopping point before Jerusalem.
Typically, people would stop and rest in Jericho before traveling on to Jerusalem.
Jerusalem is only 10 miles southwest of Jericho, but it is mountain terrain and traveled by many on foot.
Jesus next rest stop will be Bethany just before entering Jerusalem on the famed Palm Sunday.
As Jesus was approaching Jericho, He was approached by a couple blind men.
He heals them and this as well as the many other stories of healings for which He has done, precede Him into the town.
Very quickly the people begin to gather as Jesus enters the town.
They crowd around Him pushing to get closer.
It would be very uncomfortable for Jesus.
But Jesus does not allow that to deter Him.
Jesus has something very important to do this day.
Previously, in Jesus had declared that He had come to seek the lost and in today’s story He does so in a very personal way.
Here we find that it is not just the lost, but...
I. Jesus Loves and Seeks the Rejected ()
Now living in Jericho is a very wealthy man.
His name is Zacchaeus.
Now Zacchaeus is not popular in town.
He has three strikes against him.
He is a tax collector.
As you know, tax collectors are not popular people.
In our culture, they are despised because they are not viewed as very compassionate.
We often few them as harsh people who are more about rules than human need, therefore we tend to paint them all with a brush that says, “No Compassion!”
In Bible times it was even worse.
They had too much control and used their positions to over tax the people while pocketing the extra funds for their own use.
When I was in Pennsylvania, there was a law that made it easy for men to do something similar.
A person could not license their trailer without the approval of a mechanic.
Every year or two, you had to get your trailer inspected.
If there were any maintenance needs it was mandatory that they be fixed, no matter how great or small, before you could get a license.
If you chose not to license the trailer, the state would declare it an abandoned vehicle and would confiscate it.
So you were at the mercy of the mechanics that inspected it and that was a problem, because there were those who took advantage of the situation and declared issues where there were none.
I know, it happened to me twice.
That was a bit how this was.
People were not all educated.
There were no statements that came in the mail from Rome saying you owe this much.
So it was easy for the tax collectors to over charge the people and they had no recourse but do as they said or they found themselves in prison.
However, that was not the only strike Zacchaeus had against him.
He was not just any tax collector, but he was...
CHIEF tax collector.
However, he is not just any tax collector.
He is CHIEF tax collector.
That means he is the top dog around these parts.
That is kind of like being the top IRS overseer of a region.
If a tax collect is
That means he is the top dog around these parts.
It also says he is very wealthy, which makes sense considering his high office.
The chief tax collector is kind of like being the top IRS overseer of a region.
If a tax collect is despised, you can just imagine how people felt about the top dog of them all.
Probably a lot like we all feel about Lois Lerner and others like her that were using their top positions to persecute non-profits.
But those were not the only reasons people looked down on Zacchaeus.
Zacchaeus had another major short coming.
3. Zacchaeus was short!
Bullying is not new in our world.
It has been around a long time.
It may even be the reason Zacchaeus became a tax collector and he must have been good at it to become chief.
He probably was a hard worker to overcome the stigma of being such a short man.
Now on this day, there is a lot of excitement!
Jesus, the man they have all been hearing about has come to town.
Not only that, but He has already performed a miracle by healing two blind men.
As everyone runs and begins circling Jesus.
Zacchaeus finds himself on the outside.
He is pushed out, in part due to his unpopularity and in part due to his stature.
Zacchaeus has been bullied, ignored and pushed out all his life, but this time he is determined to see.
He has heard the stories and he longs to be a part of what is happening.
He is so desperate, that we see this man of high office do the unthinkable.
A. A man becomes like a child ()
We can picture it in our minds.
A crowd all clustered tight around a man walking through town.
A man of prestige that everyone wants to see.
And around the outside is a man running back and forth, trying to find a way in, but not finding a way to do so.
Of course, when we picture it is our minds, it is children we see doing this.
Then probably a father reaching down and picking the child up on his shoulders to see, however, Zacchaeus had no such luxury due to his age.
In desperation, Zacchaeus runs up ahead of the crowd searching for some kind of vantage point for him to be able to see.
Then he spots it.
A fig-sycamore tree is just up ahead.
Its thick trunk branches out with low and strong branches for which he can climb onto and see over the crowd as they come.
It is interesting that just prior to this event, Jesus was addressing a crowd when people brought their children to him.
The disciples had rebuked the parents for interrupting Jesus with these children however, Jesus welcomed the children and rebuke the disciples.
Jesus responds...
Luke 18:17
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