“For the Son of Man
came to seek and to save the lost (Luke
19:10).
The purpose of Luke’s gospel: to establish the
veracity of the events surrounding the life and ministry of Jesus (Luke 1:3) in
order to keep Theophilus firmly set in his faith (v.4).
This initial purpose of Luke’s Gospel reaches its
readers today: it reaches you and me – reading it we are encouraged in our
“faith walk”.
Just before entering Jericho, (Luke 18:35) Jesus
healed a blind man. The blind man’s cry for mercy speaks volumes about his
belief/conviction.
That wasn’t his first cry for help/mercy. All day
long, he would ask for help from those who were passing by – hoping that
someone would give a coin or two or a piece of bread.
That day, for the first time in his entire life, he
cried, “Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me!” (Luke 18:38)…he cried out to
Jesus, son of David!
He saw what the people didn’t: he saw a King passing
by.
He met the King…and followed Him, praising God
(v.43).
Entering Jericho, (Luke 19:1) Jesus had another
encounter. There was a short, wealthy chief tax collector who “just” wanted to
see who Jesus was (v.3)
He did what wealthy chief collectors don’t normally do but what short people
most likely will do: he climbed a
sycamore tree for better view.
Now, some people must have shaken their heads in
disbelief; other may have whispered, “Look at Zacchaeus, he is up the tree…”
Where? “Over there…”
I don’t know if Zacchaeus noticed them or heard what
they were whispering, but he certainly did hear Jesus, “Zacchaeus, come
down…let’s have lunch!”
Meeting Jesus changed something in Zacchaeus’ life
(v.8).
When meeting Jesus, “something” changes – it means that
salvation has come and taken over. In his case: he became a (new born) son of
Abraham – “by faith” not by birth. May you “see” the King, as He is passing by!
Pastor Alois