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Luke 19:1–27

4/29/2012

 
Click here to read today's passage on Bible Gateway.

Zacchaeus
"Zacchaeus expresses his appreciation of Jesus’ acceptance of him by declaring his intent to be a different man. Because of his new relationship with God, he will do two things: Half of his possessions will now go to the poor, and those he has wronged will receive restitution at four times the amount taken. He is aware of his sin and desires to right the wrongs he has done. Both actions stand out in light of cultural expectations. If later Judaism is any guide, it was considered generous to give away twenty percent of one’s possessions. And the restitution Zacchaeus notes is better than the highest standard set by the law (Lev. 5:16; Num. 5:7). He actually penalizes himself with the standard required of rustlers (Ex. 22:1; 2 Sam. 12:6). As Ellis notes, this is the “thank offering of a changed heart.” In Zacchaeus’s changed heart, love for God expresses itself in love for others." [1]

Jesus changes people.  There are a lot of different things going on in the book of Luke and some important themes to notice, but don't miss this one!  People who meet Jesus are changed.  Notice that  Zacchaeus understands something that quite often escapes us:  he doesn't do what he does to earn the favor of Jesus - rather he realizes that he has been changed by Jesus and therefore his actions must change as well.  He was lost, but has been found.  He is known.

Does anyone have or know a similar story?  Sometimes in suburbia it seems like we don't see many stories as drastic as that of Zacchaeus, but know this:  they do happen.  Jesus CHANGES people.  He FINDS people.  Being found by Jesus changes everything.

[1] Darrell L. Bock, The NIV Application Commentary: Luke (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1996), 479.
Andrei
4/29/2012 01:44:47 pm

Word up. Definitely Uncle Gary's testimony comes to mind when thinking about this topic. Interesting to think about suburbia and Jesus. I remember Baywatch had a comment in Sunday School once regarding comparing the Christian walk of suburban people (like us) to the walk of someone in a different country who is being persecuted to something like that. He pointed out that there is a different set of issues and different ways that God is working in both situations; obviously, our situation isn't as drastic by any means, but our struggles are unique to our situation. I also remember Kevin commenting that God gives each person challenges and situations that they can handle with His strength; his question was, what does that say about how much we can handle? Or something like that. So those were some thoughts that might be relevant to today's post.

Greg
5/1/2012 04:33:24 am

I agree that situations are definitely different, but I also don't think that "godliness" is culturally defined. The standard for holiness and godliness is Jesus, not how godly others consider us to be. Of course we all fall short of that godliness, even people in persecuted countries - that is why we have grace. I think it creates a problem though if we start to think "I'm different than that person because I don't live in a persecuted country". We are all children of God and the ways of the Heavenly Kingdom are always the same. I think the difference is that people in difficult situations aren't given much of a choice: follow God and accept suffering or don't follow Him. Our greatest curse as Christians in the US is that because of our "freedom" we start to feel that there is a third choice: to "follow God" but not be changed by Him. Jesus was pretty clear: there are two ways, a wide way that leads to destruction and a narrow way that leads to life. Watch:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dRhjMj2_mw&fmt=18

Andrew S
4/30/2012 12:02:38 pm

Andrei, going along with that thought and our conversation about songs that really hit a spot in your heart.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcC_NUkk_-M
It's way too pop-ish and cheesy for my tastes but the chorus breaks me up inside when I think of the challenges before me in my current situations.


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