My Meeting with Zacchaeus

Meditations based on readings from

The Story of My Life As Told by Jesus Christ

 

January 9, 2020

My Meeting with Zacchaeus

Page 207

Mark 10:46a;

Luke 19:1-10

Tax collectors like Zacchaeus were despicable, immoral and hated in their communities. Often, when a person had a significant encounter with Jesus, they immediately began to follow Jesus. Did you notice that Zacchaeus did not follow Jesus out of Jericho? The inference is that he stayed in his community to work out the meaning of his new life in Christ.

This little story has three themes. First, there is the issue of wealth and money and how they should be understood in the Kingdom of God. Second, there is the company Jesus keeps; he continually goes to the least, the last and the lost. Third, there is the faith that affirms Jesus as Messiah and that leads to new life.

The story of Zacchaeus makes an interesting contrast to the rich young man we read about in Luke 18. Our human nature wants to reduce Jesus’ encounters to principles that can be replicated. In the case of the rich young man in Luke 18, one possible conclusion for those seeking eternal life is that you must sell everything you have and follow Jesus. However, Zacchaeus only offered one half of his wealth and he did not leave home. Even so, Jesus said “Salvation has come to this home today” (Luke 19:9).

My Takeaway: While Zacchaeus is an interesting contrast to the rich young man, he has much in common with the Prodigal Son in Luke 15. Both humbled themselves and acknowledged their sin and both received new life. In this sense, both Zacchaeus and The Prodigal Son are good role models.

 

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Copyright © 2020 by Alex M. Knight

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

• Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

• The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.