(By Kim)
“I want to see Jesus.” – was his only desire.
And his entire life changed for eternity that day!
I am talking about Zacchaeus – a misfit, traitor and outsider (Luke 19).
He was the chief of tax collectors and so was ferociously hated by the Jews in Jesus’ time.
But he wanted to see Jesus!
You are called to be different!
Then one day he heard that Jesus was passing by Jericho. “Is he the Messiah? Is he the same one whose clan my friend Mathew, the tax collector has joined? I heard he sits with sinners like us!”
“I want to see him, no matter what he takes.”
Now in order for him to do that, Zacchaeus had to move out of the comfort of his home and the people who loved him, his servants, his wealth and walk on the dusty roads of Jericho amidst a crowd of people who hated him and were thronging to see Jesus.
And we know that Zacchaeus was short! Three things can make you a spiritual dwarf – the deceitfulness of wealth, the desire for other things and the worries of the world, stopping the growth of Word in your life (Mark 4:18).
Zacchaeus himself was a Jew but somewhere down the road of life he had lost his way, he remained ‘short’ of the ‘love of Jesus’, but looks like that day was his day to stage a come back.
He wanted to see Jesus…
…But something was stopping his pursuit of the master.
The crowd could not let him in
Now crowd is just a mass of people gathered for a temporary purpose, influenced mainly by what they see or hear. Sadly we see our churches today filled with crowds or numbers. They come to see and hear about God, but their lives are so far from knowing Him.
They are seeking the hand of God, more than His heart. What can I get? How do I see my breakthrough? Does somebody have a ear tickling prophesy for me?
They are only emotionally stirred by the Word every Sunday and they go back home living in the same rut.
Crowds, who profess Jesus, and yet their lives show how low He is placed in priority vis-a-vis their jobs, career, families and everything else. Some of them have been members of churches for decades and their cups are filled so puffed up with knowledge and talent, that their hearts are not humble to receive more.
Take heed, lest this crowd will make you a part of it and drift you away from your purpose. Jesus had compassion on the crowd but He chose to cut off from them and reveal His heart to His disciples.
Watch out church, the breakaways are coming!
These are going to be selfless Jesus lovers who are hungering to know His heart. They are not going to be a part of you because they are running on a heavenly agenda. You can’t fit them in your box saying, “You are new in the Lord, you don’t know much.” ” This is not the way we have been taking worship in our church” “You don’t have a Bible college degree” “You have a bad past” ” You are too radical”.
But like Zacchaeus, the outsider, they are going to run away from the crowd, and do anything to see Jesus.
And they will surprise you by catching the attention of Jesus!
Zacchaeus ran away from the crowd and climbed up a tree!
“I want to see Jesus.”
“And it doesn’t matter whether the crowds laugh at me. It doesn’t matter if I look too undignified to do that. It doesn’t even matter if Jesus sees me, but I want to see Jesus!”
And the selfless hunger of this outsider made Jesus change His plans, who was going to Jerusalem and had no intention of stopping at Jericho. You see, God can’t resist those who humbly and honestly admit how desperately they need Him.
Lets away from the crowd. Let’s run to Jesus.