Leap of Faith
Most of us who grew up going to church or attending Vacation Bible School are familiar with this song;
"Zacchaeus was a wee little man, and a wee little man was he.
He climbed up in a sycamore tree, for the Lord he wanted to see.
And as the Savior passed him by, He looked up in the tree,
And he said, 'Zacchaeus, you come down from there;
For I'm going to your house today, ....'"
According to Luke chapter 19, Zacchaeus was a tax-collector(Publican).
A
Publican was a person who went to work for Rome collecting taxes.
Zacchaeus was a man of short stature and even shorter in Jewish public
opinion polls because the Jews hated Gentiles and even more so a Gentile
who dared collect tribute from 'God's Chosen People!' They held this
prejudiced and superior attitude when Jesus told them that the truth
would set them free.
John
8: 32 and they declared, verse 33: "We are Abraham's descendants and
have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set
free?" while being current subjects of the Roman Empire, and former
slaves of Egypt, Babylon and Greece.
Zacchaeus
lived in Jericho, about 15 miles East of Jerusalem. He heard the
rumors of the one called the 'Savior of Israel; the Annointed One;
Jesus' passing through his town on his way to Jerusalem. Something more
than curiosity stirred inside him. He must see him with his own eyes.
But how? The crowd stood between him and the object of his desire but
that was no immoveable mountain. He would simply climb a Sycamore tree
and rise above the pressing crowd.
He
took a leap of faith. When the Savior came to the Sycamore he paused,
looked up into the tree and said, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I
must stay at your house today.” 6 So he came down at once and welcomed
him gladly.
The faithless crowd stood gaping at the audicity of any Jew who dared enter a Gentile's home! That was unheard of!
7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”
8
But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I
give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody
out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”
9And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham.
Jesus
was on his way to Jerusalem but he knew that Zacchaeus would be in a
tree in Jericho.. He knows exactly where you are. He knows your name,
your heart, your faith or lack thereof because He created you in His
image. He knows what you are running from or to,where you are hiding,
your problems and your misery. He came to seek and to save that which
was lost.... Not even one will be lost. All the Father has given to him
become
Son's of Abraham when they take the leap of Faith.
9And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham.
Have
you taken the Leap of Faith in Christ Jesus? He suffered the curse of
the cross, the curse from his own people, and the rejection of his own
Father in Heaven so that he might restore you to the spiritual life that
was lost when Adam sinned. Your sins were forgiven over 2000 years
ago. All you have to do is take the Leap of Faith to receive it.
Blessed are those who have not seen, yet have believed” (John 20:29b)
contributed by Judy Maness, a friend of King of Peace Ministries
May God bless you, Sister Judy for blessing us and so many with this teaching.
