Zacchaeus's Makeover
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Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. 3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.
5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.
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.”
9 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
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Paul, Silas and Timothy,
To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
2 Grace and peace to you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters,[b] and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing. 4 Therefore, among God’s churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.
11 With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may bring to fruition your every desire for goodness and your every deed prompted by faith. 12 We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ
We hear a lot about makeovers these days people want surgery to make them look better, younger, richer. People want a house doctor to come in and make over their house so it sells, so it is more impressive more homely/liveable. Others want ground force to come and make over their garden (My wife wrote to Alan Titchmarsh to try and surprise me). There are business trouble-shooters who will come in to your company and make suggestions in a week that will increase the profits and the wealth of the Company
There are not too many programmes about people who come into a persons life and the effect that person has on their life is to make them give away half of their wealth to the poor and if the changed person has made any unjust profits they give back the profit x4. That’s the upside down makeover Zacchaeus under the influence of our Lord Jesus Christ. And I can guarantee Zaccaeus felt more fulfilled, more human, better, healthier and even richer than all the people who have had the media makeovers put together!
I would like to suggest that Zac’s upside-down makeover is the kind of makeover that every one of us must experience in our own journey of faith.
What 3 basic elements are there in each of the makeover programmes we see on TV?
1. We look at the person before the makeover
We will look at Zac wanting to see Jesus2. We look at the person during the makeover
We will look at Zac inviting Jesus in to his home and into his life3. We look at the person after the makeover
We will see the effect Jesus makeover has on Zac
We look at the person before the makeover (i.e. Zac wanting to see Jesus)
Jericho was well known as a trade centre, a wealthy town in the Jordan valley (on the way to Jeru an at the river crossing to the East of the Jordan). It was known as the city of Palms and it was also one of the most important tax centres in Palestine.
Luke 19:2 tells us ‘a man called Zac was there, a chief tax collector and wealthy.’ Here’s the description of Zac before the makeover. In one sentence ‘a chief tax collector and wealthy.’ As we look at Zac before the makeover we know he was small, rich and a chief tax collector (nowhere else in the New Testament do we read about a ‘chief Tax Collector’). Zac before the makeover was a man in authority over the whole tax district of Galilee and Jericho was the Tax centre.
As chief tax collector Zac would have been over many men who would have collected taxes for the Romans. We know the person at the top of a pyramid selling scheme gets a slice of the profits of all those beneath. It was a bit like that for Zac. Our chief tax man couldn’t have helped but be rich, Zac’s job also meant he couldn’t have helped but be unpopular. The Beatles recorded a song in 1963, ‘Money cant buy me love'. Zacchaeus’s money couldn’t have bought him any sort of social life among the Jews. This is Zac before the makeover.
There’s one other little point before the makeover (and it is important) -
Zac wanted to see Jesus
Being short the crowds around Jesus meant Zac couldn’t see Jesus. But he was either determined or he was desperate and he showed initiative - he ran ahead and climbed a tree. In that sentence ‘he ran ahead...’ we can assume he was not worried about his pride or his dignity. The chief tax collector in full middle Eastern dress ran ahead and shimmied up a tree!
Are you getting the picture of Zac before the makeover? Zac wanted to see Jesus.
The bible says seek and you will find (Matthew 7:7). There’s something in the character of Zac which echoes in my heart - I want to be that desperate to ‘see’ Jesus, I want people around us here in Newport, the Island, the UK to ‘want to see Jesus so much that our pride and dignity means nothing.’ That’s my prayer for - friends, family and neighbours, for this Parish, that they will want to see Jesus. This is Zac before the makeover.
2. We look at the person during the makeover
(Zac inviting Jesus in to his home and into his life)
There he is, the Chief tax collector (head of HMRC) sitting up a tree, trying to get a good look at Jesus. And there from the advantage point of an overhanging branch Jesus stops and looks up. Jesus looks up to the small man! The chief Tax collector looks back! And Jesus knows his name - isn’t that incredible before you come to Jesus he knows you name. He says, (v5) ‘Zac come down I must stay at your house today.’
There’s a saying ‘it’s not what you know it’s who you know.’
In this move from the branch of the tree to the ground Zac begins to move from the what to the who of Jesus. It’s so important to know Jesus not in the head but the heart.
But I’d like to change the saying to this ‘It’s not who you know it’s who knows you.’
If you know a car salesman, let’s call him ‘Arthur Daley.’ He can get you a good deal on a car, the important thing is, do you know Arthur well enough for him to give you a good deal on a car. It’s not enough to know Jesus can set you free, that he can open the doors to eternal life to you, what matters is knowing him well enough to receive from him that gift of salvation from him.
Notice these strong words Jesus spoke to Zacchaeus - Jesus didn’t say, ‘I’d like to come to your place today.’ He said ‘I must come to your house.’ Zacchaeus is part of the mission, part of the Jesus story, ‘I must come.’ Jesus speaks to this small man with a big reputation and says ‘I must come to your place.’
Luke 19:6 says it all: Zac hurried down and welcomed him gladly (with great joy).
Having been a seeker, wanting to see Jesus, he now welcomed him and opened his life to him. His knowledge about Jesus was being replaced by knowing him personally. That’s where the real change took place, in his heart/life as he welcomed Jesus. That’s the makeover.
Zac was now a new person ‘old things had passed away and all things had become new’ (2 Corinthians 5:17). This is the makeover, Jesus with Zac for the day. And it is the same for each one of us. We cannot depend on knowing about Jesus, we need to invite Jesus into our hearts, as 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, ‘If anyone is in Christ he is a new creation, the old you has passed away and ‘all things have become new.’
Remember, Jesus was just passing through Jericho but there he was being constantly interrupted on his journey and here he was giving time to the tax man!
Henri Nouwen once said that in his ministry he found himself becoming frustrated and resentful that his work was constantly being interrupted by people who wanted something from him, until one day the Lord spoke to him saying that his real work was in those interruptions. Let us pay attention to the daily encounters with people on our journey. It just may be someone desperately hanging from a branch (so to speak) and needing your attention (so you can be Christ to them).
Do you feel like you need a spiritual makeover, or do you feel like, you have slipped back into the ways of knowing about Jesus rather than that daily, every day with Jesus, knowing Jesus. We can pray about that today.
3. We look at the person after the makeover
(The effect Jesus makeover has on Zac)
Finally, we get a glimpse of the new Zac, a changed character he makes a declaration to give ½ to the poor and if he had over charged anyone he will repay x4 , I, not because he was trying to earn favour but because of God’s grace. He gave because of his gratitude for his new life in Jesus. That should challenge each of us to ask ‘do I give generously out of my gratitude for what Jesus has done for me? What is the outward sign of Jesus living in my heart?’
Do you know Jesus personally? If you do, how is it affecting your everyday life? Today salvation is come to this house. It was true of Zacchaeus, is it true of you?
