THE ZACCAEUS' PRINCIPLE: STOP
(Message by Tanny Keng)
1. The Zacchaeus' Principle
a) Zacchaeus was socially somewhat on the outer. First, he was a rich man, and the implication is that he became rich by collecting taxes with rather too much commission, that is to say he was corrupt. Therefore he was probably not well liked. Secondly, he was a man of short stature, so short that he found it necessary to climb into a tree in order to see Jesus, because the crowd around Jesus blocked his view. Zacchaeus was probably more surprised than anybody when Jesus stopped under the tree and honored Zacchaeus by inviting himself to be a guest in Zacchaeus' house. (Luke 19:1-10)
b) Here is one of the elements for Zacchaeus' Principle.
2. Stop
a) When Zacchaeus heard the people around him grumbling that he was a sinner unworthy of having the Lord as his guest, then "Zacchaeus stopped". He didn't scurry away from his accusers. He stopped, and he faced up to his sin before them all. And "Zacchaeus stopped" in another sense. He could no longer "go on sinning willfully" (Hebrews 10:26). Zacchaeus had to "awake to righteousness and stop sinning" (1 Corinthians 15:4). Right there and then, to his credit, that's what Zacchaeus did.
The End ...
1. The Zacchaeus' Principlea) Zacchaeus was socially somewhat on the outer. First, he was a rich man, and the implication is that he became rich by collecting taxes with rather too much commission, that is to say he was corrupt. Therefore he was probably not well liked. Secondly, he was a man of short stature, so short that he found it necessary to climb into a tree in order to see Jesus, because the crowd around Jesus blocked his view. Zacchaeus was probably more surprised than anybody when Jesus stopped under the tree and honored Zacchaeus by inviting himself to be a guest in Zacchaeus' house. (Luke 19:1-10)
b) Here is one of the elements for Zacchaeus' Principle.
2. Stop
a) When Zacchaeus heard the people around him grumbling that he was a sinner unworthy of having the Lord as his guest, then "Zacchaeus stopped". He didn't scurry away from his accusers. He stopped, and he faced up to his sin before them all. And "Zacchaeus stopped" in another sense. He could no longer "go on sinning willfully" (Hebrews 10:26). Zacchaeus had to "awake to righteousness and stop sinning" (1 Corinthians 15:4). Right there and then, to his credit, that's what Zacchaeus did.
Comments
Post a Comment