THE ZACCHAEUS' PRINCIPLE: PAY BACK
(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. Pay Back
a) Zacchaeus did not say, "Well folk, I'm going to start with a clean sheet. I am forgiven, and you all have to forget about the evil I've done." No, Zacchaeus did not try to get out of making amends for his wrongs. Nor did he try to minimize his responsibility. He announced that he would pay half of his riches to the poor, whom he had neglected. With the other half, he would pay back all money he had taken wrongly, giving back four times what he had taken, to return not only the stolen money but also the profit he had made on it. Zacchaeus did this joyfully, because he understood that the grace of God does not excuse us from doing all that we can to right our wrongs, and to "bring forth fruits worthy of repentance" (Matthew 3:7-8). That's the Zacchaeus' principle, and 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. Pay Back
a) Zacchaeus did not say, "Well folk, I'm going to start with a clean sheet. I am forgiven, and you all have to forget about the evil I've done." No, Zacchaeus did not try to get out of making amends for his wrongs. Nor did he try to minimize his responsibility. He announced that he would pay half of his riches to the poor, whom he had neglected. With the other half, he would pay back all money he had taken wrongly, giving back four times what he had taken, to return not only the stolen money but also the profit he had made on it. Zacchaeus did this joyfully, because he understood that the grace of God does not excuse us from doing all that we can to right our wrongs, and to "bring forth fruits worthy of repentance" (Matthew 3:7-8). That's the Zacchaeus' principle, and that's what Zacchaeus did.
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