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The Myth of Moral Neutrality

This past week Coach Brad Self suspended indefinitely one of his University of Kansas basketball players for his part in a brawl at the end of a game against Kansas State. The Big Twelve Conference swiftly suspended three other players for their part in the melee. The fight earned reprimands for both schools from the league. Conference commissioner Bob Bowlsby said, “This kind of behavior cannot be tolerated and these suspensions reflect the severity of last night’s events.”

Playing by the rules is something everybody understands. We know that there are boundaries and rules that apply to both sides. That’s what is behind the instant replay timeouts that interrupt football and basketball games these days. It’s a desire for the right call to reward the right players for playing the right way, according to the rules of the game.

This is true of life. It is impossible to play the game of basketball unless it is played according to the rules within the boundaries of the court. In the same way life is to be lived in cooperation with the moral standards which God has built into his universe. Morality is living life in agreement  with God. The game has to played within the boundaries.

Unfortunately, there are those who want to pretend there are no boundaries. A team of doctoral students went into the streets of Boston with clipboards and video cameras, interviewing people about their beliefs. One of the questions was, “How do you determine what’s right and wrong; are there moral absolutes?”

The answers they got reveal how postmodern views on morality have influenced our society. A college student was adamant: “I don’t think there’s such a thing as an absolute. I think society tries to give you their beliefs about what’s right and wrong, but really, you just have to bring it down to what is morally right for you.”

Another man on the street added, “I have to judge what’s right or wrong for me. No minister, no preacher, can tell me that.”

A young woman who was interviewed summed it up. “I don’t think there are moral absolutes. I think a person should just be able to do what they want and justify it because they want to do it. I don’t really think there is a right or wrong to anything” (Graham Johnston, Preaching to a Postmodern World).

Graham Johnston went on to say, “No wonder the tensions grow between the rights of the individual and the rights of society… . What gives any one person or any one system of morality the right to dictate to another? Someone put it this way, ‘When you lose the law of God, you end up with a society of lawyers.'”

Moral neutrality is a myth. All law is an imposition of someone’s morality. The ancient Greeks had a race in which a man would put one foot on the back of one horse and his other foot on the back of a second horse. He would then try to ride both of them standing up. This would work unless the horses separated. Then the rider had a decision to make. He had to choose one horse over the other.

American society is faced with a similar choice. We must choose to live by God’s moral agenda or we are left to fight it out among ourselves. The winners are the ones who can afford the best lawyers.

Moral neutrality is a myth. Everyone believes in standards of right and wrong. Charles Colson proved this with the following illustration. Suppose you see an elderly lady standing at a busy intersection. You have three options: ignore her, help her across the street, or shove her into the traffic. What is the right thing to do? We cannot say we do not know. Everyone knows what is right.

Where did that knowledge come from? It came from God. Philosopher Mortimer Adler once wrote, “More consequences for thought and action follow the affirmation or denial of God than from answering any other basic question.” If there is no God, or if his opinion does not matter, then  anything is acceptable. In that situation, sooner or later, society, families and individual lives dissolve into chaos.

Those basketball players in Kansas were penalized severely because they didn’t play by the rules. Playing the game of basketball according to the rules is pleasurable. Getting suspended is not. When we live life according to God’s loving commandments, we are able to live fully and joyfully, living in-bounds, playing by the rules, as we were designed to live, in the freedom of grace.

    –  Pastor Randy Faulkner

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Que Sera,Sera…So Why Pray?

The question is sometimes framed like this: “If God already knows what will happen, if he has a plan and he is in charge, then why pray at all? Whatever will be, will be.” This expresses the age-old tension between divine sovereignty and human responsibility. Thinking about this for too long makes my brain tired.

Tired, or just plain lazy? Is my sinful self just looking for an excuse not to pray? In a startling confession, C.S. Lewis admitted, “Well, let’s now at least come clean. Prayer is irksome. An excuse to omit it is never unwelcome. When it is over, this casts a feeling of relief and holiday over the rest of the day. We are reluctant to begin. We are delighted to finish. While we are at prayer, but not while reading a novel or solving a crossword puzzle, any trifle is enough to distract us” (Letters to Malcomb: Chiefly on Prayer).

He wrote these words while contemplating human selfishness and spiritual weakness. He said, “The truth is, I haven’t any language weak enough to depict the weakness of my spiritual life.” This brazen acknowledgment of his sinfulness seemed shocking until I came around to admitting my own sinful inadequacy in prayer.

The stark truth is that prayer is a battleground and the enemy doesn’t readily yield territory to us mortals. This gets me back to my opening question: why pray? One reason is, in the words of Timothy Keller, prayer is “rebellion against the world’s status quo. Indeed, it is listed as a weapon in spiritual warfare against the forces of darkness (Ephesians 6:12).” We live in a world that is organized against the will of God. Prayer, then, brings our orientation back where it belongs: to God himself.

We pray because of who God is. Prayer forces our minds, and yes, even the posture of our bodies, to come before our Creator in praise, humble confession, thanks and asking for what we need. E.P. Clowney put it this way, “The Bible does not present an art of prayer, it presents the God of prayer.” The more we see and know God for who he is, the more prayer will follow. Our understanding of God shapes our praying.

Then there is the way prayer changes us. Prayer positions us as persons who act as those who are known by and have value to God. Lewis wrote, “The passive changes to active. Instead of merely being known, we show, we tell, we offer ourselves to view. To thus put ourselves on a personal footing with God … we assume the high rank of persons before him.” And by the agency of the Holy Spirit, we are permitted to call God “Abba, Father,” in the most intimate way.

Such awareness, of God, of ourselves, of the world, of the powers of evil and of the nature of prayer itself, all prompt us to pray, and to pray boldly. Jesus illustrated this in a parable. He asked his hearers to imagine a man banging on the door of his neighbor at midnight. He has unexpected guests and no food to offer them.

The neighbor tells him to stop bothering him or he’ll wake up the whole household. He tells him to go away. Then Jesus asks, “Is that really how the neighbor is going to react?” His implied answer is no.

Because the man at the door is bold and persistent, he will indeed get up and give him the bread that he asked for, as much as he needs (Luke 11:5-10). Jesus says this illustrates how we should pray with “shameless audacity.” It is not that God is reluctant to hear and to help. It is that he values the kind of bold desperation described in the story. That is a lesson for me when my prayers are tentative and my faith is weak.

“Ask,” Jesus said. Asking implies a need and a recognition of God’s willingness to meet the need. Ask with audacious persistence. Ask, expecting an answer.

“Seek,” Jesus went on to say. Seek the Father’s will above all else, as Jesus taught us to pray. “Your will be done on earth” is a way of praying as the Lord Jesus prayed. Seeking also means pursuing the will of God in everything else we do.

“Knock,” implies persistence. It is not wrong to keep knocking on the door of heaven. In the language of the New Testament, the present tense of these three verbs implies continuous asking, seeking and knocking. The first verse of Luke 18 says, “Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.”

Why pray? If we pray for no other reason, the fact that Jesus said it is normal behavior for his followers, makes it a priority. We may not understand fully how our praying fits into the accomplishment of the sovereign will of God. But the fact that he commands us to pray says that it does. Reason enough.

    –  Pastor Randy Faulkner

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It’s a Beautiful Thing

It’s a beautiful thing when men meet together to pray. For many years I have participated in a monthly gathering of local pastors who get together to pray for each other, for our churches, and for our city and nation. We have supported each other when times have been hard, and we have shared each others’ happiness when life has been easier.

We represent different faith traditions, but we are united in our reverence for Christ and the gospel. Each month we meet in one of the churches and pray as expressed in the familiar hymn: Before the Father’s throne we pour our ardent prayers; our fears, our hopes, our aims are one, our comforts and our cares (“Blest Be The Tie That Binds” by John Fawcett, 1782).

The benefits are real. Praying together builds trust and respect among the ministers. It lessens the possibility of professional jealousy and undermines the unholy tendency toward competition between churches. We know and love each other. We really do. It’s a beautiful thing.

It’s a beautiful thing when friends get together to read books and discuss what they are reading. I belong to a readers’ group inspired by the men in the circle of friends that included C. S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. They called themselves the Inklings and they met regularly in the Eagle and Child Pub in St Giles’ Street in Oxford, England, from 1933-1949.

At our meetings, a member brings a book for each of the other participants to read during the coming month. We come to the next meeting prepared to discuss the book, and related topics suggested by the theme of the book. There is food, banter, laughter, and deep friendship.

Our group is called the Penlights. We have been meeting for over thirty years. Our leader solicits personal letters to the group from the authors whose books we have read. These are shared at the midsummer meeting. These letters, often from well-known writers, usually express delight in knowing we have read his or her book in this context of friendship.

John Eldredge wrote, “A boy has a lot to learn in his journey to become a man, and he becomes a man only through the active intervention of his father and the fellowship of men.” Many men today live their lives in isolation. They do not know how lonely they are. It was for good reason that Jesus and Paul joined their disciples into teams of men and taught them to pray together, to learn together and to encourage each other in living for God. It is a beautiful thing to share life with men who do this.

    –  Pastor Randy Faulkner

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Satan Will Eat Dust

Judging from recent history, the new heavens and new earth have not yet arrived. We get fresh reminders every day of the feverish activity of the great enemy of creation, Satan himself, and his demonic compatriots, “the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12). It seems obvious to me that the authorities and powers of this dark world are on the loose and are carrying out a deadly agenda.

Hardly a week goes by when we have not heard yet another harrowing report of mass murder in a house of worship, or a school, or a public space. Some commentators use terms like “the new normal” to describe the frequency of terrorist bombings, ethnic violence and civil unrest around the world. It is as if the news media, without realizing it, are telling us there is a sinister cosmic power orchestrating an evil strategy.

I am glad to report that Satan will bite the dust. I refer to Isaiah 65:25 where it says that “The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, but dust will be the serpent’s food. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain.” This picture of “new heavens and a new earth” (Isaiah 65:17) is a promise to be fulfilled when in the end times God restores harmony and peace to all creation.

I find the prospect attractive, especially the part about the serpent eating dust. This is an allusion to Genesis 3:14-15 where we read that the offspring of the woman (Christ) will ultimately crush the head of the serpent (Satan). This good news was proclaimed right at the beginning of the Bible, and it is repeated in various ways throughout. The concluding book of the Bible reminds us of the overthrow of Satan, the great serpent (Revelation 20:2, 10).

This raises an obvious question many people ask, “Why doesn’t God destroy Satan now and put an end to his evil works?” It is hard for us to grasp with our limited understanding, but there are scriptural answers that speak to this.

First, Satan, subject himself to God’s sovereignty, has been permitted to test and discipline some of God’s faithful servants. Job, Paul, Peter, and others were explicit targets of Satan within the permissive will of God. Their godly submission to these trials of life were public proof that God’s people love and serve him in spite of the attacks of the enemy. Jesus’ response to his temptation in the wilderness was a resounding defeat for Satan.

Second, every time an individual trusts in Jesus Christ for eternal salvation, Satan is defeated. The world is under Satan’s control for now (Ephesians 2:2). He uses its resources to oppose Christ and his gospel (2 Corinthians 4:4). So when people come to faith in Christ for salvation, this testifies to the beauty and attraction of Christ, and an individual’s rejection of Satan and his works. This brings greater glory to Christ than snuffing out Satan with raw power. John Piper wrote, “God’s aim is to magnify the glory of Christ through the gospel.”

Another reason why God does not immediately destroy Satan is to accumulate an indictment against those who eagerly follow him to destruction. They love sin and they choose to embrace Satan’s lies and corrupting influences. Romans chapter one makes clear that they will be without excuse before a holy God. Revelation 20:7-10 has a chilling description of how, even after a millennium of world peace and perfect justice, Satan will gather a final world army to try to make war against God before the final judgment. God will use Satan to prove the sinfulness of humanity.

The new heavens and new earth are not here yet, but they are coming. Isaiah’s poetic description is beautiful and comforting. He promises, “Dust will be the serpent’s food.” This agrees with Paul who wrote, “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet” (Romans 16:20). God is the God of peace. His peace will finally come when he crushes Satan in the end. And peace with God is possible now for any person who trusts in the atoning sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross.

There will be some battles against Satan in the year ahead. You and I can resist him and he must flee (James 4:7). Every time you see a cross this year remind yourself that Satan has lost the war and he will someday bite the dust.

    –  Pastor Randy Faulkner

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Solstice

Solstice

The sun hangs low in the southern sky, a faint, refracted, pale reprise;

A flickering portent of heaven’s reply: “The Sun of Righteousness will rise.”

The winter’s night is bleak and dead with lingering, anxious darkness blind;

But morning comes with One who said: “My life is light for all mankind.”

Relentless chill pervades, suffuses, as this world’s love grown cold with strife;

But the brittle, grave-like cold now loses deathly force: “In him was life.”

This day’s distance from comfort, light foretells: “No need of sun or moon;”

His presence, warmth, light, healing, right, announces: “He is coming soon.”

 

    –  Pastor Randy Faulkner

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A Little Spot of Heaven

A Little Spot of Heaven

Thanksgiving Day in America is not a religious holiday. It is a national holiday. The tradition dates back to the early settlers in the Plymouth colony when in 1623 they gave thanks to God for their survival in the wilderness of the new world.

Our first president, George Washington in 1789 and President Abraham Lincoln, in 1863, proclaimed national days of thanksgiving for God’s blessings on our nation. The U.S. Congress ratified a national day of thanksgiving in 1941.

The scriptures tell us that God has built thanksgiving into the structure of his world. From the beginning of Israel’s national life, thanksgiving was to be part of the essential nature of things. The third book of the Bible, Leviticus, prescribes the sacrifices and offerings that were essential to maintaining fellowship with God. These sacrifices provided covering for sin, making it possible for the people to draw near to God in worship and prayer.

Israel’s Thanksgiving Celebration

One of those offerings was the  “thanksgiving” offering, otherwise called the “fellowship” or “peace” offering. It was a voluntary expression of thanks to God for specific blessings, such as forgiveness, answers to prayer, deliverance from danger, or provision of daily needs. It was called the “peace offering” because it celebrated the believer’s peace with God.

In Leviticus 7:11-15 we learn that this was a festive offering that was shared with the priest who administered the sacrifice on behalf of the worshiping family. It involved a sacrificial lamb, and the preparation and consumption of bread made with and without yeast.

Imagine the Hebrew father gathering his family around him and asking them, “What has the Lord done for us?” We may imagine the children responding with memories of God’s faithful provision.

“God sent rain and sunshine and rebuked the locust so our crops would grow.”

“He healed Grandpa when he was sick.”

“He gave our soldiers victory over God’s enemies.”

“Our neighbors came and helped pull the ox out of the ditch.”

“Mama’s baby was born healthy.”

Then father might say, “We must thank God for these blessings. Thaddeus, go pick out the best lamb in the flock for the sacrifice and I will inspect it to make sure it has no blemishes. Tabitha, you help Mama prepare the bread for the feast and for the offering to the priest. Obadiah, run off to Grandpa’s house and invite him to join us for the thanksgiving offering and feast.”

The celebration began with the sacrifice of the lamb. The father would lead his little procession to the door of the tabernacle, lay his hands on the head of the animal and confess their sins. The animal would be killed and its blood spattered on the altar. Its internal organs were burned on the altar.  Their sins now covered, the family could joyfully celebrate their fellowship with the Lord.

The meat of the animal was divided and part of it was given to the officiating priest, along with the bread. This Hebrew Thanksgiving feast was celebrated by the family in fellowship with the priestly community, symbolizing their fellowship with God.

Examples from history

Israel’s national leaders set an example by observing the feast of thanksgiving. Moses “sent young Israelite men and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls as fellowship offerings to the Lord (Exodus 24:5).

When he brought the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem, “David sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings before the Lord” (2 Samuel 6:17).

When King Solomon dedicated the magnificent temple he built for the Lord in Jerusalem, the observance consisted of thousands of fellowship offerings (1 Kings 8:63).

During the great revival of Israel’s religion, King Hezekiah called on the entire nation to rededicate themselves to the Lord. “Come and bring sacrifices and thank offerings to the Temple of the Lord” (2 Chronicles 29:31).

When the people rebuilt the walls around Jerusalem after their captivity in Babylon, Nehemiah led them in a celebration of thanksgiving to God. “And on that day they offered great sacrifices, rejoicing because God had given them great joy” (Nehemiah 12:43).

This serves as an example for us now. Christ the Lamb of God is our sacrifice through whom we have peace with God. “In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence” (Ephesians 3:12). Because of this, we are able to “give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for (us) in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

The vocabulary of heaven

I read about an American ambassador who was giving a lecture on the work of the foreign service. He said an American embassy is a little spot of America set down in an alien land.

Our embassies have pictures of our national heroes and American flags throughout. Inside, American laws and customs are in force. The holidays and celebrations of our country are observed, including Thanksgiving Day.

On the streets outside there may be different laws and customs, but the embassy compound is a little spot of America set down in an alien land.

Thanksgiving is the vocabulary of the kingdom of God. In the kingdom age, there will be “the voices of those who bring thank offerings to the house of the Lord saying, ‘Give thanks to the Lord Almighty, for the Lord is good; his love endures forever'” (Jeremiah 33:11). 

This coming week, thanksgiving to God can be a little spot of heaven set down right here in our homes, churches and throughout our nation.

    –  Pastor Randy Faulkner

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Gregory Preached the Gospel

Gregory Preached the Gospel

The gospel was alive and well in fourth-century Cappadocia. It was located in what is today east-central Turkey. One of its most famous early theologians was Gregory of Nazianzus (330-390). He was renowned for his preaching and his defense of the doctrine of the Trinity.

Gregory was for a time the bishop of Constantinople. His preaching resulted in a revival of faith among the people. They respected his call to reverence, simplicity, and modesty in an age when many clerics were obsessed with power, wealth and ostentation.

Gregory’s writings were infused with biblical knowledge with which he sought to instruct the young. He also wrote with intellectual and philosophical rigor to defend the Christian faith against the arguments of pagan thinkers. He was one of the bishops who presided at the second great ecumenical council  (Constantinople) which clarified the church’s teaching on the Holy Spirit.

Gregory boldly proclaimed the gospel. He believed Christ’s death was an expiatory sacrifice to satisfy God’s righteous law. In one of his orations, he said of Jesus, “For my sake, he was made a curse, who destroyed my curse, and sin… .”

I pass along to you today what Gregory wrote and preached in 381. Gregory’s preaching of the gospel is as relevant today as it was in the fourth century.

He began his ministry by being hungry, yet he is the Bread of Life.

Jesus ended his earthly ministry by being thirsty, yet he is the Living Water.

Jesus was weary, yet he is our rest.

Jesus paid tribute, yet he is the King.

Jesus was accused of having a demon, yet he cast out demons.

Jesus wept, yet He wipes away our tears.

Jesus was sold for thirty pieces of silver, yet he redeemed the world.

Jesus was brought as a lamb to the slaughter, yet he is the Good Shepherd.

Jesus died, yet by his death, he destroyed the power of death.

 

    –  Pastor Randy Faulkner Randy 2019-spring

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Saints by Calling

Saints by Calling

How could the Corinthians have been called “saints?” They were contentious, tolerant of flagrant immorality,  confused about theology, disorganized in worship, litigious, divided and rebellious against the one who had brought them the Christian message. Yet in 1 Corinthians 1:2, they are introduced as “saints.” This must mean that to be a saint means something different than to be memorialized in statues and stained glass!

Imperfect saints

When he wrote to the Corinthians, Paul said that they were “the church of God in Corinth… sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the Lord Jesus Christ — their Lord and ours” (1 Corinthians 1:2 NIV). These people, he said, were “saints by calling” (NASB), “called to be saints” (ESV), “set apart for a God-filled life” (The Message). Yet they were very imperfect people.

in last week’s entry I wrote about “All Saints Day,” an opportunity to pause and remember those who have stood for Christ in the past. I did not mean to imply that our faithful Christian predecessors were somehow spared from the temptations and failures common to all humanity. They, too, were sinners who needed God’s grace and forgiveness.

Set apart

To be a “saint,” in biblical teaching, is simply to be set apart for God. In the city of Corinth, it meant to bow in worship only to the God who is revealed in Jesus Christ. The Corinthian Christians “called on” him in prayer( 1 Corinthians 1:2) and they sang to him in praise (1 Corinthians 14:15, 26). They worshiped Jesus among neighbors who knew only the worship of Zeus and Aphrodite, who were locked in pagan superstition. The believers were “set apart” from all that. The words Paul used were “sanctified” and “saint.”

Paul used these terms of all Christians, not just of martyrs or exceptional leaders. He says that what was true of them was true of all who call on the Lord Jesus, wherever they are. The term “saint” applies to all who acknowledge the ruling authority of Jesus who is “our Lord Jesus Christ” (1:2). This comprehensive term means that Jesus is the divine-human son of God and supreme Lord and Messiah, God’s anointed king. His saints regard him this way.

Be who you are.

Are you a saint? If you trust Jesus as savior you are a saint. The well-known preacher Harry Ironside famously introduced himself to some Catholic nuns on a train with “Would you like to meet a saint?” When they answered yes he said, “Hello. I am Saint Harry!” If you are a believer, then think of yourself as in Christ, set apart for God, a saint for sure.

This means that saints are not stained-glass heroes. If the Corinthians were saints then saints are far from perfect people. The rest of the first letter to the Corinthians was written to correct errors in theology, abuses in relationships,  and problems in public worship. There were many ways in which they were in great need of spiritual guidance, sort of like the church today.

Saints call on Jesus in prayer. Saints worship Jesus. How is it with you? These saints in Corinth were organized into an assembly of believers called a “church.” To boycott the church is to contradict your sainthood. To ignore the Lord’s call to worship is to break fellowship with “all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1:2).

Paul wrote to these saints to teach them to start behaving like the people they were, God’s distinctive people standing for Jesus amid the idolatry of paganism. We are called to the same things.

    –  Pastor Randy Faulkner Randy 2019-spring

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We Are Surrounded

I do not pray to the saints. This is because  I find no teaching in holy scripture that tells me to do it. I do find texts such as Hebrews 12:1-2, reminding me that “we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses.” 

I take this to mean that they continue in a blessed existence in the presence of the Eternal God. He is not the God of the dead but of the living. I am to learn from their noble example to “run with perseverance” the race marked out for me through this life and on into the next, as they did.

Throughout the world, many Christians observe this day, November 1, as “All Saints Day.” It commemorates heroes of the church, known and unknown. This observance dates back to the seventh century and is marked by the remembrance of their lives and honor to their example.

I have known quite a few saints in my time. Some of them are still living on earth. (I am married to one of them.) Others are now in eternity, with the Lord whom they loved. I could write all day (I won’t!) with gratitude for what they have meant to me and for what I have learned from their faithfulness, their endurance, their unselfish love.

So there is value in remembrance. If All Saints Day is a day of remembrance for you, then give thanks today for those saints above and saints below who have reminded you to keep “fixing (y)our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer, and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him, he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2).

In 1864 William W. How wrote a hymn for this day. Read it slowly.

For all the saints who from their labors rest,/ who Thee by faith before the world confessed,/ Thy name O Jesus, be forever blest. Alleluia!

Thou wast their rock, their fortress and their might;/ Thou, Lord, their captain in the well-fought fight;/ Thou in the darkness drear, their one true light. Alleluia!

O blest communion, fellowship divine!/ We feebly struggle; they in glory shine./ Yet all are one in Thee, for all are Thine. Alleluia!

And when the strife is fierce, the warfare long,/ steals on the ear the distant triumph song,/ and hearts are brave again and arms are strong. Alleluia!

But then there breaks a yet more glorious day:/ the saints’ triumphant rise in bright array;/ the King of glory passes on his way. Alleluia!

From earth’s wide bounds and ocean’s farthest coast,/ through gates of pearl stream in the countless host,/ singing to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost: Alleluia!

Alleluia, indeed!

Pastor Randy Faulkner

 

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The Seeker who was Sought

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Zacchaeus was a crook, and everybody knew it. Jesus knew it too. Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus as one is curious about a celebrity. Jesus wanted to see Zacchaeus and he singled him out as a candidate for salvation (Luke 19:9-10).

Jesus made this man the center of attention on purpose because he wanted to emphasize the fact that “the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.” I am struck by several features of the story. To begin with, Jesus went out of his way to publicly associate himself with a person with an unsavory reputation,  a “sinner.”

Zacchaeus was a tax collector; actually, a “chief” tax collector who held  higher office than most others. In this, he was a collaborator with the hated Roman government in extorting excessive and unjust revenues from ordinary people. This arrangement had made him wealthy at the expense of others

This is not the first time Jesus spent time with people who were known “sinners.” One of Jesus’ disciples, Levi, or Matthew, had been a tax collector before the Lord called him (Luke 5:27-32). In Luke 7:36-50, Jesus forgave the sins of an immoral woman: “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

it is also worth notice that the Lord called Zacchaeus by name. He knew who he was even before they met. Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem for the last time. He has declared his purpose: he will die for sinners and rise from the dead. (Luke 18:31-34). Everything that happens along this road to Jerusalem should be understood accordingly: He “loved me a gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).

Furthermore, it was the very presence of Jesus which stabbed the heart of Zacchaeus with conviction and repentance. His willingness to give half his wealth to the poor was not salvation by works. His willingness to make generous restitution for past wrongs was not an attempt to buy his way into the kingdom of God. It was evidence of a changed heart. It was gratitude for the gift of salvation.

“Salvation has come to this house” parallels the teaching of Jesus in Luke 18:18-29. There the Lord had said it would be possible, despite appearances to the contrary, for such men as Zacchaeus to enter the kingdom of God.

The only way for him to be assured of salvation would be by faith in the savior. This is implied by what the Lord said in verse 9: “This man too is a son of Abraham.” Surely this means that he became a believer in Jesus and thus was included as a spiritual descendant of Abraham (Romans 4:3-5, 16), the spiritual father of all those who believe (Galatians 3:26-29).

This story suggests several applications. (1) Jesus knew Zacchaeus by name. He knew all about what he had done. He knows our names. He knows all about us. “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”

(2) Zacchaeus thought he was seeking Jesus. He learned that Jesus had been seeking him all along.

(3) Everything in this story must be understood in light of the cross. Whenever Jesus spoke about the coming kingdom, he gave a solemn prediction of his coming death in Jerusalem, as he did in chapter 18. Even though the disciples didn’t understand at first (Luke 18:34),  this indicates that his death and resurrection were at the very heart of his kingdom message, “of first importance,” as Paul put it later in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4.

(4) Zacchaeus had a change in his character. His heart was changed. Salvation came to his house because salvation came first to his heart. He was transformed from the inside out. This what Jesus came to do for all who believe in him.

    –  Pastor Randy Faulkner Randy 2019-spring

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