Welcome The Outcasts
When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today." So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly." -- Luke 19:5-6
Zacchaeus was a tax collector, which in those days was just another word for cheater. People looked down on Zacchaeus and refused to associate with him and others of his profession. He was an outcast.
Jesus didn't see Zacchaeus the way the world saw him. Zacchaeus' desire for Jesus was so great that the short man climbed a tree so that he could see Jesus as He passed by. Zacchaeus was ripe -- for salvation. That's what Jesus saw.
The crowd couldn't believe it when Jesus invited Himself to stay at Zacchaeus' house. Why would a prophet, a great teacher of the law, choose to stay with a sinner? But Jesus was much more than what they thought and so was Zacchaeus.
The Bible tells us that Zacchaeus repented as he stood before Jesus. He vowed to give half his possessions to the poor and to pay back four times the amount if he'd cheated anybody. How many sinners -- that would be you and me -- ever did that?
Jesus said to him. "Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost." -- Luke 19:9-10
Jesus looked on sinners with love. He called them to Him before they repented. How about you? Do you welcome thieves and adulterers, liars and unbelievers? Don't avoid people who need Jesus the most. Let them see Jesus in you.
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