WEEKLY SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON
An international Sunday school lesson commentary
For Sunday May 29, 2016
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JOYOUS FAITH
(JESUS came to seek and save those who are lost)
(Luke 19:1-10)
The office of “Chief Jewish Tax Collector” was one that was won
by the highest bidder for the job. The cost incurred by the winning bidder was
then made up by charging the Jews excessive rates, even on those who were poor.
The person who held that position usually became the most hated person in any
Jewish community.
In Luke 19, taking up at
verse 1, Luke chronicles the “Jericho stop” on JESUS’ final missionary circuit
in route to Jerusalem, and HIS appointment with death on a cross at Golgotha (Cavalry
Hill). As HE made HIS way through the town, HE encounters just such a hated Tax
Collector, by the name of Zacchaeus.
Zacchaeus was one of the
richest and most influential Jews in the tax collectors business. He had come
there to get a glimpse of the man, JESUS, WHOM he had heard so much about. Being
a man short in physical stature, Zacchaeus was not able to see over the
pressing crowd, and so he ran ahead and climbed up in a sycamore tree beside
the road to get a better look at the, now famous, healer, exorcist, and preacher
and teacher of the Gospel, from Nazareth.
Here we see unfolding, a
wonderful lesson on how to reach people with the Gospel while they are in their
own comfortable setting, as opposed to always seeking to reach them in a church
setting, where it is considerably more difficult to get them to accept an
invitation. When we really think about it, most of a Christian’s successes at
converting people from the world, come while we are in settings that are
familiar and comfortable to those whom we are trying to convert to CHRIST.
In verse 5, as JESUS reached
the spot of the sycamore that was now occupied by Zacchaeus, HE looked up and called
on the curious tax collector to come down and get to know HIM over dinner at
his home that same day. And even though Zacchaeus was excited at JESUS’
request, the crowd of people who were gathered around were stunned and
displeased at JESUS’ proposal to eat with their most hated enemy, a sinful,
cheating, notorious tax collector. They felt that, to “break bread” with a
person was a significant sign and expression of fellowship and acceptance between
the guest and the host, and many still feel that way today.
However, hate will always
hinder a person from receiving what GOD has to offer us. When we harbor hatred
for one another, it makes it impossible to do the work that CHRIST calls us to
do. In fact, in such cases, just as the “unsaved” person who needs to be
converted is blocked from CHRIST, so too, is the person who hates his
fellowman, and yet, somehow, thinks that they themselves are “saved”. Whenever we
seek to block someone we don’t like from GOD, it is usually a sign that we
ourselves are not saved.
On the other hand, one of the
great indicators that a person is saved, is that, he or she not only does that
which is required by the law of GOD, but rather, they are willing to go beyond
that and into the territory of “sacrificial offerings”. In verse 8, we see just
such a sign from the repentant tax collector, Zacchaeus. There he stands before
the our LORD and SAVIOR, JESUS CHRIST, and tells HIM, “I will give half my
wealth to poor, LORD, and if I have overcharged people on their taxes, I will
give them back four times as much!”
In Leviticus 5:16, the
payment for such an offense of thievery that was committed by Zacchaeus, is
restitution, plus, 20%. However, here Zacchaeus is willing to go way beyond the
limits proposed by the Law of Moses. Here his genuinely repentant heart
dictates to him that he gladly and sacrificially give back “four times more”
than is required by the law.
And so here we see a lesson
learned about how we are to seek and save not only our relatives and friends,
but also strangers and those who may have an unsavory reputation in our
communities. Here JESUS is able to save the most hated sinner in town from
eternal damnation, and in verses 9-10 HE expresses HIS joy to do so, to the
people of Jericho when HE proclaims, “Salvation has come to this home today,
for this man has shown himself to be a son of Abraham. And I, the SON of Man,
have come to seek and save those like him who are lost”.
A Sunday school lesson by,
Larry D. Alexander
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