Search & Rescue

Well, good morning, church.

Turn with me in your Bibles to the Gospel of Luke, chapter 18, beginning at verse 35.

Luke 18 · chapter mention

We've been journeying through this middle section of the Gospel of Luke.

We have come to our last portion this morning.

Next week will be Easter Sunday.

We'll be looking at the account of the resurrection.

This Friday will be our Good Friday service, looking at the crucifixion.

But today we have come to nearing the conclusion of Jesus' journey to Jerusalem.

So let's read beginning chapter 18, beginning at verse 35 to chapter 19, verse 10.

As he, Jesus, as Jesus drew near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging.

And hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what this meant.

They told him, Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.

And he cried out, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.

And those who were in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent.

But he cried out all the more, Son of David, have mercy on me.

And Jesus stopped and commanded him to be brought to him.

And when he came near, he asked him, what do you want me to do for you?

He said, Lord, let me recover my sight.

And Jesus said to him, recover your sight.

Your faith has made you well.

And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him, glorifying God.

And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.

He entered Jericho and was passing through.

And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus.

He was a chief tax collector and was rich.

And he was seeking to see who Jesus was.

But on account of the crowd, he could not, because he was small in stature.

So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him.

For he was about to pass that way.

And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him,

Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.

So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully.

And when they saw it, they all grumbled.

He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.

And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor.

And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.

And Jesus said to him today, salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham.

For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.

On February 18th of 1952, two tanker ships split in half in a terrible winter storm off the coast of Massachusetts.

From the portions of each ship that remained afloat, crews radioed for help.

The local Coast Guard station dispatched most of their resources to aid the first tanker.

So when the second tanker called for help, all that remained was four men and a 36-foot rescue boat.

Most people who heard about it thought it was a suicide mission.

The boat faced towering waves and gale force winds.

They had to cross a bar of dangerous shoals that could have easily have sunk the boat at any time.

And having reached the sinking ship, they then had to return to shore in the same way.

Against all odds, the rescue mission succeeded.

The story is told in the book and the movie, The Finest Hours.

The Finest Hours is not the only movie about a search and rescue mission.

Think of Argo, the unconventional rescue of American diplomats by a CIA agent or Saving Private Ryan.

Search for a soldier whose three brothers had been killed on the front lines of World War II.

Why are we attracted to these harrowing tales?

These heroic stories of search and rescue missions.

Missions.

You can almost guarantee that every couple of years, another one will come out and it'll be a blockbuster.

Now, some people might say rather cynically, people love a good thriller.

It helps them escape for a moment from the dullness of their daily lives.

That's all it is.

But aren't we so consistently drawn to these stories because in them we glimpse humanity at its best

when circumstances are at their worst.

We see men of courage and self-sacrifice undaunted by hostile environments putting the needs of others above their own.

And even in our cynical age, we can't help but admire that when it's real.

We might also sympathize with those who are lost and needing to be found, those who are in danger and needing to be rescued.

We feel our human vulnerability.

We realize that we could very well end up in such a situation and we hope that someone would have the compassion and courage

to reach out to us if we found ourselves in such desperate straits.

I think we're attracted to these stories because they tap into the reality of our human calling and our human condition.

We sense that if the world is ever to be put right, it will take something like a search and rescue mission.

Well, this is what the Bible has said all along.

The end of today's passage concludes with a statement,

For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.

For the last few months, we've been walking through this middle section of the Gospel of Luke,

following Jesus and His disciples along the road toward Jerusalem,

and today we arrive at the last stop before they reach Jerusalem itself.

They come to Jericho.

Jericho was an important city.

It was the first city the Israelites conquered when they crossed the Jordan and came into the Promised Land.

It was an oasis in a desert region surrounded by springs of water.

It was a busy city at the junction of main roads,

and it was especially busy as it was here when Jewish pilgrims were heading toward Jerusalem

for one of the three annual festivals because it was the last city the pilgrims would come to in the valley

before they went up the 15-mile-long mountain road to Jerusalem.

If you look up in verse 31,

Jesus says to His inner circle, the twelve,

For the third time, see, we're going up to Jerusalem.

And there the words of the prophets will be fulfilled,

and there I will suffer and die and rise again.

And for the third time, His closest followers look at Him with blank stares.

Verse 34,

They understood none of these things.

They've been with Jesus all along.

They understand the fact that He is walking toward Jerusalem,

but they don't understand why.

And they don't understand why He keeps telling them that He's going there to suffer

and be rejected and be killed,

and then rise again.

What does that mean?

But in our passage this morning,

Luke shows us the purpose of Jesus' journey

and the purpose of why Jesus came to earth.

Luke shows us here,

Jesus came on a search and rescue mission.

The Son of Man,

the truly human one,

the new Adam,

the King of Israel,

had finally arrived,

and He came to rescue us from our lost state

and bring us home with Him to God.

This morning, we see two men,

a blind beggar and a chief tax collector.

They're the last ones that join the caravan of Jesus' disciples

along this journey to His destination.

We see two men who are lost who get found.

I want to look at these two stories in three parts.

First, who were these men?

And in what sense were they lost?

Second, how does Jesus find them?

And third, what's the result?

So first, who were these two guys?

Who are these two guys that we meet here?

On the outside, these two men were about as different as you could imagine.

The first man, the blind beggar,

is physically helpless and desperately poor,

begging by the side of the road.

Do you remember in the parable of the shrewd manager,

the guy who's about to get fired from his desk job,

and he says,

I'm too ashamed,

I'm not strong enough to dig,

and I'm too ashamed to beg.

See, begging was seen as the most shameful,

demeaning means of survival imaginable.

It's humiliating to have no other option

but to beg a stranger for your next meal.

You have this sense that you don't belong anywhere.

There's nobody who will take you in

and even feed you.

And so that's all you can do.

And this is the blind man's life.

Every single day,

he would sit by the road calling out,

hoping that some passerby would be moved to pity him.

He couldn't even see

whether the people he was calling out to

would look at him

or whether they would simply turn their heads the other way

and pass by.

He was powerless.

In the 1990s,

the World Bank did a survey

of 60,000 poor people

from 60 different countries.

They asked them all the same question.

What is poverty?

What does it mean to be poor?

Here are the most common responses.

Shame,

inferiority,

powerlessness,

humiliation,

fear,

hopelessness,

depression,

isolation,

voicelessness.

The experience of being poor

wasn't just

and wasn't even primarily

about the lack of material things,

important and necessary as those are.

It was primarily about feeling dehumanized

and constantly overlooked

and disrespected.

Some of you may have felt that way.

Some of you may feel that way every day.

Powerless,

voiceless,

humiliated,

hopeless.

Maybe you felt that way

because of your physical circumstances.

Maybe you feel that way

for other reasons.

That's the first man.

The second man,

Zacchaeus,

is on the opposite end

of the social spectrum.

He's physically able.

He may have been short,

but he still could climb a tree.

And he was financially successful.

A chief tax collector.

Now,

when you hear tax collector,

that does not mean

that he was a government official.

He did not work

for the ancient equivalent

of the IRS.

The Roman government

had privatized

the tax collection business.

They subcontracted it out

to the highest bidder

in each region.

So, Zacchaeus

was an entrepreneur.

He was an independent

business owner.

And he had achieved

every business owner's dream.

He had found

some other guys

to work under him

to do most of his dirty work.

He would get a cut

off whatever they brought in

in addition to whatever

he brought in directly.

And in a busy town

like Jericho

with many people

coming and going,

imports and exports,

it's not surprising

that he was rich.

He had made it.

He owned a house.

He never had to beg.

In fact,

he could compel people

to pay him

and threaten them

with the police

if they didn't.

He had power.

Some of you might feel

like you've made it.

You've been successful

in your business.

You've risen to the top.

You stay in shape.

You can take care

of yourself

and your family

and you have a decent chunk

of change to spare.

Some of you

aren't quite there,

but you're on the way

and that's what

you're aiming for.

But you know,

you can be the top dog.

You can be,

you can look good

and feel good

and still deep down

you can wonder

what's the meaning

of it all.

Recently,

I was at an event

where Professor

Lori Santos

was speaking.

Some of you

are familiar with her.

Last year,

she taught the most

well-attended class

ever in Yale College

about how to be happy,

psychology,

and the good life.

And she rehearsed

the statistics

61% of college students

report feeling

overwhelming anxiety.

60% say they're

very lonely.

Over 40% say

they feel hopeless.

A third say

they feel so depressed

it's difficult to function.

And then she gave

her top three techniques.

Proven by empirical studies

for improving

your happiness.

Number one,

recognize your mind

lies to you.

The example she gave

was most people think

that in order to be happy

they need to earn

about twice as much

as they currently do.

But actually,

once you get to

a certain threshold,

she said about

$75,000 a year,

the more you earn

doesn't actually increase

your self-reported happiness.

Recognize your mind

lies to you.

Number one.

Second,

make time for social connections.

With family,

friends,

or even strangers,

live in a meaningful community.

Third,

express gratitude

every day.

Now,

guess what?

The top three

empirically proven ways

to improve your happiness

are all things

that the Bible

has been telling you

to do all along.

Recognize

that we are prone

to self-deception,

that we easily deceive

ourselves.

Live in meaningful community

and thank God

every day.

Of course,

the studies don't say

who you should thank,

but isn't that the question?

Who do you thank?

It's so much more satisfying

to have someone to thank.

Isn't that what we were made for?

But the point I wanted to get to

is at the end of her presentation,

someone asked this,

what if you implement

all these techniques

and still find yourself

longing for something more?

And she said,

I totally get that question.

She said,

I see the purpose

of my class

as wrapping

a big band-aid

around the hurts

of college students.

giving some relief,

trying to help people

feel a bit better.

And I hope

that once people

get some relief,

then they can start

asking the big questions

about meaning.

And she said,

the social sciences

by themselves

will never answer

those questions.

On the outside,

the blind man

seemed to have nothing,

and Zacchaeus

seemed to have it all.

But on the inside,

they both knew

their spiritual need.

And they were both

drawn to this Jesus.

We don't know exactly

what the blind man

or Zacchaeus

had heard

in advance about Jesus,

but when the blind man

heard that Jesus

was passing by,

he began crying out,

Jesus,

Son of David,

have mercy on me.

He did all that he could

to get Jesus' attention.

And interestingly,

in that one statement,

the blind man

displays more insight

into who Jesus is

than anyone else

around him.

The crowds

simply identified Jesus

as Jesus of Nazareth.

They identified him

with his hometown.

The blind man

identified Jesus

as one who had

kingly authority,

Son of David,

and tender mercy.

Verse 34 says,

the inner circle

of Jesus' disciples

still didn't understand

who he was

despite many

private conversations.

And the blind man,

relying only on

second-hand reports,

perceived something

true about Jesus

and desperately

wanted more.

Zacchaeus was also

drawn to Jesus.

Verse 3 said,

he was seeking

to see who Jesus was.

And the tense

of that verb

may imply

that he had wanted

to see who Jesus was

for a long time.

Maybe he had heard

that unlike

nearly every other

religious teacher,

Jesus spent time

talking and eating

with tax collectors,

who is this

religious teacher

who doesn't

just despise

people like me?

Whatever his thinking,

he heard that Jesus

had come to town

and he thought,

here's my chance.

They're both drawn

to Jesus,

but in both cases,

the crowd

gets in their way.

What happens

when the blind man

starts crying out

to Jesus?

The crowd

tells him to shut up.

Move over.

You're not important.

Jesus is.

Don't you recognize

that?

They rebuked him,

just like they rebuked

the parents

who were bringing

young infants

to Jesus

for his blessing.

Zacchaeus was also

hindered

on account

of the crowd.

He couldn't

see Jesus.

You might say,

well,

why doesn't he,

you know,

okay,

if he's short,

why doesn't he

just find a friendly

tall person

and ask to squeeze

in front of them?

Right?

I mean,

if I'm ever

in the back

of a crowd,

I just find

somebody like

Pastor Nick

and say,

hey,

can I get

in front of you?

Your view

won't be

instructed at all.

But no,

there was no

friendly person

in the crowd.

Tax collectors

were despised,

even hated.

They were seen

as traitors

and cheats.

And their reputation

was not

completely undeserved.

So they're both

drawn to Jesus.

The crowd gets

in both of their ways,

but we see

that both of them

persist

in reaching out

to Jesus.

The crowd

tells the blind man

to shut up

and he gets louder.

He cried out

all the more.

Zacchaeus

couldn't see Jesus

through the crowd,

so he runs ahead

of the crowd

and climbs a tree.

Now,

that's not exactly

the most dignified

thing to do.

I mean,

imagine a Yale professor

or a pharmaceutical

company executive,

right,

or someone

who works

in a bank

and is wearing

a suit,

climbing a tree

to peer over

a crowd

at a visiting celebrity.

A little unusual.

Now,

sycamore fig trees,

they're native

to Jericho,

and they are

great for climbing.

They're those kind

of trees that have

a big trunk

and lots of branches,

low-hanging branches,

and they also have

large leaves.

So,

most likely,

Zacchaeus thought,

okay,

if I get up

in this tree,

I can get a good

view of Jesus

and probably

I can escape

being seen

by the crowd.

But still,

he was taking

a risk

because he was

drawn to Jesus.

Now,

before we go on

in the stories,

let me take a moment

to speak to those

of you

who might be

like Zacchaeus

or the blind man,

drawn to Jesus

but not yet

committed

to Him.

Is there something

about Jesus

that is drawing

you towards Him?

Maybe it's what

the blind man noticed,

that he has this

striking combination

of kingly authority

and tender mercy.

You know,

if you read

through the Gospels,

you see this

all the time.

Jesus makes

the boldest claims

about Himself.

He claims to be

the promised Messiah.

He claims to be

God Himself.

He claims to be

and do

what only God

can be and do.

Over and over

and over.

And at the same time,

Jesus washes

His disciples' feet.

He spends time

with little children.

He touches lepers.

He befriends outcasts.

He's the humblest,

most approachable person,

most down-to-earth person ever.

And you might think,

how does that fit together?

I don't know anyone

who's that authoritative

and that humble

at the same time.

Maybe you grew up

in another religious tradition,

but you're seeing Jesus

and you see something

and it's strangely attractive

and it's drawing you toward Him.

And maybe you're desperate

like the blind man,

or maybe you're fascinated

like Zacchaeus.

But perhaps at the same time,

there's also something

that's getting in your way.

Something that's hindering you,

blocking you,

trying to intimidate you

and get you to stay away

from Jesus

like the crowd.

Maybe there's a hostile crowd

that tells you

like they told the blind man,

you're worthless.

Shut up

and get out of the way.

Maybe you've had bad experiences

with some of Jesus' disciples,

or at least people

who seem to be closer

to Jesus than you are.

Maybe some of them

look at you funny

or make you feel like

you're not wanted.

If you begin seeking after Jesus,

if you really want to find out

who He is,

there is almost always something

that will try to get in your way

and throw you off course.

And sometimes,

once you start following Jesus,

there's something

that gets in your way

and wants to stand

between you and Jesus.

Don't let anything

get in the way

of you finding out

who Jesus really is.

It's worth your time.

It's worth the potential

embarrassment

and inconvenience.

It's worth it

to reach out to Him

and seek to see Him

for who He really is.

There's a reason

why you're drawn to Him.

It's worth finding out

if that's real and true.

And Christians,

there's a lesson for us too.

Let's not allow anything

to get in the way

of us fixing our eyes

on Jesus,

the author

and perfecter

of our faith.

So that's the first part

of these stories,

these two men.

On the outside,

they looked completely different,

but on the inside,

they're both drawn to Jesus.

Second part,

how did Jesus find them?

I want you to step back

for a moment.

I want you to imagine

that you are hearing

or reading through

the Gospel of Luke

for the first time

and that you know

nothing else about Jesus

or about Christianity.

By this time

in Luke's Gospel,

you would probably expect

that Jesus will heal

this blind man.

Why?

Well,

in chapter 4,

Jesus' opening sermon,

He says,

He has come to proclaim

good news to the poor

and recovering of sight

to the blind.

Chapter 7,

He has already

bestowed sight

on many who are blind.

Chapter 14,

Jesus tells people,

invite the poor,

the crippled,

the blind,

the lame

to your feasts.

Chapter 17,

Jesus heals

a group of lepers

who call out to Him

in the same words,

have mercy on us.

Over and over,

we've seen Jesus' compassion

for the lowest,

the last,

and the least.

Jesus is the Savior

of the helpless

and the hopeless

and of all who recognize

their spiritually hopeless condition

and cry out to Him

for mercy.

But if you were reading

through Luke

for the very first time

or hearing it read to you

back in the ancient world,

what would you expect

when you hear about Zacchaeus?

On the one hand,

we've seen Jesus

earlier in Luke

showing welcome

and hospitality

to tax collectors

and sinners.

On the other hand,

we've seen Jesus

repeatedly warning

the rich

that God's judgment

will come upon them.

If you do a word search

for the word rich

in the Gospel of Luke,

here's what you'll find.

Chapter 1,

the Song of Mary.

God has filled the hungry

with good things

and the rich

He has sent away empty.

Chapter 6,

woe to you who are rich

for you have received

your consolation.

Chapter 12,

the parable of the rich fool.

With great plans

to build bigger barns

only to have his life

taken from him

that very night.

Chapter 16,

the parable of the rich man

who ends up in hell

while Lazarus

ends up in heaven.

In chapter 18,

the ruler who at first

seemed so eager

to follow Jesus,

but when Jesus told him

to give away his wealth,

he became very sad

for he was extremely rich.

And Jesus says

in chapter 18,

verse 25,

it is easier for a camel

to go through

the eye of a needle

than for a rich person

to enter the kingdom of God.

So far in the gospel of Luke,

riches are almost always

a hindrance

to following Jesus.

And so when we hear

in verse 2

that Zacchaeus was rich,

we think

he's the most unlikely candidate

to join Jesus' entourage.

He's the one

who would have seemed

farthest away

from the kingdom of God.

He had everything

he could want

in this world's terms

and so why would he need

anything else?

But Jesus seeks

and saves

even him.

You see,

you can't predict

in advance

how someone

will respond

to Jesus.

sometimes we

can be tempted

to write people off

because we assume

that they have

no interest

in spiritual things

at all.

The only way

you can know

is to invite them

in one way

or another

to consider Jesus.

Both men

were drawn

toward Jesus

but neither of them

would have found

Jesus on their own.

You see,

neither of them

would have personally

encountered Jesus

unless Jesus

personally

sought them out.

You see,

what we see

in these two stories

is not the blind man

and Zacchaeus

successfully

being successful

in their quest

to find Jesus.

We see Jesus

being successful

in his quest

to find them.

All the blind man

could do

was cry out

for help.

He couldn't even

see where Jesus

was,

let alone

walk over to him.

Verse 40 says,

Jesus stopped

and commanded him

to be brought

to him

and said,

what do you want

me to do for you?

Jesus treated

the man

as a person

to be loved

and honored,

not as a problem

to be solved

or done away with.

Jesus was not

too busy,

too anxious,

or too distracted

to hear the cries

of a desperate man.

And Jesus gave

this blind man

even more

than he asked for.

Lord,

let me recover

my sight.

And Jesus says,

recover your sight.

And then he says,

your faith

has made you well.

But elsewhere,

that same phrase

is translated,

your faith

has saved

you.

Who can be saved?

Everyone

who reaches out

to Jesus

in faith.

likewise,

Zacchaeus also

got more

from Jesus

than he had

bargained for.

You know,

it's not clear

what exactly

Zacchaeus

was hoping for.

Climb the tree,

certainly wants

to see Jesus.

Perhaps he wants

to hear him

in person.

But

he certainly

didn't expect

Jesus to look

up in the tree

and call him

by name

and invite

himself over

to his house

for dinner.

By the way,

that was not

any more common

in the ancient

world than it is

today.

It's the only

time somebody

does that

in the Gospels.

Jesus came

to Zacchaeus'

house,

and verse 9

says salvation

came to Zacchaeus'

house that day

too,

because Jesus

had come.

You see,

despite the

barriers

presented by

the crowd,

Jesus sought

out these

two men.

Someone said,

if anyone

is seeking

after God,

it is only

because God

has been

seeking that

person first.

C.S. Lewis

wrote,

there comes a

moment when

people who

have been

dabbling in

religion,

man's search

for God,

suddenly draw

back.

Supposing we

really found

him,

worse still,

supposing he

had found

us.

An impersonal

God,

well and

good.

A subject

of God

inside our

own heads,

better still.

A formless

life force

surging through

us,

a vast power

which we can

tap best of

all.

But God

himself,

alive,

pulling at

the other

end of the

cord,

approaching at

an infinite

speed,

the hunter,

the king,

the husband,

that is quite

another matter.

Jesus says

to Zacchaeus,

I must

stay at

your house

today.

It's that

verb,

must,

that Luke

uses over

and over

to indicate

the steadfast

purpose of

God.

Hurry,

he says.

We must

not even

delay.

And in

verse 6,

we see

Zacchaeus'

vigorous response.

Four colorful

verbs.

He hurried,

he came down,

he received,

and he

rejoiced.

Verse 7,

we see the

crowd's response

again in

four verbs.

They saw,

they grumbled,

he has gone

to be his

guest.

You see,

Jesus

endures

the scorn

and hatred

of the crowd

against

Zacchaeus.

the crowd

starts

complaining

about Jesus,

not just

about

that

despised

tax collector

who got

rich off

us.

The crowd

now

says,

he has

gone

there.

But the

Bible says

Jesus is not

ashamed

to call

us his

brothers and

sisters.

Jesus identifies

with us

even to the

point of

enduring the

scorn and

hatred that

others direct

against us.

Hebrews says,

he endured the

cross,

despising the

shame,

so that we

might be brought

with him to

glory.

glory.

You notice how

the crowd's

reactions differ?

When Jesus

heals the

blind man,

the crowd

rejoices.

They praise

God.

When Jesus

goes to

Zacchaeus'

house,

the crowd

grumbles.

But Jesus

doesn't choose

his followers

based on a

popularity contest.

Thank God.

God.

He doesn't

extend his

welcome to

us based

on how many

people will

approve of

him for

welcoming us.

He has

come to

seek and

to save

the lost.

He's come

on a

search and

rescue

mission.

Finally,

the result.

How are

these men

changed by

their encounter

with Jesus?

Jesus.

The blind

man shows

us what

faith looks

like.

Verse 43,

he recovered

his sight and

followed Jesus

glorifying God.

You see,

the blind

man didn't

just see

Jesus as

a means

to some

other end.

He didn't

just get

his healing,

go on

his way,

and do

his own

thing.

No,

his healing

led him

to obedience

and worship.

He led

the people

in praising

God.

Nothing

could hold

him back

from becoming

a full-fledged

disciple.

The twelve

couldn't

imagine

why Jesus

was going

up to

Jerusalem.

The blind

man couldn't

imagine

not going

with him.

That's what

faith looks

like,

following

Jesus

and

worshiping

God.

You see,

faith is not

like it's

something that

we have to

sort of build

up within

ourselves and

feel within

ourselves and

feel really

strong in.

Faith is

simply looking

at Jesus.

at first,

it's reaching

out to him

despite the

hindrance of

the crowd,

and at the

end,

it's following

him and

walking with

him along

the road.

It's just

looking at

him.

When Jesus

says,

your faith

has saved

you,

Jesus is

not saying

your achievement

has saved

you.

He's saying,

looking at

me as I

have saved

you.

The blind

man shows

us a picture

of faith.

And

Zacchaeus,

Zacchaeus shows

us a picture

of repentance.

Verse 8,

without even

being asked

to do so,

Zacchaeus

willingly gives

50% of his

wealth to

the poor,

and he

promises to

make restitution

to everyone

he has

wronged.

That's a

heart that

has been

changed by

the grace

of Jesus.

Back then,

giving 20%

of your wealth

away was

considered

extremely

generous.

And in

most cases,

the law

of Moses

only required

you to

add 20%

when making

restitution.

Zacchaeus goes

above and

beyond the

letter of

the law

because the

Holy Spirit

had broken

through in

his heart

and given

him a love

for God.

He had

become a

child of

God.

You see,

when someone

truly receives

Jesus like

Zacchaeus,

there are

fruits of

repentance.

Sooner or

later,

repentance

expresses itself

in concrete

acts.

Someone said,

when Jesus

opened his

heart to

Zacchaeus,

Zacchaeus

opened his

heart to

the poor.

See,

when we

truly receive

Jesus,

we begin

to see

other people

differently.

People that

you used to

think of as

beneath you

are now

fellow image

bearers of

God or

even brothers

and sisters

in Christ.

People who

you used to

see as

above you,

you're not

so intimidated

by them

anymore because

they're just

people.

The blind

man could

join in

with Jesus'

disciples

and not be

ashamed.

From all

the humiliation

he experienced

through his

whole life,

he knew

that he

belonged in

the company

of Jesus'

disciples and

Zacchaeus no

longer looked

down on the

poor and

on his

customers.

He started

to value

them and

want to

treat them

right and

to love his

neighbor as

himself and

so he said,

I'm going to

share some

of what I

have.

Zacchaeus

gives us a

picture of

repentance,

the blind

man gives

us a picture

of faith,

but in

reality these

are simply

two sides

of the

same coin.

Turning from

sin,

turning to

Jesus,

getting off

the sinking

ship and

stepping in

to the

lifeboat.

Why did

Jesus come

to earth?

Why did

he go up

to Jerusalem

and enter

the city

on Palm

Sunday and

suffer and

die on

Good Friday

and rise

again on

Easter Sunday?

He did it

all because

he came to

seek and

to save

the lost.

Let us

pray.

We thank

you,

Lord,

for your

abundant

mercy and

grace.

We thank

you for

how we

see it

in the

story of

these two

men

who you

sought

out,

who you

found,

and who

now belong

to you.

and trust

you and

worship you

for all

eternity.

Lord, we

pray.

We pray

that you

would

search us

out.

Lord, those

of us who

are far

from you,

we pray

that you

would search

us out

and show

yourself to

us and

draw us

to you.

we pray

that for

those of

us who

have come

to repent

and believe

in you,

that we

would continue

on that

journey of

daily repentance

and faith,

that we

would look

to you,

our great

shepherd,

our great

Savior,

our Lord.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.