Click the player above to hear the Zacchaeus song. Do you remember this as a child?
Following will be my notes from John MacArthur's on line video series entitled, "A Sinner meets a Seeking Saviour".
I had no idea how packed full Luke's account of Zacchaeus was! I heard the story, sang the song, but today I got the message.
I highly encourage you to take time to listen to Dr. John MacArthur's unpacking of this story. Just click the link above.
Verse 10 is the principle message of the whole story. In fact, the whole story is a real life illustration of this message and, as John MacArthur states, "perhaps the most valuable verse in all of scripture".
Luke 19:10, "For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost".
The story of Zacchaeus is only recorded by Luke. It seems that Luke wants us to understand clearly just why the "Son of Man" (Jesus Christ) came to this earth.
Seeking Saviour
From the beginning of time, after the fall of man, God has been seeking us.
Genesis 3:9, "So the Lord God called out to the man and said to him, "Where are you?".
Luke 19:10, "For the Son of Man has come to seek and save the lost".
In the 15th chapter of Luke's gospel he clearly illustrates this message with the parable of the lost sheep, the parable of the lost coin and perhaps most famously of all, the parable of the lost son.
The Bible is full of accounts of God seeking the lost. Jesus is the seeking Saviour.
Saving Saviour
Just what is he saving us from? Paul has made this very clear:
Romans 3:11-18,
"There is no one righteous, not even one;
there is no one who understands,
there is no one who seeks God.
All have turned away,
together they have become useless;
there is no one who does good,
there is not even one.
Their throat is an open grave;
they deceive with their tongues.
Vipers' venom is under their lips.
Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.
Their feet are swift to shed blood;
ruin and wickedness are in their paths,
and the path of peace they have not known.
There is no fear of God before their eyes."
This passage has some mind bending stuff in it. No one seeks God? Mankind is terminally depraved and as such is eternally separated from God?
Today's culture runs from words such as sin, depravity, evil, and salvation. How can a loving God exist in such things? Because we can not begin to understand, with our finite minds, we reject the message and seek to fill our minds with something that we can understand and wrap our minds around.
Nonetheless, God in His great love continues to seek and look for us.
Dr. MacArthur, in the videos, goes on to tell us much more about impact of this encounter with the Son of Man. History tells us that Zacchaeus, an evil and despised man, completely changed that day and went on to become a leader in the early church.
My prayer is that this, my third reckoning, is indeed the day that I choose to stay the course and set about the things of God.
