I'm not going to post this in Bible Discussion. Just too much....umm...it's just a bad idea.
Luke 19:3-10
Zaccheus was trying to see who Jesus was, and was unable because of the crowd, for he was small in stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree in order to see Him, for He was about to pass through that way. When Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, “Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” And he hurried and came down and received Him gladly. When they saw it, they all began to grumble, saying, “He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
It's beautiful because Jesus saw Zaccheus, probably the most hated man in that area, and said, "You know what? I don't care who you are, what you've done, or how hated you are. I'm going to your house, and I will accept you JUST as you are."
It's also sad because in this passage, we see a person trying to receive the Gospel. And you know who's in the way? The crowd. Probably people who claimed to love Jesus and follow his teachings. All I can say is, good thing Zaccheus didn't give up on Jesus because His followers weren't being so kind. The thing is, though, times haven't changed. We didn't learn and still haven't learned from this story.
There are people today that are greatly hated but need to hear the Gospel, regardless of who they are or what they did. And even if they're able to find Jesus, even after Jesus has accepted them and says, "Yes, salvation is yours!" we're STILL in the way. We're still saying to each other, "What is that person doing here? All they do is cause drama!" And you know, maybe they do. But we can pray for that person instead of making one huge fight about it.
I'm not excluding myself from this group. Too many times have I stood in someone's way. I read this passage and all I can think is, may I never again be the one standing in the way of someone trying to receive the Gospel. May they see the TRUE Gospel, and may I never again look at someone and think they're too far gone and can't be redeemed or they're not deserving enough for Jesus. The only time it's too late for a person is when they're dead.
P.S. This was not sprung up by anything that occurred on here, I promise. This was not made out of anger, more like out of my own conviction. And now that I'm thinking about it, this forum has really been kinda peaceful as far as trolls and debates go. Keep up the good work on that.
Y'all are great!!
This thread is purely just something that was just laid upon my heart today. Not just for CC, but for my life. I've really been feeling like I've been too...something towards people. Maybe cynical. Anyways. The story of Zaccheus popped into my brain. I read it and thought, wow, why didn't I see this before when I read it? Probably because of all the cutsie Sunday school teachings I've heard over the years. Nothing wrong with Sunday school, it's just when you're practically born under a pew and you hear something over and over again the same way, it can kind of be challenging to view it from a different perspective. And I thought you know, maybe you'd find it interesting to read my new thoughts on this passage.
Luke 19:3-10
Zaccheus was trying to see who Jesus was, and was unable because of the crowd, for he was small in stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree in order to see Him, for He was about to pass through that way. When Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, “Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” And he hurried and came down and received Him gladly. When they saw it, they all began to grumble, saying, “He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
It's beautiful because Jesus saw Zaccheus, probably the most hated man in that area, and said, "You know what? I don't care who you are, what you've done, or how hated you are. I'm going to your house, and I will accept you JUST as you are."
It's also sad because in this passage, we see a person trying to receive the Gospel. And you know who's in the way? The crowd. Probably people who claimed to love Jesus and follow his teachings. All I can say is, good thing Zaccheus didn't give up on Jesus because His followers weren't being so kind. The thing is, though, times haven't changed. We didn't learn and still haven't learned from this story.
There are people today that are greatly hated but need to hear the Gospel, regardless of who they are or what they did. And even if they're able to find Jesus, even after Jesus has accepted them and says, "Yes, salvation is yours!" we're STILL in the way. We're still saying to each other, "What is that person doing here? All they do is cause drama!" And you know, maybe they do. But we can pray for that person instead of making one huge fight about it.
I'm not excluding myself from this group. Too many times have I stood in someone's way. I read this passage and all I can think is, may I never again be the one standing in the way of someone trying to receive the Gospel. May they see the TRUE Gospel, and may I never again look at someone and think they're too far gone and can't be redeemed or they're not deserving enough for Jesus. The only time it's too late for a person is when they're dead.
P.S. This was not sprung up by anything that occurred on here, I promise. This was not made out of anger, more like out of my own conviction. And now that I'm thinking about it, this forum has really been kinda peaceful as far as trolls and debates go. Keep up the good work on that.
Y'all are great!!This thread is purely just something that was just laid upon my heart today. Not just for CC, but for my life. I've really been feeling like I've been too...something towards people. Maybe cynical. Anyways. The story of Zaccheus popped into my brain. I read it and thought, wow, why didn't I see this before when I read it? Probably because of all the cutsie Sunday school teachings I've heard over the years. Nothing wrong with Sunday school, it's just when you're practically born under a pew and you hear something over and over again the same way, it can kind of be challenging to view it from a different perspective.
And I thought you know, maybe you'd find it interesting to read my new thoughts on this passage.
