An Unexpected Guest

Hi, and thanks for joining us for another daily reading from the Our Daily Bread devotional.

It was written by Po Feng Chia, and it's titled An Unexpected Guest. Zach was a lonely guy. When he walked down the city streets, he could feel the hostile glares. But then, his life took a turn. Clement of Alexandria, one of the Church Fathers, says that Zach became a very prominent Christian leader and a pastor of the church in Caesarea. Yes, we're talking about Zacchaeus, the chief tax collector who climbed a sycamore tree to see Jesus in Luke chapter 19. What prompted him to climb the tree?

Tax collectors were perceived as traitors because they heavily taxed their own people to serve the Roman Empire. Yet Jesus had a reputation for accepting them. Zacchaeus might have wondered if Jesus would accept him too.

Being short in stature, however, he couldn't see over the crowd. Perhaps he climbed a tree to seek him out. And Jesus was seeking Zacchaeus too. When Christ reached the tree where he was perched, he looked up and said, Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today. Jesus considered it absolutely necessary that he be a guest in this outcast's home.

Imagine that! The savior of the world wanting to spend time with a social reject. Whether it's our hearts, relationships, or lives that need mending, like Zacchaeus, we can have hope. Jesus will never reject us when we turn to him. He can restore what's been lost and broken and give our lives new meaning and purpose.

Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is from Luke chapter 19 verses 1-10. Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus.

He was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short, he could not see over the crowd. So, he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way. 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. All the people saw this and began to mutter, he has gone to be the guest of a sinner.

But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, look Lord, here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount. 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 the lost.

Let's pray. Dear Jesus, thank you for coming down to earth to rescue us sinners. We were once burdened with guilt and shame, but you wiped us all clean when you died for our sins at Calvary. Thank you for the hope we have in you, Lord. May we take joy in sharing the good news of your love and forgiveness with those who don't know you. Amen. Thanks for listening today. My name is Toni Collyer and today's encouragement was provided by Our Daily Bread Ministries.