Most of us have given and received gifts. Course. Giving a gift comes at some expense to the giver. Today on Truth for Life we'll learn about a gift that was costly both to the giver and the receiver. but it's a gift that is even more costly to reject.
Alice Derbegg is teaching from Luke 19 and Jesus' encounter with Zacchaeus, a tax collector, up in a tree. Companionship's a big draw to a lonely man, isn't it? Companionship's a big draw. To the girl who feels lost in the crowd.
So Cheeus maybe found himself saying the day-to-day level of my living is really fairly meaningless. Underneath the superficial level of my life, I Put my feet down and I hope for rock and all I find. is a shriveling Loneliness. Yeah. I'm going to go and I'm going to see Jesus.
Somewhere within this Zacchaeus, there was a deep. nameless Irresistible urge. to meet Christ. We're going to find out just how that happens in a moment or two or the mystery of it at least. But I had a conversation with someone this week.
And it was clear to me as I sat and listened to the gentleman speak with me. That there is within his life, in fact, he was prepared to acknowledge it, there is within his life a deep, nameless, irresistible urge to know Christ. And I said to him, this is a wonderful thing. And you should be greatly encouraged by this. Because by your nature you have no interest in knowing Christ.
There is none that seeketh God. No, not one. It's not as if everybody is roaming around just looking for the chance to meet Jesus. By and large, the two million people of Greater Cleveland this morning have no interest in Jesus at all. Or if they do, it's a superficial interest that is catered to two or three times a year.
But it's not that the people are in the street saying, excuse me, could you tell me where to meet Jesus? Did anybody stop you at a traffic light and roll the window down and say to you, excuse me, could you tell me where I meet Jesus today? Has anyone said that to you? No, because by and large people have no interest in meeting Jesus. Therefore, when within your heart there is a deep, nameless urgency within you saying, I've got to find this Christ, I've got to know this Christ, then it is an indication of the fact that this Christ for whom you're seeking is actually as Zacchaeus was to discover.
Seeking for you?
Now there were hindrances. Not always are. There were hindrances in the previous story for the blind man. He couldn't see who it was. He had to ask, what's all the hullabaloo?
They told him. And then he said, when he found out that it was Jesus, then he started to shout for Jesus. This man has a hindrance in that he's small. Big crowd, we guy can't see, therefore, he's going to have to do something about it. This man determined That he would cast aside all restraint.
All concerns about what his neighbors may say. And he would go run ahead of the crowd because he knew that it was coming along that way, verse 4. There was only one way along, and he knew he was coming along that road.
So he said to himself, Well, what I'll do is I'll buzz up ahead of this crowd, then I'll climb up in a tree, the wide and welcoming branches of the sycamore that come uh low enough down that a wee guy could get a start on it. And so he climbed up into a sycamore tree. Uh waiting. Uh for Jesus. to come along.
Jesus comes along. The focus moves now from Zacchaeus Looking for Jesus to Jesus, verse 5 speaking to Zacchaeus. When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up. It's quite striking, isn't it? Because all of the faces would be at eye level to Jesus, the majority of them, the people in the crowd, would be standing in their front gardens or whatever it was, along the sides of the road.
And as Jesus came down in the procession, he would be able to look and he would be at eye gaze to the vast majority of the people. And yet he turns his gaze away from the gathered throng, and he looks up into the tree. And there's it. Danny DeVito. And he can't believe his eyes.
I mean, what he wanted to do, he said to himself the night before, was get a glimpse of this man.
So he realized I'm going to have to do something fairly dramatic.
So he climbs a tree. He's up in a tree, perched like a bird looking down off the branches, hopeful of the fact that he may get a chance to see from an angle as Jesus comes through. And the amazing thing is that Jesus actually stops under the tree. Which he must have said to himself, you know what? I am good.
You know, this is Zacchaeus at his best. Can I pick a tree? No wonder I've been able to do these people as well as I have. Look at this. I picked the very tree.
Oh, he's looking at me.
So the least likely to be noticed the most hindered in coming. The most concerned of all is the one that Jesus addresses. Principle. The first We'll be last. The last We'll be first.
The snobs will be rejected. They're humble. will be welcomed. The religious snobs will receive the most stinging condemnations. And the poor Slavs We'll receive The most wonderful welcomes.
There was a lady and she had a necklace and it had 10 coins and she lost one and she swept the place out because she wanted the one even though she had the nine. There was a shepherd and he had a hundred sheep and he had ninety-nine in the fold. And he went out into the darkness of the night because although he had 99 with him, he wanted the one that wasn't there. And Jesus comes to make his last journey through Jericho on his way to Jerusalem, his last personal encounter. And do you think he stopped under this tree by chance?
No, he's working all things out according to the eternal counsel of God's will. This is a divine appointment. There are throngs of people in the street, and there's only one guy up the tree, and it is to the man up the tree that he speaks. Wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles. I can't read these chapters here now.
And I'm in Ruth, and I'm on a big fiddler on the roof kick. I just bought the Remakers. Fiddler on the roof on C D. My kids say, you know, you're so old, Dad, and Messed up. What are you listening to?
I'm listening to a fiddler on the roof. Oh dear. Oh dear. But I was thinking, you know. Who's looking for who here?
The eyes of Christ fasten on him. They look up to him. The eyes of heaven look up into the tree. The eyes of heaven look down onto the earth. Suddenly he gazes into the eyes.
of this Christ And not only that, his ears are transfixed Zacchaeus He knows my name, he says to himself. He knows my every thought. He sees each tear that falls, and he hears me when I call. Do you realize that Jesus has such an intimate awareness of you as this? He knows your name.
He knows where you are. He's got your address. He knows your email. And he knows your name that goes with your email address. He knows everything about you.
He seeks to save. The lost people. I'm going to go and see if I can see him. Jesus says, listen. Come down immediately.
Why I must stay. Stay at your house today, this divine necessity, why is there a must there? Because of verse 10. Why must he stay at the house? Because he's come to seek and to save what was lost.
Zacchaeus is lost. He must go to his house. Because the lost one is to be the found one. And the necessity that Christ conveys in verse 5 is more than matched by the hospitality that Zacchaeus displays in verse 6. He came down at once.
And he welcomed him. Gladly. And then the afternoon sun of this new day. Here in the heart of this man, a transformation is taking place. A new creation, the angels are singing, the sons of God are shouting together, and in his little heart.
And his little meshed up. Busy. energetic, wealthy. isolated little soul, there is all of a sudden a melody. There is all of a sudden a joyfulness.
There's something going on here as he comes slithering down the tree. It's not clear to him what's going on. He couldn't, if you asked him, said, Excuse me, Zucchius, could I just have a word with you? Could you explain to me the doctrine of justification by faith? He said, I'm sorry, I don't know what you're doing.
Who are you? I'll talk to you later. I've got to get down the tree. Jesus of Nazareth is here. He said, He must come to my house.
I'll talk with you later. No, no, excuse me. We were wondering about sanctification and how it fits. No, no, no.
Sorry, I don't know anything about that at all. I know nothing about that. Jesus is down the tree. I'm going down the tree. He's coming to my house.
Talk to you later. Bye. Were you here the other evening when Helen Losevier spoke of how she came to Christ? She said that in all of her emptiness, in all of her loneliness, suddenly the friendship of Christ consumed her in her room at Cambridge University. Suddenly, she was enveloped in the wonder of his love.
She had never met anyone that could explain to her the details of what was taking place.
Well, why would we be surprised by this? You see the evidence of the wind, Jesus says. You know, the wind blows, you can't tell where it's coming from or where it's going.
So it is of everyone who is born of the Spirit of God. Oh, it will eventually unfold. It will eventually be unpacked. Eventually, Zacchaeus will be able to go through the foundations of the faith, and he'll be able to put all the pieces in the puzzle together. But for now, his favorite hymn.
His favorite hymn is, I know not how the spirit moves. convincing men of sin. Revealing Jesus through the word and creating faith in him. But I know whom I have believed. I know I was up the tree, messed up.
I came down the tree. He came to my house. I've never been the same since. That's conversion. This is not joined in the church.
This is not ceremonial approbation. This is a dramatic, dynamic encounter with God. That's what we're about at Parkside Church. We're about seeing unbelieving people become the committed companions of Jesus. And we have a problem.
We cannot affect that transaction. Only God can. That's why we have the verb where we have it to see unbelieving people. Not to make unbelieving people the committed followers of Jesus, because we could never make them. But we have seen them.
And we'd love to see more. And you are one of the ones. that we would love to see.
So what's the response of the crowd? There are seven, they're ticked. Of all the people he could have gone and spent time with, goodness gracious, Zacchaeus. Man. I was here from five o'clock this morning waiting for a chance to shake his hand.
He comes here, stops under a tree. How he knew Zacchaeus was up in that tree, I'll never know.
Somebody said to his friend, I mean, I did you know Zacchaeus was up there? I never knew he was up there. He's amazing. Zacchaeus climbing a tree. Isn't that funny?
Hey, a little publican climbing a tree. Man, he must have really wanted to see Jesus, don't you think? Because that's embarrassing climbing trees. I mean, if you don't figure this in contemporary terms, this is like somebody who is a kind of well-heeled executive living in Shaker Heights, climbing up on the top of the roof at the rapids station down there at Shaker Square, and all dressed in his three-piece suit, ready to go to work. And he doesn't care who sees him because he is so desperate to meet this Christ.
And when he comes skidding down off the roof and is welcomed into his home, he's happy that everybody knows. Because he's so overwhelmed with the fact That he stopped right there.
So the crowd all begins to mutter he's going to be the guest of a sinner, a sinner, murmur, murmur. And the interesting thing is, we've got no record of the conversation between Jesus and Zacchaeus, do we?
Now, wouldn't you like to know what went on in the house? I mean, where did they start? What did Jesus say?
Okay, Zacchaeus, first of all, let's talk about this. Maybe we'll find out. It makes me think of the Christmas Carol. How silently, how silently the wondrous gift was given. as God imparts to human hearts the blessings of His heaven.
A veil of silence cast over the most important conversation of all. Everybody doesn't need to know everything about you and Jesus. It's not everybody's business about everything. But when there's been that personal encounter with Jesus, Then it will be apparent because of the transformation that takes place. And in Zacchaeus' case, of course, it was very, very obvious.
He had been on the fiddle, and he quits being on the fiddle. He'd been taking people to the cleaners, now he's taking people on vacation. He had been doing all of this funny stuff in relationship to business and money, and so he stands up and he says, Lord, I'm done with all of that. People say, Well, what happened to us I guess? What do you mean you're done with that?
His fraternity brothers. on the first day that they're going out again on one of their road trips. Said, hey, you know what? I think we can make a killing on this one. Because the way they've got this tax system set up, if you, if you, and then you go into elaborate explanations, he says, I'm out.
They said, what do you mean you're out? Or do you think you're mister Pure or something? Or mister Zacchae, mister Righteous? You got all righteous on us now, are you, Zacchaeus? What do you think you're on about?
Turned over a new leaf, have you, Zacchaeus? Got religion, Zacchaeus? No, I don't know. I don't know any of that. I'm telling you, I went up the tree, I came down the tree, he came to my house.
And it's changed. I mean, you know how much I love this stuff. I invented most of these fiddles. I'm a genius at this. But I lost the taste.
I lost the desire. Things are different.
Something dramatic. has happened to me. And the explanation is there from Jesus, verse 9. What's going on here?
Well, today's salvation has come to this house. He's a true son of Abraham now. Abram believed God. He trusted in God. Abram wasn't made the friend of God as a result of all the things he did.
Abram was the friend of God as a result of God's gracious kindness to him. And Abram responds in childlike trust, and they go on together in companionship. Oh, I can imagine. Zacchaeus wrestling with this when finally he closes the door and Jesus proceeds with the rest of his journey. And he's talking out loud to himself in the kitchen.
He's walking up and down. He says, You know, I went out there to get a glimpse of him. I went up the tree in the hope that I might see him, and apparently, he says to himself, apparently, he came to Jericho looking for me. I can't understand this, he said. That he would come to Jericho looking for me.
I found a friend, oh such a friend he loved me ere I knew him. He drew me with the cords of love and thus he bound me to him. You see, I went up the tree because I was looking for him, and he stopped at the bottom of the tree because he was looking for me. Jesus comes. Yeah.
Seeking to save. The lost. Do you know him? Do you know the companionship? That this man discovered?
Are you a companion of Christ? He who has conquered death and is able to share his life with you forever? Here in companionship with Christ is forgiveness. You see, Zacchaeus needed a whole new start. He needed a whole deal where he got all of his past murky, dark stuff done.
dealt with. All of his cheating and all of his lying and all of the things that he was hardly even prepared to admit to himself when he looked up at the ceiling in his bedroom at night. Listen, that's what Jesus offers when he comes to save. He grants to us forgiveness. No one else offers this.
No one else can offer it. Because nobody else picked up the tab for all your sin and all of your rebellion. He paid the price when he died upon the cross. The reason for his death upon the cross is because we are lost and we need to be found. And here in companionship with Jesus is forgiveness.
Here in companionship with Jesus is significance. Significance, you say, well, Zaki has had significant. No, he had wealth, he had a house, he had a job, he had all of that stuff, but he was an insignificant little character. And some of you feel that way today. You feel like you're a cog on the machinery.
You think you're adrift on the freeway of life. And here is the wonder of it: Jesus comes seeking you. Yes, actually seeking you. You? Not just you, but you.
Not a generic you, but a specific you. That's significant. To be adopted by the king? An orphan on the street picked up by the carriage and taken home to the royal palace? Here.
In companionship with Jesus there is purpose.
Now, Ezekiel knew what he was supposed to do with his life. Not go out and cheat people blind, but actually to know God and to enjoy God. Here in Zacchaeus' life there was a challenge. And for you, if you would entrust yourself to the companionship of Jesus, there's a challenge as well. He stood up and he said, I've done this and I'm now doing this.
Here for Zacchaeus in the companionship of Jesus there was a gift to be accepted. There is no indication that Jesus said to him, Now, if you'll do this and if you'll do this and if you'll do this, then perhaps we can put a deal together whereby I may accept you. But no, he comes and he says, Zacchaeus, I want you to come down. I am coming to your house today. I must come to your house today.
And Zacchaeus walks out the door and it all becomes apparent. See, because the entry fee into this kingdom of God about which Luke is speaking so much, the entry fee has been paid. You couldn't come up with enough, I couldn't come up with enough to gain entry into the welcome of heaven. The entry fee is paid. But the annual subscription is all that you've got.
Because to be Welcome by the companionship of Jesus will cost us our sins. We cannot hold on to Jesus as our Savior and at the same time hold on to vigorously to sin, to things in my life from which He wants to set me free. It doesn't work that way. Therefore, it means saying no to my sins, it means saying no to my selfishness. My independence, my running of my own deal.
It means saying, Lord Jesus Christ, I want you to take the whole deal. Take my home, take my finances, take my job, take my marriage, take my kids. I want to be for good and for all with you. And it means also it will cost me. Not only saying no to my sins and saying no to my selfishness, but saying no to my secrecy.
People say, well, you know, religion is a private matter. You don't want to get involved with those things. No, it's never a private matter in the New Testament. It is a personal matter, but it's not private. And Jesus said, I want you to be a candle in the dark.
I want you to be salt in the midst of rot. Make no mistake. It is very, very Very costly. to accept the gift. of companionship in Christ.
but not as costly. as rejecting it. It is very costly. To say no to my sin, to say no to my selfishness, to say no to my secrecy. But it is not as costly as saying no to the Savior.
For what would it profit a man if he gained the whole world? and lost his own soul. You're listening to Alistair Beg on Truth for Life. Alastair returns in just a moment. You know, Jesus knows each of us by name, and He offers us.
a fresh start. If you just responded to Jesus' invitation, we'd love to hear from you. You can email us, letters at truthforlife dot org. And if you'd like to hear or read more about the Gospel, visit truthforlife. org slash learn more.
Now, here at Truth for Life, we love studying God's Word because we know that there is power in Scripture. We often hear from listeners who tell us how much they value the straightforward truth taught each day on this program. Truth for Life is made possible because of the collective giving from many faithful listeners around the world. and if you're able. We'd love for you to come alongside us in our mission to share this life changing teaching with others.
Your financial support makes the distribution of this daily program possible and allows us to make all of Alistair's online teaching free to access and share. You can give a one time gift at truthforlife. org slash donate, or you can arrange to set up an automatic monthly donation when you visit truthforlife dot org slash truth partner, or call us at eight eight eight five eight eight seven eight eight four.
Now here's Alastair with the closing prayer. Father, we thank you that one can plant and another can water, but only you can make things grow. And we pray that you will grow seed within our lives, the seeds of faith. the seeds of repentance and of trust in Jesus. We pray that you will come down the rows of this church.
and that you will stop. Even as you stopped at the tree there with Zacchaeus and called names and Call them into forgiveness and purpose. and to companionship with yourself. And may the grace of the Lord Jesus and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. rest upon and remain with each one.
Now and forevermore. Amen. We hope you have a wonderful weekend. Join us Monday when we'll learn how we can live with. Significance.
The Bible teaching of Alastair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life. Where the Learning is for Living.
