Going Home with Sinners

"When they saw it, they all began to grumble, saying, 'He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner'" (Luke 19:7)

Ask any kid (especially the grown-up kind!) and they will tell you that Zacchaeus was "a wee little man" and that he climbed into a sycamore (fig) tree in order to get a good look at Jesus. I just had the privilege of preaching on this passage of Scripture last night at church and by the time I got home I had decided that this would be the subject of this week's devotional. You see, beloved, Zacchaeus that day had a divine date with destiny!

Now we all know the story. Jesus stopped under that very fig tree and told Zacchaeus to hurry down because He had to go home with him. That was the divine appointment! And when Zacchaeus came out from his encounter with Jesus, he promptly repaid every person he had ever cheated 400%, and then gave away half of his estate to help feed the poor. Clearly that divine appointment had led to a transformation of life! That is precisely why Jesus said later, "Today salvation has come to this house" (v.9).

But did you ever take time to notice what the multitudes were saying that day about the whole thing? Read the focal verse above again. In simpler terms, they said about Jesus that "He has gone home with a sinner." And they were right! Check out the gospel narratives about the life of Jesus, beloved, and you will find that Jesus was always going home with sinners. That was just what He did. What is so tragic about the people that day, though, is that they never realized that if Jesus had gone home with one of them instead of with Zacchaeus, He would still have gone home with a sinner!

I recall vividly the day that Jesus "went home with" a 7-year old boy in Clarksville, Tennessee. I was attending Vacation Bible School at the church in which my parents were involved and which we attended regularly. In my 2nd grade class, a sweet white-haired lady who had a heart for boys and girls who did not know Jesus used her flannel graph board to show us how our hearts are "black" because of sin, but how Jesus can make them "white" when we let Him apply the "red" blood of His sacrifice to our hearts. That day Jesus "went home" with me and I was wonderfully transformed just like Zacchaeus!

There will always be grumblers in the church who complain about you "going home with sinners." Don't listen to them. Jesus didn't. He just kept going home with sinners and lives were transformed as a result. If you are going to serve Jesus Christ today, take a lesson from Zacchaeus and start going home with sinners. After all, that's why we're here wearing His name.

Ron