Forgiven sinners

Read > Luke 19:1-10

Jesus responded, “Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost” (vv. 9-10).

For the longest time, my late father rejected Christianity because someone whom he despised became a Christian. He thought it was laughable that so unsavoury a character would be welcomed into heaven.

Similar to my father’s attitude prior to his conversion, the people of Jericho objected to Jesus’ acceptance of “bad” people of which Zacchaeus was the epitome (Luke 19:5-7). They weren’t wrong in calling Zacchaeus “a sinner” (v. 7). As the chief tax collector, he was likely treacherous, avaricious, and violent as he wrung the taxes out of his victims. Where the people erred, however, was in self-righteously thinking that they weren’t sinners.

In their pride, they magnified the moral failures of others and overlooked their own. So fixated were they on others’ failures that they managed to find fault even with the sinless Son of God! The graciousness of Jesus towards Zacchaeus should have inspired wonder. But it provoked outrage from them instead.

Jesus responded lovingly to their criticism with both a warning and an appeal (vv. 9-10). His mission in coming to this world, He explained, was “to seek and save those who are lost.” No one will be excluded from salvation because he is too bad. But no one can be included if he thinks he is good enough. By God’s absolute standards of righteousness, all are sinners, no matter how outwardly good a person may be. Were Jesus to write off “sinners” as the people of Jericho did, they and all of us today would have no hope.

Sinful men look at others and condemn them for what they’ve done. But the holy God looked at Zacchaeus and saved him for what he could be. Such generous love inspired the tax collector to donate half his fortune and to volunteer restitution to everyone he had defrauded. – Lin Choo Chan

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·         Matthew 7:3

·         Luke 7:47

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How are you responding to God’s generous love towards you? Is there anyone you have been condemning instead of loving?