Matthew 5 NKJV
46 “For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?”
47 “And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so?”
48 “Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”
• Perfect = Full of integrity and virtue
• Tax collectors? It sounds like people group are a bunch of lowlifes.
o Why is Jesus dissing tax collectors?
o And, bless Matthew’s heart … that’s what he was when Jesus called him to become a disciple. (Matthew 9:9)
It seems odd to me that Jesus would relegate a whole group of people to being sinners without integrity and void of virtue simply because of their job choices. Basically Jesus is saying, “Don’t be like those tax collectors, they are all selfish liars and cheats. They only love people who give them money and won’t even say hello to you unless you’re one of them.”
Tax collectors were considered notorious sinners who did not just volunteer for the job, but they often entered into a bidding war with their competitors to win the right to levy and collect taxes from their neighbors and fellow Jews. Their salaries came from the overage they charged, and they had the power to seize property and to bind those who could not pay in slavery or debtors prison.
This people group were hated, and it was against Jewish customs to allow a tax collector to even to participate in any civil proceedings because of the belief that tax collectors would seek the bribe instead of the truth.
Jesus often referred to tax collectors as sinners. He lumped them together. And then, Jesus called Matthew, a tax collector, to become one of His disciples. This shows us that no matter how a person is perceived or actually are, a face to face encounter with Jesus can change everything.
There is another famous tax collector in the New Testament who encountered Jesus and it changed his life. His name is Zacchaeus. You may remember the story of Zacchaeus climbing a sycamore tree in Jericho so he could see over the crowd when Jesus was coming into the city. We find this account in the book of Luke, chapter 19.
Luke 19 NKJV
1 Then Jesus entered and passed through Jericho.
2 Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich.
3 And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature.
4 So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was going to pass that way.
5 And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to him, “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.”
6 So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully.
7 But when they saw it, they all complained, saying, “He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner.”
8 Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.”
9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham;
10 for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
This past Wednesday evening Pastor Robert Benlien made a reference to my 500-point sermon. I have coined and collected sayings through the years which epitomize principles taught by the Word of God. Each week you hear them in one form or another because they have become first nature with me as I endeavor to explain truth in such a way that it is both plain and repeatable. This morning I want to share 3 of the nowmore than 750 points with you which we can learn from this account of Zacchaeus.
136. The account of your life will be written by the choices you now make for your future and not by the choices you have made in your past.
• Bad decisions, wrong decisions and costly mistakes are a part of the process, not the problem.
• 186. God is not stuck in your past.
• What you are going through is not punishment for your past but positioning for your future.
• 254. Our future does not depend on what we did yesterday, but on what we do today.
• 288. There is always more potential in our future prospects than in our past accomplishments.
• 323. Often it is not about what we did but rather about what we are doing about what we did.
142. What we do with what we have shows who we are and what we believe.
• God is willing to give to you what He can give through you.
• 205. Do not be deceived, a man is not willing to die for something he is unwilling to live for.
• 434. Everything you want may cost you everything you have.
• 506. God gives to people through people.
• 653. Don’t expect anyone to ever be any better than you are.
174. You are writing the story that others will one day tell about you.
• 202. The birth of a new future will put an end to the old past.
• 244. It is less important where one is when he begins his journey than where he is when he finishes.
• 234. Right now there are a bunch of nobodies God is preparing to be the next somebody He uses.
Zacchaeus was a nobody in history, just like all the other nobodies. He would have remained a nobody except for one decision: He turned his whole life over to Jesus. Today Zacchaeus is not remembered as the notorious sinner he was but rather for the example he is. How about you? You’re always one decision away from being someone’s hero. Don’t let your personal ambitions be the shadow you die in. Give your whole life to Jesus.
Food for Further Thought:
199. Five Necessities of The Valiant
* A purpose you are proud of
* Principles you can defend
* Priorities that stand the test of time
* People you are willing to die for, and
* A Past that cannot haunt you
No comments:
Post a Comment