The beloved physician Luke wrote how, “Jesus entered and passed through Jericho, and, behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich. And he sought to see Jesus who he was; and could not for the press, because he was little of stature. And he ran before, and climbed up into a sycomore tree to see him: for he was to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at your house. And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, That he was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner”, and in chapter nineteen and verse eight of his book Luke shares how Zacchaeus said, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor” where we read:
And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.
The verse reads, “And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor;” Luke began with the words, “and Zacchaeus stood” or “and Zacchaeus whose name means pure was standing in place, set, fixed and established”, “and said unto the Lord” which means “and uttered, declared and proclaimed to Jesus who is the One to whom a person or thing belongs, about which he has power of deciding; master and the title given to God the Messiah”; “Behold” or “look, lo and consider”, “Lord” which means “One to whom a person or thing belongs, about which he has power of deciding; master and the title given to God the Messiah”, “the half of my goods” or “on half of all Zacchaeus' possessions, wealth and property” “I give to the poor” which means “I, Zacchaeus, grant, bestow, furnish and supply to people who are reduced to beggary, begging, asking alms, destitute of wealth, influence, power, position and honor”. Luke shared how Zacchaeus “stood up” before the people at his home and told Jesus that he was going to bestowed one-half of all his wealth to those who are destitute and begging.
The verse continues, “and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.” Luke added the words, “and if I have taken any thing” or “and whether, I, Zacchaeus, have obtain any particular and certain thing” “from any man” which means “away from any person whether male or female” “by false accusation” or “through or by way of wrongful accusation, calumniation or attack by malicious devices”, “I restore him fourfold” which means “I, Zacchaeus, deliver, discharge, pay off and produce due to the person whom he stole four times as much back”. Luke shared how Zacchaeus told Jesus he would also return “four times” as much as he stole with “wrongful accusation or malicious devices” to anyone from whom he took something .
When we think through Luke's words in this verse, we learn how a visit from Jesus totally altered the life of Zacchaeus. Without any knowledge of Jesus telling Zacchaeus to do what he promised, Zacchaeus told Jesus he would not only give “half of his goods” to the impoverished, but he also would reimburse every person from whom he stole things with four times as much. God loves this kind of altered life, and this action demonstrated true repentance within Zacchaeus' life. When people give their hearts to Jesus as their personal “Savior and Lord”, He will give them the ability to return whatever they have taken without authorization and distribute their wealth to others as He directs.
Next time Luke shares how Jesus says, “This day is salvation come to this house”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book
“Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the
marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the
Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms
Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County"
in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com
; http://www.barnesandnobles.com
; download to e-books, and find it locally at
www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
All references are from "Strongs Concordance".
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