SO, WHO WAS ZACCHAEUS (ZAKAYO)?

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1– He
was a very prominent and a very well-renowned chief tax collector of his time, in
Jericho. Jericho itself was a very busy commercial/trading/retail/municipal hub
by then. Meaning that the opportunity to collect the tax was very massive for Zacchaeus, as a chief tax collector, even at the
expense (oppression) of the tax subjects.

2– Zacchaeus
had grown very wealthy from his tax collection exploits; which seems to have
also included some extraneous ways of getting rich; through fraud, threats,
intimidation and corruption.

3– Zacchaeus
had become a symbol of lack of empathy and compassion for his tax subjects. He
was thus disdained and loathed in equal measure, by his tax subjects, as a
result of this. He had become the face of a tax collection regime that showed
no mercy nor empathy towards its tax subjects. But only unbridled appetite for
more taxes; without compassion nor empathy towards the tax subjects.

4–
Meanwhile, deep within Zacchaeus, he longed for something
more than money. He longed to see The LORD. He longed for The LORD. So when the
opportunity came to see The LORD, he put aside his stature and status in the
society, and grabbed (without wasting time) the opportunity fully (overcoming
his height challenge), by climbing a tree, so as to have an unhindered view of
The LORD.

Zacchaeus got more than “he had
bargained for”, for in what must have even surprised Zacchaeus himself and
everyone else, The LORD Jesus Christ spotted him, and wanted him to climb down
and come and meet him, at his (Zacchaeus) home. To have a deeper fellowship
with him. A visitation of The LORD. The presence of The LORD in his life.

Christ Jesus knocked and wanted
Zacchaeus to open his door for him (physically and Spiritually). To open his
house (home) to The LORD. To open his heart to The LORD.

When He met The LORD, there
and there, Zacchaeus Repented of his sins and Received The LORD.

Let us therefore open our
heart (s) (house/home) to The LORD, that He may come in, dine with us and dwell
in us; as He grants us Salvation and Eternal Life.

SHALOM!!!

Luke 19:1-10 ‘“Then
Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. Now behold, there was a man named
Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. And he sought to see
who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature.
So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was
going to pass that way. 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.” So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully.
But when they saw it, they all complained, saying, “He has gone to be a guest
with a man who is a sinner.” 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.” And Jesus said to him, “Today
salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; for the
Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”’