PJP2 PROLOG 160228 PROLOG Focus - Luke 19:1-10.....

Psalm 9:2 (ESV/emphasis added/jaj)...."I Will Be Glad and Exult in You; I Will Sing Praise To Your Name, O Most High"....

PJP2 PROLOG POST 160228 - Luke 19:1-10 (NIV/emphasis added/jaj)...."Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through.  A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy.  He wanted to See Who Jesus Was, BUT Because he was short he could not see over the crowd.  So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see Him, since Jesus Was Coming That Way.  When Jesus Reached The Spot, He Looked Up AND Said to him, 'Zacchaeus, Come Down Immediately.  I Must Stay At your house Today.'  So Zacchaeus Came Down At Once And Welcomed Him Gladly.  All the people saw this and began to mutter, 'He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.'  BUT Zacchaeus stood up and said to The Lord, 'Look, Lord!  Here And Now I give half of my possessions to the poor, And If I have cheated Anybody out of Anything, I Will Pay Back Four Times the amount.'  Jesus Said to him, 'Today Salvation Has Come To this house, Because this man, Too, Is a son of Abraham.  For The Son of Man Came To Seek And To Save the lost.'”.....

Some might say this was a 'chance encounter' by Zacchaeus, clearly an outcast of our Lord Jesus' Day - 'Zacc' lived in Jericho, a cursed city from Joshua's days; Zacc was a tax collector - a profession very frowned upon by Jesus' contemporaries (Zacc may even have known Matthew, one of The 12); Zacc was wealthy - probably because most tax collectors of that time 'skimmed' off the top of the taxes collected.  Our Lord Jesus was merely passing through Jericho on his way to Jerusalem - Luke does not record that Jesus had any real intentions on spending much time there.  Then there's the bit about Zacc climbing the sycamore-fig tree to get a better view of our Lord Jesus passing by.  I have to admit I find it amazing that this tree just 'happened' to be exactly in the spot it needed to be so that Zacc could scamper up it to get a peek at our Lord Jesus.  Ok, just one more thing - what caused Jesus to stop 'at The Spot' and Look Up to catch a glimpse of the short/tax-collector, perched up on a branch in this sycamore-fig tree, leaning over to watch Jesus (and Company) pass underneath him?

A 'chance encounter' - I have to say, I think not.

And then we Witness the bottom-line/up-front results of our Lord Jesus' Encounter with Zacc (and in reality with us as well) - SALVATION and TRANSFORMATION.

Our Lord Jesus sums up not just His Visit with Zacchaeus, But His Overall Mission and Vision Statement at the end of our Look into He and Zacc's Time together....."For The Son of Man Came to Seek And To Save the lost."....

So my Prayer for us today would be - Lord Jesus, Thank You for Coming to Seek and Save us, the lost.  Holy Spirit, Encourage and Inspire us, as You Did Zacchaeus to be willing to climb up The Sycamore-fig Tree You Planted for us to be able to See our Lord Jesus.  Father God, Empower and Transform us into those children You Have Planned for us to Be.  We Lift Up Your Name in Worship and Praise.  We Ask our Prayers in Your Precious Name.....Amen/Amen....jaj

Blessings to you and yours/jaj