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Luke 19:5-7

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."


Zacchaeus, the little tax collector who climbed a sycamore tree because he wanted to see Jesus, but was to short to see Him.

  • Luke 19:1-4 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.


    • But Zacchaeus got more then he could ever imagine, because he not only saw Jesus, but Jesus spoke to him and wanted to spend time with Zacchaeus in his own home. Now how cool was that?

    But the religious leaders tried to spoil this great time by saying, "He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner."
    I remember when I read this the other day, my first thought was, "Aren't these religious leaders sinners also?"
    Of course they were, yet they didn't see it. Zacchaeus knew he was a sinner, because he was a tax collector, who was known for cheating and stealing from the people.
    But these religious leaders figured since they were not tax collectors that they were alright, and were unable to see their own sinful nature.

    We need to watch how we judge others who come into the church. Sure, they are sinners, maybe prostitutes, or drunks, or drug addicts, or whatever, but are we any better then they are?
    Even if we never committed any of the sins they are known for doing, would God pardon us? Of course not, because God sees all the same, and any sin, no matter how small or severe it is, will send someone to hell unless they repent and turn to Jesus.
    These people need Jesus just like Zacchaeus did, and just like we do. Let's not forget that and start acting like these religious leaders trying to keep people from Jesus, just because they are a sinner.
    But then so are we!

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