Read Luke 19:7-10
I Hope Someone Is Muttering About You!
As Jesus was entering Jericho, a very corrupt chief tax collector, Zacchaeus, was waiting to see him with great excitement. He even climbed a sycamore fig tree because he was of short stature and he wanted to make sure he saw Jesus. He was a Jew but he was a tax collector, so the other Jews hated him.
Actually, there’s a large crowd waiting to see Jesus. When Jesus saw Zacchaeus, he said to him, “Come down immediately. I must stay at your house today!” Whoa, if that didn’t make the people upset. They all began to mutter because Jesus chose to be the guest of a “SINNER.”
Why would Jesus want to be a guest of a “SINNER?” Because Zacchaeus was lost and doomed for hell.
As followers of Jesus, we are called to reach those who are lost without Jesus. That was me before I came to know Jesus. Now, I pray I’m not concerned about my popularity, but rather, be willing to break against the culture’s expectations and invest into the life of a “SINNER.” Even if people “mutter” against me. I don’t want my focus to always be on just hanging out with those who already know Jesus. Yes, it’s important that I surround myself with other Christians, but like Jesus, I’m here to seek and see sinners saved through a relationship with Jesus.
I want to be so much like Jesus that, like Zacchaeus, people run to hear what I have to say. That I invest into sinners lives so much that other people MUTTER against me. Ultimately, I want to see people respond to the Gospel resulting in a transformed and changed life for Jesus. May I never lose focus as to why I’m here.
