Sat Inspiration

Morning Inspiration with Pastor Merritt

Luke tells us that Zacchaeus was a chief tax collector. That is the only time that term is used in the New Testament. To refresh your memory, the Roman government collected taxes from the people to pay for government services and infrastructure. They would bid out the position of tax collector to whoever would pay them the most money. They would then give them a quota of taxes to collect, but they were not limited to that quota. They weren’t paid a salary. They made money by adding a surcharge or a user’s fee if you will. That surcharge could be as high as they wanted it to be and you had to pay it.

Zacchaeus wasn’t just a tax collector. He was the chief tax collector. In other words, he had tax collectors working under him. In effect, he was the CEO of a tax-collecting corporation and he had people under him who went out and did the dirty work and then they paid him the greatest part of the profit. He was the “Godfather”. He was the chief thief of the Roman IRS and in cahoots with the Roman government.

You talk about a reject. He was a tax collector. He was a thief and he was a traitor. His family had disowned him, his friends had deserted him and everybody despised him. Understand, he was hated and ostracized because of what he had done. It was his own fault. His rejection came honestly. The chief tax collector was considered no better than a murderer, reprobate, and robber.

He didn’t even deserve the name that he had. The name Zacchaeus means “clean” or “innocent.” Zacchaeus was anything but that. He was dirty and he was guilty.

Then Jesus came to town. What we are going to learn is not only how we should reach out to the rejected, but what happens to the rejected when they receive Jesus. Key Take Away: God receives the rejected and rejoices over their repentance. We are going to look at this story through two sets of eyes: the eyes of Jesus and the eyes of Zacchaeus. We are going to learn how to reach out to the rejected and how the rejected should respond when Jesus reaches out to them.