Forgiven

Imagine that you and your friends have been isolated and harassed by a certain group of people for no particular reason other than the fact they chose you. Every day you are continuously oppressed and harassed by this group, and there's nothing you can do to stop them. Suddenly, one of your friends chooses to suck up to the oppressors, and begins to receive special treatment from them in return for his/her cooperation in harassing you and your friends. Now imagine that person was a wee little man, and a wee little man was he. This scene is the backdrop for the story of Zaccheaus in the Bible (you might recognize the name from the previously referenced children's song). Zaccheaus was a tax collector, a traitor to his people who were being oppressed by the ruling Roman government, and he was known for being a cheat and for stealing from his own nation. Due to the four steps that we discussed on Sunday, Zaccheaus was able to fully experience the forgiveness of God, and proves himself as an example for all Christ-followers.

If you've grown up in the church, or even if you haven't, you probably know the story of Zacchaeus. Most of us were taught the story of Zacchaeus through a song, that I'm sure someone, somewhere is humming right now. However, the most relevant part of the story, at least for our purposes here, is what happens after the song ends. The song ends with Jesus declaring that He will be coming to Zacchaeus' house, but this is not the end for the story of Zaccheaus; on the contrary, it is the beginning of the story of when grace and forgiveness came to Zacchaeus' house. Jesus knew who Zacchaeus was, probably due to Zacchaeus' reputation or simply because Jesus created Zacchaeus, and knew his entire past and the things he had done. Even the people in the crowd knew of Zaccheaus' history, and they were astonished that Jesus would be associated with such a sinner and traitor (Luke 19:6-7). Although it's not written in the text, I think it's safe to assume that when faced with the love and mercy of his Creator and Messiah, Zaccheaus had a decision to make: admit his sin and confess it to Jesus or make excuses and try to cover up his fault.

The first step for us to take in order to experience the grace and forgiveness of God is to acknowledge our sin. Zaccheaus could have chosen to make excuses or shift the blame to someone else. He could have said, "Jesus, the Romans are really tough on me, and they force me to take more" or "You just don't understand what it's like to be me", but he doesn't. Zaccheaus admits his sin, and makes a promise to correct his sin. Once again, we never see Zacchaeus say any of this explicitly, but we can assume that through spending time with the love of God, which he experienced through Jesus, Zacchaeus begins to understand the depths of his sin and sympathize with those he wounded. Before we can ever truly repent, which means to put our sin to death, we have to understand and feel what our sin does to God. I would believe that Zaccheaus understood the pain he had caused others, but it wasn't until he met Jesus that he began to feel the pain he had caused his Heavenly Father. Ultimately, it was the grace, love, and forgiveness, embodied in Jesus Christ, which was the catalyst for Zaccheaus to stop running from his sin, and finally admit his sin.

This leads us to the final step, which is to promise to put our sin to death. Zaccheaus does this in the end of the story by promising to repay all of those he had cheated four times what he owed them, and to give half of his possessions to the poor. Because Zaccheaus understood that in order to ever truly repent of sin, you must be willing to put it to death. Zaccheaus chose to put his greed to death, and to prove his conviction, he chose to be extravagant with his compensations. Jesus responds by saying, "today salvation has come to this household" (Luke 19:9a). Due to Zacchaeus' experience with grace and forgiveness, he chose not to just enjoy his freedom and continue sinning, but to live as a changed man, living in the love and grace of his Savior.

So, what is it that you need to truly repent of? What is it that keeps you from truly experiencing the grace and forgiveness of the one who died for your salvation? Is it that you need to acknowledge your sin? Or do you need the resolve to actually put your sin to death? When is it that you are going to stop running? When are you going to repent, so that grace, forgiveness, and salvation can come to your house?


Experience This
Spend time praising your Savior, through songs or prayer or whatever means you choose. Praise Him for the grace that He has extended to you, and the freedom you get to experience due to it.

Discuss This
Speak to someone in your small group about what it is that holds you back from taking the next step in experiencing God's amazing grace.

Apply This
Take whatever necessary actions, so that you can move forward in experience God's grace.