"A Life Redeemed!"

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." Luke 19::5

We all know the basic story of Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector in Jericho. The word  tells us that he was rich. Zacchaeus himself tells us that he wasn't always honest in his dealings when he tells Jesus that he will restore fourfold to anyone he had cheated. The other thing that we know is that he was short enough so that the crowd prevented him from getting a good look at Jesus. In verses 3-4 it says, "He sought to see who Jesus was." And so he ran ahead, climbed a sycamore tree in order to get a good view. Then comes that moment, the moment that I'd like to take a minute to look at today.

It was Zacchaeus's life changing moment. It was the moment when Zacchaeus made a choice to respond to words that Jesus spoke to him. It was the moment when, in the midst of all that chaos of the crowd, that Jesus, does the most amazing thing. He stops, turns his gaze away from the crowd and looks straight up at Zacchaeus in that tree and then, He calls him by name. He knew  him by name. He didn't say, "Hey, you there, short guy, in the tree." He didn't even say anything that alluded to his reputation or his lifestyle like, "Hey you, cheating tax collector get down here." or  "Sinner, come here." No, instead He knew Zacchaeus was searching for something more and He did what He does best, get to the heart of the matter with a look and a few words.

...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." Luke 19::5 See, this is the thing that He showed me that really touched my heart this morning. He called him by name. His name, Zacchaeus, it means pure; and it comes from a root word that means to be transparent or clean (physically or morally); to be transluscent. Zacchaeus knew what his name meant. He knew his past and his present lifestyle wasn't pure or clean. He knew that he had been being deceitful in his dealings. Jesus, the Savior, called him Zacchaeus (pure and clean.) "Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, today I'm coming to your house!" The word tells us, "So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully." Luke 19:6

See. What a terrific moment! The moment a man's life is redeemed! A life transformed! It says that his heart changed and that he was going to live his life differently, restoring back what he had cheated. I believe that from this amazing moment on Zacchaeus lived up to his name based on the next words Jesus spoke about him! ...And Jesus said, "Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost." Luke 19:9-10

We all have this amazing moment! The moment when He calls us by name and asks us to come spend some time in His presence! So, anyways, Make Haste! He is waiting!