Invest For The Long Term

Invest For the Long Term

There was a man living in the city of Jericho by the name of Zaccheus. Zaccheus

was a man who was not well liked or accepted in Jericho. You see he was a tax

collector. But Zaccheus was no ordinary tax collector, He was the Head tax

collector for that area.

When Zaccheus heard that Jesus was coming to Jericho he had to see Him. There

was a crowd of people and Zaccheus, well, I wouldn’t say Zaccheus was short, but

on his driver’s license you can see his feet. But he was a little man and the people

were blocking his view. So Zaccheus runs ahead, climbs up into a sycamore tree

and that is where Jesus called him down from when He was passing by. But why

was Zacchaeus, as our scripture tells us, “trying to see who Jesus was....”? Let’s go

back a couple of months.

Imagine Zacchaeus is out collecting the taxes:

He comes to a blind man’s house, his roster says the man’s name is Bartimaeus.

Zach says, “I’m here for the taxes!” Bartimaeus pleads with him, “I am just a poor

old blind man. I have to beg just to survive. I don’t have money for taxes.” Zach

doesn’t care and gives him 30 days to come up with the money for taxes!

At the next house, a lady comes to the door. Zach demands the taxes they owe. The

lady pleads to Zach, "Sir, my husband is a demon possessed man! He lives in the

tombs - He runs around all crazy, screaming and hollering! Please give me more

time to get the money!” Not really knowing why, he gives her 30 days to come up

with the tax money.

At the third house, Zach demands the taxes from another lady. She explains to him

that her son has died, and the burial expense has wiped her out! She begs him to

give her more time & again, not really knowing why, Zach says, "I’ll be back in 30

days!"

Well, those thirty days pass and Zacchaeus is out knocking on doors again. He goes

back to that first house where blind Bartimaeus lived and a bright-eyed man answers

the door. Ol’ Zach can’t believe it! This guy looked a whole lot different than

before! Zach says, "I don’t understand, I thought you were blind!" Bartimaeus tells

our buddy Zach about how he met Jesus and how Jesus healed him! Bartimaeus

says, "I sold my seeing eye dog, all my books on tape, my Braille pads, and here’s

the money I owe you for taxes!" Zach walks away scratching his head wondering

who this Jesus guy is!

Thinking about this turn of events, he heads to the second house. At his knock a big,

well dressed man answers the door! Zach says, "I’m the tax collector, who are

you?" He said, "I’m the man who was demon-possessed, my wife told me you

came by. I met Jesus a few weeks ago and He saved me and cleaned me up! Now I

have a job with the city making good money, so here’s what we owe you for taxes!"

Old Zach can’t believe what he’s hearing! "Who is this Jesus?" he asked himself!

Zacchaeus sits on a rock and ponders this awhile, then heads over to the third house

where a young man answers the door! Zach tells him he’s here to collect the taxes

owed. The young man says, “Oh, that’s right, my mom said you’d be back.” He

calls his mom who tells Zach, "You’re not gonna believe it! They were carrying my

son in a casket to the graveyard. They were almost to the grave when Jesus showed

up. He touched the casket and said, Young man, Arise! My son sat straight up in the

casket and started talking. It scared the undertaker so bad, He gave me all my

money back for the funeral, and here is the money I owe you for taxes!"

So now Zacchaeus has collected all of the tax money. But he is amazed at these turn

of events. He wonders: How does a blind man see? And that man freed from the

demons. A boy raised from the dead. That’s unbelievable! Then Zacchaeus hears

that Jesus is coming through Jericho and he decides, “I’ve got to see this guy who

did all these amazing things.” So he climbs a tree. And that’s where Jesus called

him down from when He was passing by.

Zacchaeus stands up and makes the bold announcement that he is going to give half

of his possessions to the poor, and for all those he cheated, he is going to pay them

back - not just the full amount, but four times the amount. I’ll tell you what,