First Response Part 2
Scriptures: Proverbs 3:5-6; Luke 8: 43-48; 19:1-10;
Introduction:
When I last stood before you, I spoke to you about first responses. I am continuing this series this morning with part two. I will not conclude the message today as next week I will be focusing on something that each of us are faced with and will need to address (more to come next week). I will return to this series on the third Sunday if the Lord wills.
Before I get into the heart of the message for today, I want to remind you of some of the things I shared with you in part one of this series. If you recall, I told you that our first response is that initial response we have to a situation. It is that response that can be described as a “knee jerk reaction” which by definition is “an immediate unthinking emotional reaction produced by an event or statement to which the reacting person is highly sensitive; - in persons with strong feelings on a topic, it may be very predictable.” The key phrase in this definition is “unthinking emotional reaction.” This reaction is an initial, immediate reaction that comes without first thinking about how you will respond - you respond before you even think about it or may even be aware that you are responding. This is especially true if the person has very strong feelings about a particular topic.
In that message I gave you an example of the first responder who arrives at the scene of an accident. This individual is supposed to triage a situation and determine who should be treated first. I asked you to consider what would happen if this person was not trained correctly and did not follow the appropriate procedures for triaging a situation. I used this example to demonstrate how we as Christians are trying to triage situations within our lives without the proper training. Our first response does not necessarily correspond with our “faith walk” or what we confess. I shared with you my belief that this is due first to our not trusting God completely in every situation.
Proverbs 3:5-6 says “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.” This is the heart of the matter and this morning I want you to keep this Scripture in mind as we examine the first responses of two additional individuals in the New Testament.
I. Zaccheus
The gospel of Luke contains the story of a man named Zaccheus. This man, a chief tax collector, had a desire to see Jesus as he heard that Jesus was going to be passing through. As Jesus was entering Jericho Zaccheus was unable to see him because he was small in stature. Turn with me to Luke chapter nineteen and we will pick up the story at verse four. “So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree in order to see Him, for He was about to pass through that way. When Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, ‘Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.’ And he hurried and came down and received Him gladly. When they saw it, they all began to grumble, saying, ‘He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.’ Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, ‘Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and save that which was lost.” (Luke 19:4-10)
Zaccheus was a tax collector for the Romans. This was not a “favored” job to have if you were a Jew although many became rich after taking the position. Consider the fact that if you took the position your own people turned against you and began to hate you because you were working for the enemy. It is possible that because they were already hated by their own people many felt justified in charging more taxes than was due and keeping the difference. The system was open to abuse; and extortion was very common. The word “chief” implies that Zaccheus was responsible for all the taxes of Jericho and had other collectors under him. So if anyone had a bad reputation in the community it was Zaccheus for he was not only a tax collector, he was the chief tax collector. Everyone knew him prior to him taking the position and had watched with hateful eyes as his lifestyle steadily got better after he was in the position. (Now he could have been rich before entering the position but he certainly gained more after he became the chief tax collector.) This is the man who heard about and wanted to see Jesus.
Zaccheus was small in physical stature and his reputation was not much better. As Jesus was entering the city he went out to see Him. Imagine Zaccheus running through the crowds and jumping up and down every few feet just to get a glimpse of Jesus. After realizing that this would not work, Zaccheus ran ahead of the crowd and climbed a tree so that when Jesus passed by he could see Him. As Jesus came near to the tree, He looked up and spoke immediately to Zaccheus. Jesus told him to hurry and come down because that day He “must stay” at his house. It is interesting that Jesus said that He must stay versus saying that “He would like to stay.” As Zaccheus came down and went to Jesus, those in the crowd began to speak against him and Jesus. They called him a sinner and wondered why Jesus would ever enter into his home. Zaccheus, upon hearing what was being said, stopped and said to Jesus that he would give half of what he possessed to the poor and would return four times as much to anyone he had defrauded through the overcharging of taxes. This was Zaccheus first response to Jesus. He could have just repented and told Jesus he would change his ways, but he responded by volunteering to give immediately to poor and return four-fold what he had stolen from others. Jesus told him that salvation had come to his house on that day.
Why do you think this story was included in Luke’s gospel? It is a simple story of a rich sinner accepting Christ. I truly believe that everything captured in the Bible is there for a reason. As it relates to this story, I think one of the reasons could be so that we could see what an immediate change that can come when we interact with Jesus with our hearts versus with our mind and body. There were many people in that crowd interacting with Jesus and following Him. They followed him physically with their bodies and mentally with their minds. We know this because of the response some of them had when Jesus chose to stay with Zaccheus. Zaccheus on the other hand interacted with Jesus with his heart. First he went to see Him and when he could not see over the crowd climbed a tree. Next when Jesus took notice of him and said He must stay at his house, Zaccheus was criticized by that same crowd of people but it did not matter. His heart sold out to Jesus in that one interaction and the material things he had collected through the years no longer mattered to him. How many of us would freely give 50% of all our possessions to the poor? And many of us have been interacting with and have been saved by Jesus for years. This was Zaccheus’ first response compared to the others who were crowding around Jesus and was just a part of the crowd. Zaccheus separated himself from the crowd so that he could see Jesus. Sometimes we must separate ourselves from the crowds so that we can interact with Jesus one on one. Zaccheus’ first response was one of remorse and a determination to do better. Let’s look at the woman with the issue of blood.
II. Just One Touch
Two week ago I briefly mentioned the woman who had been bleeding for twelve years. Let’s read her story. Turn to Luke 8:43-48. It reads “And a woman who had a hemorrhage for twelve years, and could not be healed by anyone, came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His cloak, and immediately her hemorrhage stopped. And Jesus said, ‘Who is the one touched Me?’ And while they were all denying it, Peter said, ‘Master, the people are crowding and pressing in on You.’ But Jesus said, ‘Someone did touch Me, for I was aware that power had gone out of Me.’ When the woman saw that she had not escaped notice, she came trembling and fell down before Him, and declared in the presence of all the people the reason why she had touched Him, and how she had been immediately healed. And He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well, go in peace.” Luke 8:43-48
In this very familiar story, we have a woman who had been bleeding for twelve years and had spent a lot of money trying to get healed. Luke, a physician himself, makes it clear that the sickness she had was incurable. This woman heard about Jesus and made a decision in her heart that this was her last chance. Her first response to the bleeding was to go to a physician, which many of us would do also, but the first physician could not help her. She went to other physicians, none could help her. Finally, after twelve years, she heard about Jesus. She had one chance left. She heard He was coming to town and chose to go see Him. This woman must have known that there would be many people crowding around Jesus and there was a chance she would not be able to get close enough to Him to talk to Him. So she decided that if she could just touch the hem of His garment, she would be made whole. Once she made that decision, she BELIEVED! She made the decision; she believed that it would work; and then she acted on her belief.
When she got to where Jesus was, sure enough there was a crowd around Him. Jesus was on His way to heal the daughter of an important man and many people were following. Although initially she could not get close to Him she knew that she had to touch His garment in order to be healed. When she saw the crowd she could have become despondent and went back home and died. She could have waited in hope of catching Jesus when He returned that way. These are responses that she could have taken – but she did not. She believed in her heart that if she touched His garment she would be healed and that became her driving force. Her desire, belief and faith were so strong at that moment that she reached her hand through the crowd and touched the hem of His garment. The Scriptures does not say that she grabbed His garment which would mean she was able to get a hand full, enough to hold on to, but that she just touched His garment. I can see in my mind’s eye this woman squeezing and pushing her arms through the crowd, stretching as far as she can, and having one finger tough His garment. When that finger touched Him she was healed immediately. She knew it and Jesus realized it too.
Jesus asked “Who is the one who touched Me?” This sounded like a crazy question to the disciples because many people were touching Him. Peter told Him that many were pressing in on Him, but Jesus knew that one person touched Him with a purpose in their heart. He felt the power leave Him. When the woman realized that Jesus knew that someone had touched Him and received something special from Him, she came forward. She told her story in front of the whole crowd about how she was healed by touching His garment. How many people do you think were sick in that crowd of people and had touched Jesus without receiving anything? How many people in that crowd were touching Jesus and nothing was changing in their lives? How many people in that crowd when Jesus stopped and asked who had touched Him was irritated with the woman because she was delaying Jesus from getting to the little girl who was sick? How many people in that crowd do you think was repelled by this woman’s presence since she was officially “unclean” because she was bleeding? This woman possibly knew all of this before she went, but she went anyway. She knew what the traditions were but she would not let that stop her. She went to get her healing, believing that she needed to “just” touch His garment and she would be made whole. She believed it; acted on it; and was healed.
There were many people who were crowding around Jesus on this day, but only this woman touched Him with a purpose. Whenever we are in a situation that requires an immediate response, what does that response say about our connection with Jesus? Do you think that Zaccheus, who was hated by the people because he was a tax collector; or this woman, who repelled people because she had been bleeding for twelve years lives were ever the same after they interacted with Jesus? Zaccheus received salvation and this woman received healing? What are we receiving? We have been touching Jesus for years, what have we received? Have we received freedom from an addiction or are we still bound? Have we received healing or are we still sick? Have we received power to stand on His behalf, or are we still weak? Although we have been touching Jesus for years what do we have to show for it? Are we touching Jesus with a purpose, or are we just one of the people caught up in the crowd?
As I stated at the beginning, I will continue this message in two weeks. Until that time, think about your first responses moving forward. Ask yourself are your first responses providing proof of the faith that you claim to walk in. Next week, I will deliver a separate message focused on an issue we all face.
May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up His countenance on you and give you peace.
