"GETTING A BETTER VIEW OF JESUS"
Text: Luke 19:1-10
Introduction: There was a man living in the city of Jericho by the name of Zaccheus. When Zaccheus heard that Jesus was coming to Jericho he sought to see Him. There was a crowd of people and Zaccheus was a little man and the people were blocking his view. Zaccheus climbed up into a sycamore tree and became a man above the crowd. He had the best seat in the house, he had a bird’s eye view. Sometimes we need to climb a little higher if we want to see Jesus! The higher you go the better you can see. There are times, however, when the crowd is blocking our view and we can’t see Him. If we aren’t careful we will allow people to hinder us and keep us from seeing Christ. People will distract us, obstruct us and occupy us. The best view is from higher ground, in heavenly places and in the upper room. Not only did Zaccheus get to see Jesus but he also had Jesus to go home with him. Isn’t that what usually happens? When we get close enough to see Him in His power and glory, we end up taking Him home with us! They took notice of the disciples that they had been with Jesus. It becomes evident that He abides with us and His fragrance is with us. When we make the effort to see Jesus, He is compelled to go home with us. It is when we seek Him with all our heart that we find Him. Jesus said, "Zaccheus, make haste, and come down; for today I MUST abide at thy house." Our Lord loves to have fellowship with us. When we desire to have a better view of Jesus, then He MUST abide with us!
I. BLINDED BY RICHES
A. When we think of Zaccheus, we think of a delight-
ful little man who climbed up a tree to see Jesus
a. We probably have visions of our children sing-
ing the song about Zaccheus and making ges-
tures.
b. We see Zacchesus as a good person.
B. But that is far from the truth!
a. Zaccheus was a chief tax collector.
b. The Roman government had usurped authority
over the Jews and forced them to pay exorbi-
tant taxes to Rome.
c. The Romans hired many tax collectors and some
were Jews.
d. They weren’t paid a salary, so they would add
a surcharge of any amount they wanted to the
Roman tax.
e. They skimmed off the top and in order for
someone to be as rich as Zaccheus they had to
add a rather large surcharge.
C. Zaccheus would have been perceived as a Traitor,
a turncoat, and as someone who would abandon
their faith for money.
a. He didn’t have any friends but he had plenty
of enemies.
b. Zaccheus was a very lonely man!
D. He was hated and reviled by his own people be-
cause he was a Jew serving the Roman cause.
a. A publican or a tax collector was a despised
human being.
b. When the Pharisee prayed in the temple, along
side of the tax collector, he thanked God that
he was not like other men who were extortion-
ers, unjust, adulterers and at the bottom of
his list was even as this publican.
E. Zaccheus had been blinded by riches!
a. He had been caught up in the race to have more
b. We think that if a man has riches that he will
be so happy and not have any problems.
ILLUSTRATION:
On March 5, 1995, Don and Shirley Pence of
Phoenix, Arizona, won 101.8 million dollars in
the Arizona Powerball Lottery. She said, "I
guess it means a dream come true. We’ve worked
hard all of our lives, and now we don’t have
to. I guess that means the most to us"
They would receive 3.3 million a year for
20 years after taxes. The interest alone on
101 million at 5% is about 5 million dollars.
F. We might think that if we had that much money or
just the interest from that much money, that we
would have it made.
a. Yet the richest and most powerful man that
ever lived said, "Vanity of vainities, all is
vanity!"
b. Solomon was a man that was left deflated, de-
pressed, and disillusioned.
G. Empty is a word that describes how a lot of
people feel.
a. To them, life is a vapor, a puff of wind,
hollow, with an empty ring and a big fat zero.
b. James 4:14 "For what is your life? It is even
a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and
then vanisheth away."
H. It doesn’t matter what you have in this life be-
cause if you don’t have God there is emptiness.
a. Life is like cotton candy and merigue, all
fluff and no stuff.
I. The estimated cost of raising a first child born
in 1998 to the age of 17 is $ 156,690 not includ-
ing college.
a. It gets more expensive to live in this world
everyday.
b. We work all the time trying to get ahead,
thinking that if we ever get caught up that
we will be happy.
J. In doing so, we are growing more unhappy and
tired.
a. According to one study, the number of leisure
hours for the average American adult has
dropped from 26 hours a week to only 17 hours.
b. We never seem to have enough time or money.
K. According to Harper’s magazine, only 5% of
Americans earning less than $ 15,000 a year feel
that they have achieved the American dream.
a. Only 6% of those making over $50,000 a year
can say the same.
b. That’s only 1% more even though they are mak-
ing over $35,000 more.
L. We somehow think that it would be different with
us!
1. Christiana Onassis
a. She said, "Happiness is not based on money,
and the greatest proof of that is my
family"
b. She commmitted suicide shortly after mak-
ing that statement.
2. Doris Duke
a. The tobacco heires who was worth a billion
dollars when she died in 1993
b. She lived a life of luxury but found that
even a billion dollars couldn’t buy
happiness, meaning and peace.
c. She told a friend that all that money had
proven to be a barrier to personal fulfill-
ment.
M. Riches can blind us!
a. Jesus said in Luke 12:15 "A man’s life con-
siseth not in the abundance of things which
he possesseth"
b. Mark 10:25 "It is easier for a camel to go
through the eye of a needle, than for a rich
man to enter into the kingdom of God"
c. Jesus said in Matthew 13:22 "the deceitfulness
of riches, choke the word, and he becometh
unfruitful"
d. I Tim. 6:9-10 "But they that will be rich fall
into temptation and a snare, and into many
foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in
destruction and perdition. For the love of
money is the root of all evil: which while
some coveted after, they have erred from the
faith, and pierced themselves through with
many sorrows"
N. It is not as the world claims, "He who dies with
the most toys wins!"
a. "Godliness with contentment is great gain"
b. "But what things were gain to me, those I
counted loss for Christ...I have suffered the
loss of all things, and do count them but
dung, that I may win Christ"
O. If your life is only horizontal then you are
miserable.
a. It is a frustrating life.
b. God has designed us to be empty without Him!
P. We cannot see Jesus if we are blinded by riches.
II. BLINDED BY WORRY
A. Why is it that we worry so much?
a. We must trust and obey, for there is no other
way!
b. We cannot see Jesus if we are blinded by
worry!
B. John Curtis, director of the University of
Wisconsin Stress and Management Institute, said,
"I believe that 90% of all stress is brought on
not by living in the present but by worrying
about what has already happened, what is going
to happen or what could happen"
C. Charles Mayo, of the famed Mayo Clinic, said,
"You can worry yourself to death, but you cannot
worry yourself to a longer life"
a. Worry breaks down our resistance to disease.
b. Worry attacks our:
- Nervous System
- Digestive System
- Circulatory System
D. Worry can shorten your life!
a. It is like a rocking chair and a treadmill.
You are always moving but you never get any-
where!
b. Worry is counterproductive!
E. Life can be so complicated and difficult.
ILLUSTRATION:
There was a man that quit the ministry and
became a mortician. when asked why, he said, "I
spent years trying to straigten people out and
couldn’t. NOw when I straighten them out, they
stay straight!"
F. Life can be so complicated!
a. Just out of nowhere things can happen.
G. You can’t see Jesus when you are blinded by
worry!
a. We are to "cast all of our cares on Him be-
cause He cares for us"
b. We are to "seek first the kingdom" and every-
thing else will be taken care of.
c. If we would see Jesus then we would see that
there is nothing to worry about anyway.
H. If He takes notice of the sparrows and clothes
the lilies, how much more important are you to
Him?
a. We can’t see Jesus if we are blinded by
worry!
III. SALVATION COMES TO YOUR HOUSE!
A. Zaccheus heard that Jesus was coming to town and
he was excited and anxious to see Him.
a. He may have heard about Jesus from Matthew,
because Matthew had been a tax collector.
b. One day Jesus walked by Matthew’s table and
with a penetrating gaze He said, "Follow Me"
c. Matthew could not resist and bolted from the
table and followed Him.
B. Zaccheus was perched in a tree looking for
Jesus.
a. Jesus already knew Zaccheus’ name and all
about him.
C. Zaccheus rejoiced when Jesus told him that He
was going home with him.
a. What had seemed important to Zaccheus didn’t
seem so important anymore.
b. What he thought would make him happy and give
him peace and joy didn’t.
c. But now Jesus gives him great joy!
D. Remember that the people despised this little
tax collector.
a. When they saw Jesus going home with him as a
guest, they murmured and complained.
E. But Zaccheus stood up and declared, "Lord half
of my goods I give to the poor and with what I
have left I will restore four fold to any that
I have defrauded"
a. The time he spent with Jesus changed his
life!
b. He would rather have Jesus than silver or
gold.
F. Jesus said to Zaccheus, "This day is salvation
come to this house"
G. God has set eternity in our hearts and we will
not be satisfied with the things of this world.
a. We were not put here to stay, we are just
passing through!
H. Everything is passing away and no matter how
much we want things to stay the same they don’t.
ILLUSTRATION:
I got behind a car one day that was going
very slow and smoking like a chimney. I was
getting aggravated with the man until I saw his
bumper sticker. It read: "If my car was a horse,
I’d shoot it!"
a. Sometimes we feel that way about a lot of
things.
I. But the search for lasting satisfaction and joy
is over when you find Jesus!
a. When salvation comes to your house it changes
your priorities!
Conclusion: Jesus came to seek and to save the lost.
Zaccheus had found out the hard way that this
world had nothing to offer but heartache. He made
an extra effort to see Jesus and the Lord reward-
ed him by going home with him.
Heb. 11:6 "He is a rewarder of them that diligent-
ly seek Him"
