#123: The Jericho Encounter (1): Breaking the Barrier

Jesus entered Jericho and made His way through the town. There was a man there named Zacchaeus. He was the chief tax collector in the region, and he had become very rich. He tried to get a look at Jesus, but he was too short to see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree beside the road, for Jesus was going to pass that way. Luke 19:1-4

Blessed be the name of the LORD for granting us another opportunity to study His Word this week. By His grace, this study will be broken into 3 parts in order to understand the 3 major stages of the Jericho encounter that caused a remarkable turn around in the life of Zacchaeus.

It is so wonderful to note that Luke 19 is a sequential continuation of the story in Luke 18, which ended with Jesus healing a blind man outside of Jericho. It must have been from the praise of the people that Zacchaeus heard of Jesus. It must have been the testimonies from this miracle that made the short man to be curious. He wanted to see Jesus for himself. However, he was a short man. His height would not allow him to see Jesus through the crowd.

As a person, what has made your life short? Is it sin? Is it reproach? Whenever you make up your mind to meet Jesus, what hinders you from actually meeting Jesus? Is it your peer group? Do you begin to reconsider because they would laugh at you? Is it your 24 schedule? Are you encumbered with a lot of activities that you cannot see through the cluster of these activities as finding quality time to meet your master and savior?

This particular day, Zacchaeus proposed in his heart that he would not allow anything to come between him and his savior. This again mirrors what the blind man did in Luke 18, when the people around him were trying to quieten him; he shouted louder. He felt as though, the time he was in was a critical time, and he could not miss it. He had been begging on the way, and he must have heard passers by talking about Jesus. Now that Jesus was passing by, he could not miss the opportunity to encounter his savior. For Zacchaeus, he ran ahead of the crowd and climbed a tree.

Finally, vs 4 tells us that the tree that Zacchaeus ran to climb was beside the road, for Jesus was going to pass that way. And at this point we have to be very sincere and honest with ourselves. How did Zacchaeus know that Jesus would pass that way? Perhaps this was not the first time Jesus was passing through Jericho and He had his route. Brethren, position matters. I want to call this positioning yourself in the path of grace: where the grace of God can meet you. And you know this/these place(s). It is not every gathering that you can find Jesus. It is not in every activity that you can find Jesus. There are some practices that Jesus cannot be associated with. There are some places that you have in times past felt heaven on earth (encounters). That is where you can find Jesus. That is where the path of grace is. As you run ahead of the crowd, I pray that the mercy of God will direct you along the path of grace to where Jesus will be passing. Zacchaeus knew this, and the blind man in Luke 18 knew this too. Even today, Jesus has a route. Are you looking for Him (the Living) among [the] dead [things of life]?

Today, Jesus is passing by. What steps will you take to meet Him? Will you cry out with a loud voice for help? Will you run ahead - before the activities of the day catches up with you? Will you run ahead - leaving your friends who will discourage you behind? Will you allow your social status come between you and your savior by feeling too big to climb the sycamore tree? The sin that keeps weighing you down, will you lay it aside? will you confess the sin? No matter what it takes, may God give you the sense of urgency that He gave the blind man and Zacchaeus on the Jericho highway.

Resolve: When the lost son discovered how far he had erred, he made a decision to go home and he acted on it. He left home wealthy, he was coming back with rags, but he would not allow anything discourage his journey back home. Today that you have decided to meet Jesus, be determined. Even if it means to tarry, be resolute like Jacob, "I will not leave you till I encounter you", be resolute like Moses, "I am not leaving this place till I see Your glory." God has promised that we will find Him when we seek Him with all our heart (Jer 29:13&14).

The study will continue next week by God's grace as we see the result of Zacchaeus' resolve to see Jesus. God bless you.