• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Sermo Humilis

Humble Speech

  • Home
  • Topics
    • Just a Thought
    • Who we Are Instead
    • Life in Christendom
  • Series
    • Topical
      • Words that Matter
      • Jesus Through all of Life
      • 8 Weeks Before Marriage
      • Life and Times of Jesus
      • Rock of Ages
      • The Ten Commandments
    • Bible Book
      • Proverbs
      • The Book of Ezra
      • 1 Corinthians
  • About
  • Contact
  • Subscribe
  • Show Search
Hide Search
You are here: Home / The Life and Times of Jesus / Jesus, Precious Gems

Jesus, Precious Gems

26 July 2020 By David Trounce

Reading Time: 3 minutes
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

#57 Jesus, Precious Gems - The Life and Times of Jesus

As Jesus heads toward Jerusalem, the heat on Israel intensifies. Jerusalem has become a haunt of Jackals and unclean birds and upon that generation would come the blood of all the prophets that had been sent to her.

But, among the wreck and ruin of humanity in Israel, there are still precious gems and Jesus’ mission is to go out and find them.

And among those gems are some unlikely faces. Prostitutes, widows, infants, tax collectors, fishermen, and other riff-raff alongside the wives of ruling elders and Jewish officials.

Imagine a church full of such people. Would we expect it to be a tidy place? A sedate, predictable, or uneventful place? Not at all. When you get these kinds of people together, expect a bit of a mess.

Nit-pickers get worked up about these kinds of people because they just aren’t show-worthy. They don’t look good on the brochure.

But these people are no problem for Jesus and they should be no real problem for us.

In the account of Zacchaeus, we meet such a man. A man who would not be liked by his countrymen. As far as they are concerned, this guy has sold his soul to the devil. He works for Rome to rob his fellow Jew.

Nevermind that he may well have been giving to the poor in private in wonderfully generous ways—which the text may even suggest. Still, he is outside the social square. He is not among the cool kids.

Even the Disciples had trouble with this kind of thing as we see in their attitude toward the mum-and-bub club of Luke 18.

There, while mums are bringing their little ones to the welcoming arms of Jesus, a rich young ruler who had been keeping the law, and on all accounts appeared blessed by God, finds himself on the wrong side of history.

Why? Well, if the narrow gate were likened to the eye of a needle, and one needed to pass through that needle to get into the kingdom, this guy just won’t fit. Too much luggage.

“Who then can be saved?”, ask the Disciples. Well, what happens next to Zacchaeus fills out the answer that Jesus gave. “What is impossible with men, is possible with God.”


On the move?
This article can also be seen and heard on Youtube

It is possible to make it through to the other side of the needle. But you are going to have to love and rejoice in what’s on the other side more than your stuff.

And that’s Zacchaeus. A “little one” willing to leave his old life behind.

As Jesus passes by Zacchaeus, who has climbed a tree so he can get his head above the crowd and see Jesus for himself, Jesus looks up and says,

Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today. (Luke 19:5)

Note the urgency. Zacchaeus has today. And so, climbing down the tree, Zacchaeus doesn’t just follow, he follows joyfully.

What follows is a banquet, but not everybody is happy about the guest list. There are grumblers at this party who don’t like the kinds of repentant people Jesus is mixing with.

Unlike our watery attempt at repentance, Zacchaeus does not stand up and say, “Behold, Lord, I’m willing to make a donation to your ministry and I am really sorry if I robbed anyone …any theft is deeply regrettable.”

No, Zacchaeus understood actual repentance far more than many of us modern Christians do.

Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold. (Luke 19:8)

Here, the impossible happens. A  camel is brought safely through the eye of the needle. And so Jesus declares,

Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. (Luke 19:9)

Why does Zacchaeus do it? Why do we do it? Why does anyone do it?

Because having seen Jesus, having heard Jesus and encountered Jesus, we are suddenly swamped by a superior affection. An affection that makes our money and our stuff look like the bottom of a pig farmers boot.

Zacchaeus wasn’t saved because he got his works in order. His works were put in order because Jesus came to his house. And having met Jesus, Jesus now means more to Zacchaeus than anything else.

His works and his money followed the direction of his new affection.

Want to know what a man treasures? Never mind what he says, just follow the money. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Related...

Jesus, Thy Kingdom Come

Jesus, Tough and Tender

Jesus, Lost Property

Jesus, Shaking Heaven and Earth

Filed Under: The Life and Times of Jesus Tagged With: Money, Salvation, Zacchaeus


Writing Ideas on Sermo HumilisWhat do You Want to Read About?

 

Nothing like real-world issues to focus the mind. If you have something you would like me to write about, send me a message and let me know.

 

Primary Sidebar

Sermo Humilis

For the love of all things true, beautiful and good.


Welcome to Sermo Humilis, a digital home for biblical discipleship and cultural Christianity. A few new thoughts every week.

Please remember to like, subscribe and share. It really helps me out.

Categories

  • Life in Christendom
  • Just a Thought
  • Who we Are Instead

Find us on Social

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Medium
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Support Sermo Humilis

If you enjoy Sermo Humilis and want to say thanks you can support me here.

Support

Series

Sidebar Series - 1 Corinthians Sidebar - Words that Matter Sidebar - Jesus Through all of Life Series Sidebar Series - The Book of Ezra

The Most Popular Guff

Weakness is the Way

Nobody wants to be called weak, at least, not by the world's

Jesus, Clean the Cup

Hypocrisy is a nagging sin. It's subtle and it is sinister, often

Impossible Demands Made Possible

In Luke 14:26-35 Jesus turns to the multitude of weary, shepherdless

Our Physical World

The physical world matters. Your body matters. And this is why things

Nearer to Thee

In the Akkadian myth, the god Marduk is said to have created men so

Love Your Enemies

Unique to Christianity is the call to love our enemies. Love here, is

You Can’t Keep a Good Man Down

William Tyndale was born around 1494 and died as a martyr in 1536. He

See and Hear

On the move? Weekly content can also be seen and heard via Youtube.

Topics

Beauty Charity Children Covenant Creation Death Discipleship Evangelism Faith Faithfulness Fear Forgiveness Gospel Grace Grief Guilt Holiness Hope Jesus Joy Judgement Kingdom Law Liberty Life Love Marriage Mercy Money Obedience Power Prayer Redemption Rest Resurrection Sacrifice Salvation Service Sin Suffering Truth Victory Weakness Wisdom Worship

Footer

  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • Subscribe to Sermo Humilis

Find us on Social

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Support Sermo Humilis

If you enjoy Sermo Humilis and want to say thanks you can support me here.

Support

Copyright © 2025 · Sermo Humilis

Thor's Oak

Around 723 AD, a missionary named Boniface entered Hesse in Germany. Upon finding a sacred tree named Thor’s Oak, he took an axe to it, cut it down and built a church. Many in the town, believing that the God of Boniface must be greater than Thor, left their paganism behind converted to Christianity.