Jesus Transforms Scuzzballs
And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, "Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have defrauded any one of anything, I restore it fourfold." And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham." Luke 19:8, 9, RSV.
Meeting Jesus changes your life. Repeatedly throughout the four Gospels we discover that when people encounter Jesus they are never the same afterwards. Not merely a nice man with some kind and wise words, He was a transformer of lives.
So it was with Zacchaeus, the money-grubbing tax collector who had been gouging everybody in town financially. A genuine experience with Jesus changed his life forever. And all the community knew it.
Committing half of his goods to the poor, the other half got whittled down by his decision to restore fourfold anything he had unjustly taken. In that pledge he exceeded the requirements of Jewish law, which stipulated a double-the-value restoration (Ex. 22:7). A transformed person, he was determined to do more than the law demanded.
The Desire of Ages, in commenting upon this story, notes that "no repentance is genuine that does not work reformation. The righteousness of Christ is not a cloak to cover unconfessed and unforsaken sin; it is a principle of life that transforms the character and controls the conduct. Holiness is wholeness for God; it is the entire surrender of heart and life to the indwelling of the principles of heaven....
"If we have injured others through any unjust business transaction, if we have overreached in trade, or defrauded any man, even though it be within the pale of the law, we should confess our wrong, and make restitution as far as lies in our power" (pp. 555, 556).
I still remember the day I read those words as a young Christian. They hit me between the eyes and lodged in my conscience. At first I tried to get rid of them and move on with my life.
But I could get no peace. For the six years that I had worked in a grocery store I had helped myself to candy bars and whatever else I wanted. Bit by bit it added up.
And now I was convicted that I should meet with the store's manager, confess, and plop a fair piece of money on his desk. But I was broke and trying to earn my way through college. I had lots of "buts."
But I was also a Christian. The Zacchaeus path was my only option.
And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, "Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have defrauded any one of anything, I restore it fourfold." And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham." Luke 19:8, 9, RSV.
Meeting Jesus changes your life. Repeatedly throughout the four Gospels we discover that when people encounter Jesus they are never the same afterwards. Not merely a nice man with some kind and wise words, He was a transformer of lives.
So it was with Zacchaeus, the money-grubbing tax collector who had been gouging everybody in town financially. A genuine experience with Jesus changed his life forever. And all the community knew it.
Committing half of his goods to the poor, the other half got whittled down by his decision to restore fourfold anything he had unjustly taken. In that pledge he exceeded the requirements of Jewish law, which stipulated a double-the-value restoration (Ex. 22:7). A transformed person, he was determined to do more than the law demanded.
The Desire of Ages, in commenting upon this story, notes that "no repentance is genuine that does not work reformation. The righteousness of Christ is not a cloak to cover unconfessed and unforsaken sin; it is a principle of life that transforms the character and controls the conduct. Holiness is wholeness for God; it is the entire surrender of heart and life to the indwelling of the principles of heaven....
"If we have injured others through any unjust business transaction, if we have overreached in trade, or defrauded any man, even though it be within the pale of the law, we should confess our wrong, and make restitution as far as lies in our power" (pp. 555, 556).
I still remember the day I read those words as a young Christian. They hit me between the eyes and lodged in my conscience. At first I tried to get rid of them and move on with my life.
But I could get no peace. For the six years that I had worked in a grocery store I had helped myself to candy bars and whatever else I wanted. Bit by bit it added up.
And now I was convicted that I should meet with the store's manager, confess, and plop a fair piece of money on his desk. But I was broke and trying to earn my way through college. I had lots of "buts."
But I was also a Christian. The Zacchaeus path was my only option.
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