Title: Jesus is calling (2) / Luke 19:1~10
Contents
◎ 2003/3/11 (Tuesday)
Jesus is calling (2) (Luke 19:1~10, 3/9)
Subject: Jesus is calling.
Bible: Luke 19:1-10
"Hamlet", one of Shakespeare's three great tragedies, said, "To live or to die, that is the question."
He gave his famous monologue.
As the Danish philosopher Kier Kegaard said, “People fall into a dilemma that leads to the disease of death.” is this? Is it that? The desperate human figure standing at a crossroads finally drops humans into the abyss of despair. However, the clear call of Jesus, “Zacchaeus, come down quickly, I must stay at your house today” does not allow humans to wander in anxiety.
The call of Jesus is not an option on the human side. Jesus intervenes in Zacchaeus' life and calls him sovereignly. This is the irresistible calling that can be seen in heteronomous religions.
“Zacchaeus! I want this to be the second time I hear the voice saying, “Come down quickly.”
I. Jesus' call is a personal call.
Verse 5 says, “Jesus said to him, Zacchaeus, come down quickly.”
Jericho was crowded with people who were angry because of Jesus.
Verse 2 says, “Zacchaeus was short and there were many people, so he was forced to run and climb up a sycamore tree to see.”
That is why Jesus was of utmost concern to the people of Jericho.
Some of them must have been curious because of Jesus' miraculous work, while others must have heard the news of Jesus' healing and came out to be healed. Or maybe some people heard the rumor that Jesus was “the Messiah” and came to see Jesus.
Also, there must have been some small children like Zacchaeus who climbed up the tree to see Jesus. But Jesus, passing by Jericho, came under the sycamore tree on which Zacchaeus was sitting and called out, “Zacchaeus!”
He called only Zacchaeus by himself. Jesus' calling is like this personally, one by one. Even in front of the tomb of Lazarus, He called “Lazarus”. “Run Dakum!” Girl wake up! “Young man, wake up!” You are called individually.
God only called Abraham from Ur of the Chaldeans (Genesis 12:1). The temple in Shiloh called “Samuel.” The priest Eli, who was sleeping in the next room, was not called (1 Samuel 3:9).
God called Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel that way. Jesus called Nathanael from under the fig tree (John 1:47), and Peter and John from the fishing grounds (Luke 5:10). Matthew is called at the customs office (Matthew 9:9), and Saul is on the road to Damascus, saying, “Saul! Saul!” That is what He called (Acts 9:7).
Today, you and I, too, have called you that way in the field of hard-working life. Therefore, the call of Jesus is precious. It is the honor of you and me who have been called like that. But Zacchaeus's calling was not called because Zacchaeus went up to the mulberry tree with all his zeal. It was not called because of Zacchaeus' old city center or his zeal.
The Bible says, “Before the foundation of the world he knew our names” (Psalm 139:16). “He took us before we were formed in the womb” (Psalm 71:6). Before the world was created, Jesus had already chosen and predestined to save him.
So, he came to Jericho in search of the chosen Zacchaeus. The call of Jesus is the call to set His people apart from the world.
Jesus separated His elect from the great mass of the world and said, “You are mine” (Isaiah 43:1).
II. It is an urgent call. Verse 5 says, “Zacchaeus, come down quickly.”
“Come down quickly” means not to hesitate or delay. It is a call with an implied urgency of salvation.
Why? Because the end of the world has a chara castle. If we do not receive God's call today and make a decision today, there will be no tomorrow. But Satan says there is tomorrow. So believe in Jesus, but believe tomorrow! Be loyal to God, but do it tomorrow. Evangelism and missionary work tomorrow, and tithing and thanksgiving tomorrow. But there is no tomorrow in the saint's calendar.
Oh, the end of the saints! Because it comes at the moment. Ah! At that moment, the airliner disappears from the radar and crashes into the ridge. Ah! Meanwhile, the bridge of the warship flies off. Ah! Meanwhile, the subway burns down. Ah! In the meantime, the dozens of floors of the Trade Center building disappear like dust.
Where in the world is there tomorrow for me? When will you slowly believe in Jesus, and when will you slowly go to heaven? The Christian gospel invitation is to “come down quickly.” The heaven train we boarded is not a local train that stops at each simple station. The Columbia Space Shuttle, which has circled space 27 times, has been disassembled in midair at 250 speed of sound.
The Bible says, “What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a moment and then vanishes” (James 4:14). Therefore, it is said, “Now is the acceptable time, and now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2).
Now is the time of salvation. Now is the day of grace. Jesus said to the repentant right hand thief, “Today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). You must respond quickly. We must accept Jesus soon. Salvation, loyalty, service, evangelism, filial piety, today. If we are not quick to make a decision, we may lose our salvation.
Ⅲ. I'm calling you to come down.
Verse 6 says, “When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and saw, Zacchaeus, come down quickly.”
Now Zacchaeus is sitting on a sycamore tree and looking down, while Jesus is standing on the ground and looking up to Zacchaeus. We can often look down on the world by sitting in the seat of man-made high, success, honor and power, benevolence and knowledge, wealth. Many people achieve their life goal of peaking and can sit on top of it.
However, those who are truly called by Jesus must first come down from him. Because the Lord has forsaken the high and high heavenly throne and came to the low and low earth. It is because he humbled himself and came to Jericho by walking the humility of being obedient to the point of death.
And now he is standing under the mulberry tree and looking up to Zacchaeus.
Come down! Come down to the seat of humility! We must fall to the ground and look up to the Lord, and the Lord must stand and look down upon us. modesty! It is the highest virtue of a Christian. The call of Jesus is the call to humble life. Be humble in heart, humble in words, humble in deeds. When we look up to the Lord from a low position, we can see the Lord directly. God exalts and blesses the humble. The proud are humbled and hateful.