Evening star., 1923-02-17


thirsting for his blood. was within
striking distance. for It was only
about twenty miles away. He had left
Perea behind when He crossed tho
Jordan about six miles back. His ad-
vance toward Jericho had been halt
ed by tho cry OF the blind beggar.
Bartimaeus.. asking that He would
have mercy upon him. His disciples
had tried In vain to silence the bog
gar, who shouted ''the moro q great
deal" when they rebuked him. The
Master heard his cry and healed him.
Tho news Of the miracle spread like
wild dre through the famous city,
which was a commercial. political
and religious center: 49,.
Lords visit as being "a famous
stronghold. surrounded by towers and
castles, with great palace built by
Archelaus, the son of Herod, In the
gardens and streams of water. 1t
was near . very fertile plain. and
stood whore the common caravan
roads met and had great commerce.
Its chief article Of export was bal
its neighborhood. Its commercial i'm
portance made 1t one Of the chief
seats OF the Roman customhouses.
Zacchaeus. the collector Of customs
in that city. having charge of the
region. is the only person. besides
Bartimaeus, whose name has been
handed down to us as being members
Of the great crowd that welcomed
the Master to Jericho. which was
Jerusalem's Palm Beach. being espe-
cially attractive In the winter season
because Of it's climate.
Probably Zacchaeus would never
have been known II he had not heard
the story<of Christ's miraculous heal
is possible that this rich religious
renegade may have heard of the
Lords attitude of friendship to the
publicans. who were desptsed and
sidered that they were traitors to
their religion and race. The tax col
lector is never popular. Although
others despised them and ostracizeo
them. Jesus was known as the friend
of publicans and sinners" Possibly 1t
may have been curiosity on the part
of the collector of customs that
prompted him to try and sec Jesus as
He passed through the city.
Zacchaeus met with great dinhculty
was" for the multitude refused to let
the small and energetic publican push
his way through their midst SO that
he could see the great Healer. They
pushed him one side and called MN
think OF that would be appropriate
for q Jew, whose grasping desire for
gaining gold had moved him 70 De
tray his countrymen by biddlng IN
the privilege Of taxing. The man who
bought the taxing privilege when It
was 'farmed out" usually squeezed all
he could out of the people.
Difficulties did not stop the un-
popular publican. for he persisted In
his efforts to see Jesus. While ne did
not know that this was his last
chance, as Jesus never. passed that
way again, nevertheless Zacchaeus
revealed decision, initiative and per-
sistency In his efforts to overcome the
physical and mechanical problems
that prevented him from seeing the
Master. His. pride and public POSI-.
ton appeared to him to demand that
he see the noted Prophet OF Nazareth,
whose fame had preceded Him. He
would not allow the prejudfces OF the
multitude to hinder him. He could
could get ahead of It. He put on
speed until he reached . sycamore
tree, whose leaves he thought would
hide him and it's limbs give a position
OF advantage. so that he could sec
Jesus as He passed by on HIS way to
Jerusalem.
While he may have been moved by
curiosity when he started to see the
Lord, Zacchaeus knew that he would
never have made such an EFFORT for
an ordinary rabbi. He probably did
not realize that his earnest effort was
prompted by spiritual longing to
know Christ. He may not have
thought thai. the Master would detect
his presence. He wanted to see Him,
for riches gave the publican no peace.
He was dissatisfied with his life and
the germ of his salvation was present
in his desire to see the Lord. If any
| thing Is interfering with our getting
in the proper position, SO that We
can see Jesus. we need to be en-
couraged by the success OF Zacchaeus
to master our difficulties and mako
them stepping stones by which we
can climb into His fellowship.
Our Lord still yearns to save the
rich with their tainted money and
the poor with their tainted souls as
He did when here among men. He
| was lost. He never missed an op-
portunity to win a sinner or save
soul. Tho crowd that followed Jesus
Al He drew near to the tree. whore
Zacchaeus awaited His coming, would
have said that the publican was hope
less. They would have rsdieuled the
idea that tho immoral, ropulsive and
irreligous collector OF customs could
be saved. Not 50 the Master. He saw
more than tho resoufcsfulness OF the
rich publican, who had correctly
guessed tho route Christ would take.
for Jesus saw the spiritual unrest Of
Zacchaeus. He saw the small mans
need and the longing Of the publican's
| heart.
1t is quite possible that the Masters
attention was directed to the publican
by the mocking jeers OF the crowd,
whose shouts may have revealed to
jesus the man up in the tree and his
name. This is an uninportant in
cident, tho fact that the Savior stop
ped and called Zacchaeus by name In
the significant truth. He knew his
hunger for God and made q bold move
when he commanded tho publican to
come down Jericho was the homo
Of many prominent priests and
lodge with the collector of customs
would serve to increase their hostility
and antagonism. Jesus did not
hesitate to reach down and lift
Zacchaeus up by lodging at the rich
mans home.
The publican would have hesitated
to ask the Master to be his guest
No Jew would-have entered his home.
All tho manhood. gratitude and spirit
ual longing of the publican's soul re-
sponded Immediately to the Lords
prised that Jesus had in place Of
rebuking and oiticizine him treated
! him as fried and brother. Every
body. else had withdrawn from him
| in q social way. They paid tho taxes
when they were compelled to do %,
ing Jesus, not even His disciples
would have thought of accepting the
GOSPEL MISSION. s..