"And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to him, 'Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.'" (Luke 19:5)
The difference between the world's religions and what the Bible calls, "the faith of Jesus," is Jesus Himself. The "others" did not do our text, "I must stay at your house."
One of the phrases which have been used throughout time concerning Salvation in Jesus Christ is "personal Savior." Yes, Jesus is the, "Head of the Church," King of the Kingdom, and we see also quite clearly from the Gospel accounts that Jesus was/is indeed our Friend and Savior, Who is, "A Very Present Help in trouble....God with us....Abide in Me and I in you."
Our text reveals that a very lonely, rejected, small-in-stature personage was so valued by The King that in the midst of a great throng of admirers, The King, He Who the Bible calls, "the Bishop of our souls," did not send an assistant "pastor," or committee head to serve, "minister to" Zacchaeus. King Jesus, the "Head...Bishop of our souls," went Himself.
This is Who we have and Who has us, Jesus Who says moment by moment to us, "Today I must stay at your house." Jesus does not say, "Come to my teachings," or, "Come to my cause." Jesus invites us to, "Come to Me, all who...."
Father, in Jesus' Name,
"Out of my bondage, sorrow, and night,
Jesus, I come to Thee.
Out of my sickness into Thy health,
Out of my want and into Thy wealth,
Out of my sin and into Thyself,
Jesus, I come to Thee." Amen.
When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"
Hebrews 12:2
Hebrews 12:2
