For a description of the (Y2) reading plan, see the “About” page.
Luke 19
How did the townspeople see Zacchaeus? How did Jesus see him? How do you view people? (compare 2 Corinthians 5:16-17) I was talking about wealth yesterday. Today, Zacchaeus offers me a good point to my case. He was not just a tax collector, but a chief one. Thus, he was very wealthy. I don’t know if working as an honest tax collector offered great wealth or not. I do know, however, that the position lent itself to all the things Proverbs 28 mentioned yesterday – cruelty, stinginess, greed, and destruction.
Based on Zacchaeus’ response to Jesus, I’d say he was likely guilty of all of these things. But Zacchaeus isn’t just a good example of how easily wealth corrupts. He is also a great example of what it means to repent. “Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” (Lk. 19:8b). Zacchaeus’ encounter with Jesus changed his heart and thus his behavior. And that is the repentance that leads to salvation.
Hos. 10-11
Trace God’s emotions as they are expressed in these chapters. How does God characterize his love? “For I am God, and not a man” (From Hos. 11:9). God does things differently. Not only because He has more power and capability in the tip of His little finger than in all of man’s greatest armies put together. But also because His character is deeper, more complex, and purer than anything we could possibly imagine. I always say that you can tell Christianity is not a man-made religion because no human being would ever think to do things the way God does them. It is because of His great character that, though His people, “are determined to turn from me” (Hos. 9:7a), He refuses to give them up. He chooses compassion instead, making a way for those who deserve the destruction they pursue to return and follow Him.