Understanding Through Zacchaeus

Today, we are looking at some powerful words as found in Romans 6:18. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.

We shall gain more understanding of this truth, as we look at Zacchaeus. Whenever one talks about this man Zacchaeus, or thinks about him, the one common word is ‘short’. He was a short man. I must confess that it was only in this devotion that I was made to see a truly short man. The truth is that his shortness was extreme. He was what we would call a midget. His having to climb that sycamore-fig tree, was precisely because he was very short indeed. On this occasion, his shortness was the human factor which impeded him from seeing the passing Jesus.

Many of us are as Zacchaeus, in that we have some human shortness, which hinders us from seeing the Jesus in our midst. But we need to see that just as there was a sycamore-fig tree for Zacchaeus, there is always a sycamore-fig tree, on which we can climb to see Jesus. You need to know, right now, that your very shortness does not have to be your disadvantage in seeing Jesus, for there is a sycamore-fig tree for you to climb.

Let’s look at the text again. You have been set free from sin. You need to see it this way. Sin has been your hindrance, your problem, your shortness. You are a midget, not a giant, in sin. I say midget, because sin keeps you stunted, and to the ground. But you have been set free from sin. You have been a slave to your shortness. You have been a faithful servant to your demons and evils, but look, Jesus has set you free from that bondage, that impediment. To do this, Jesus made you slaves to righteousness.

Let us use Zacchaeus again. The truth is that he is a short man, and will always be a very short man, but his shortness no longer controls him. He no longer has to be a slave to his shortness, acting, reacting and responding in ways that show his obedience to, shortness. No! He has found that which, in his shortness, gives him difference. Your sins are real. You are a sinner and will always be a sinner. But Jesus has given you Grace, for it is in Grace that you are given perfect vantage point and vision view to see Jesus. Like Zacchaeus, you remain short, you remain a sinner, but your sinfulness no longer rules you, just as his shortness no longer ruled him. Grace, like the sycamore-fig tree, gives you vantage and vision and it is upon grace that Jesus looks and sees the sinner. Jesus looks and offers the sinner a new and different life with Him. But alas, too many of us forfeit His gift of abundant life in Him.

Here are some facts.

Just as Zacchaeus always remained short, so too you will always be a sinner.
Just as his shortness no longer dictated and controlled his life’s walk, so too your sinfulness no longer has to determine, control, dictate and direct your walk any more.
Just as his shortness made him confess to Jesus and want to do all that he could to make amends for his ways, so too with you and me. Our sinfulness, when exposed before righteousness, makes us confess to Jesus and we want very much to produce the fruits of repentance.
Just as he was the servant of shortness, but now is the servant of Jesus, a follower of Jesus, now ‘tall’ in Christ, so too we become slaves of righteousness, as we offer our lives to God in Christ Jesus and become ‘tall’ in Him.

By faith, your enabled eyes will see that although Zacchaeus remained with his human shortness, so too you remain with your human name of sinner. But it no longer is your master. Why? It is so because the undeniable fact is that the sinner now has a Saviour. Praise be to God! Thanks be to God!