Matt 5:5; Luke 19:1-10-Little Man, Big Faith-2/1/15
We are continuing looking at Jesus’ sayings in the Beatitudes, and after seeing what it means to be poor in Spirit is to be rich in God, and to those who mourn they will find comfort, we now turn to the third, which seem to be just as unique to our ears as the first two.
The meek? Really? This value is not a trait we hold high in society today, and what’s more Jesus uses an odd figure to summarize it. Yet, we must not forget God often works the opposite of what we would expect.
I have to give a point here though. When the Bible here uses the word “meek” it does not mean “passive” or “weak”.
Rather it means “Gentle, disciplined strength, grace under fire, allowing God to take control so you can have more self-control” It means giving the Holy Spirit the steering wheel. It means acting like Jesus, who was not passive or weak but rather gentle in heart.
Jesus is saying, that to be righteous in His kingdom, you have to be gentle, humble, trusting God-And He uses Zaccahaeus to make this very point!
He may have been short in so many ways, but that does not stop him. NO! This meek man with his shortcomings, is determined to see Jesus, and so he takes the initiative, climbing a tree like a child.
See, the crowd thinks (right or wrong) that Zacchaeus is a sinner, and is offended by Jesus’ interaction with him.
So Jesus invites himself over, and Zacchaeus in his meekness and joy gladly accepts, but then something interesting happens.
Zacchaeus, almost sensing the glares and scorn from the crowd gets up and say this.
“Look, Lord! 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.”
This teaches us something more about Zacchaeus and Jesus and what it means to be meek. Jesus too was meek. He was gentle. He was gentle with the sinners, not judging them but rather offering them grace.
He was gentle and patient with the disciples, when they did not seem to get it. He was gentle even his enemies, even after he rebuked them.
If Zachaeus promises that he will do this after having been a tax cheat, then he is showing his meekness by saying, “I will give half my goods to the poor and restore 4x over anyone I cheated”
You want to talk about a good tax refund!
He’s basically saying“God, I want to be a radical disciple for you, so half of my stuff, I give it away”
Now watch, Zacchaeus is not doing this giving away to be saved, rather he is doing this in response to being saved, which Jesus Christ confirms when He says that salvation has been brought to this house, all because of Zacchaeus’ meekness.
He does not let his salvation lie away hidden and dormant, instead he lets his light shine before men so they may see his good deeds.
He let his faith grow and bloom and produce ripe fruit from which others could feed.
Zacchaeus may have been meek, but in giving up what he had held onto (in this case his wealth), he inherited the earth. He found the Kingdom of God.
But on the other hand, if Zachaeus is already doing this, then it teaches the crowd to be meek, and humble, and not to judge.
He shows up and gives salvation to those we think are not worthy, or untouchable. It shows God’s mercy runs deeper than our expectations.
Remember the words of our Lord Jesus, “any who loses his life for my sake will find true life”.
Maybe for Zachaeus he wanted to own part of the world. Yet in giving up “the worldly stuff” Jesus promises him salvation, and eternal life. The world can have all the stuff that will pass away.
Remember, fellow servants in Jesus, blessed are you when you are gentle, meek, and humble, for you will inherit the earth.