It's Not Fair: The Often Surprising And Always Amazing Grace Of GodSample

  Jesus’ grace reaches to everybody, no matter how bad they are. Today’s passage tells us about a time when Jesus met a man named Zacchaeus. Since Zacchaeus was a chief tax collector and was also very wealthy, it is likely that he was a dishonest man. When he took taxes from the people, he probably took extra and kept it for himself.

The people did not like tax collectors. Many people were very poor and it was difficult for them to pay taxes. The taxes went to fund the Roman army, whom the people did not like because they had been captured by the Romans and because the Roman army was well-known for being bad to people as they traveled by. So, the people probably doubly disliked Zacchaeus because they didn’t like tax collectors in the first place and because he also likely stole their money.

We wouldn’t expect Jesus to love a cruel person like that. Jesus was always defending the poor; why would he show love to someone who was oppressing them? But God’s love is startling. He has so much love and so much forgiveness that He loves even Zacchaeus. This kind of unfair, grace-filled love changes the people it touches. It transforms them into people who are like God. When Zacchaeus encounters Jesus’ love, he is transformed. He decides to give half of all his wealth to the poor and to pay back everybody four times as much as he stole from them. Because He encountered Jesus’ love, Zacchaeus does not want to live a sinful life anymore. He wants to respond to God’s grace by making things right with the people he sinned against.

It is important to remember the order of this story. First, Jesus loves Zacchaeus. Then, Zacchaeus is transformed and as a response to Jesus’ love, lives righteously. Zacchaeus did not earn Jesus’ love by fixing himself and doing the right thing. God’s love is unfair. He loves us in the midst of our sin. He changes us so that we can then respond by living rightly. When we encounter God’s love, we should remember that He gave it to us first. It is a free gift. But we should also then respond, like Zacchaeus, by doing our best to make things right with people we have hurt through our sin. Take a few moments to thank God for loving and forgiving you. Then, think of one person you have hurt through your sin. What is one thing you can do to start making things right with that person?