PODCAST
What Grace Can Do
November 10th, 2023
Luke 19:1-10
Most short people I know would be happy to be even just a bit taller. Zacchaeus probably wanted that, too. Perhaps as he fought the crowd to see Jesus, he bemoaned again being vertically challenged.
Maybe some bitterness had crept in during his youth for all the times he was teased Was discontentment his justification to cheat folks for more money?
Regardless of the reasons, Zacchaeus was a chief scoundrel, ahem, chief tax collector. Everyone knew it but nonetheless Jesus invited himself over to Zac’s house. He jumped right into the middle of Zac’s reality, which not only demonstrated His reputation for associating with outsiders, it demonstrated God’s prevenient, seeking grace.
Thankfully prevenient grace wasn’t the end of the story; it never is. They get to the house and Zac experiences God’s saving grace; that’s what an encounter with Jesus does. It seeks, it saves, and it transforms. Zac went on to give back even more than what he’d taken. That’s what grace can do.
Author: Evan T. Offutt Boesiger
