Marcus Mecum - Why Did Jesus Come? - Part 2
I don’t want you to miss it. We’re zeroing in on it, why he came? We’re zeroing in on it. We’re tightening the scope. Next part of this story is super interesting what happens with Zacchaeus. But when it just take you throw you just a personal story real quick. Years ago, me and the girls always wanted a real Christmas tree, and so we’d go over on Dixie highway, and we’d always go be looking for the perfect Christmas tree. Anybody else do real Christmas trees in here? Anybody else? Just show your hand real quick, I can see it. Oh, we got some people right in the middle. So, the rest of y’all, you do the fake Christmas trees? The hypocrite trees?
I knew I was in the right church. We’re gonna, we’re gonna deal with some stuff tonight. And the last year we did a real Christmas tree, so I know why you’ll avoid it. There was this family, I mean, it was, it was a knockdown, drag out, tears, screaming. Just fight, like, we probably never talk again kind of family fight over a Christmas tree. In the middle of this fight, no one’s talking, I just decided to start singing that old Christmas song, «Oh Christmas tree, how lovely are your branches». Not impressed. Me either.
And now, for almost 20 years, every time there’s a family fight, somebody in the family breaks out, «Oh Christmas tree», but in this story of Zacchaeus, there is a search for something that will help him see Jesus. And really, the perfect tree when it comes to the Christmas story is any one or anything that helps you see Jesus. For Zacchaeus, it was his liability with the area he was short that helped him and drove him to go look for a tree. That tree not only helped him see Jesus, but it also allowed Jesus to see him. Something about finding that tree.
For the McCalla brothers, we’ve been talking about it, it’s amazing how it was their mom who pointed them to Jesus. Their mom was the perfect tree. Maybe somebody you here tonight, maybe your mom, your dad, your wife, your husband, but you’re here. And they’re kinda like the McCalla brothers' mom, they keep pointing you to Jesus. Matter of fact, you’re probably exhausted and tired of it cause they keep talking about this Jesus over and over, and over again. But the important thing that the McCalla brothers' mom did is, she pointed them to Jesus, and she pointed them to this book.
But the important thing she wrote in the book, which you have to open it to discover what’s in it… she would write to her sons, «Jeremy and Josh, the most important thing you can do in your life is to pray and read God’s word. Don’t just read it, live it, walk it, talk it. His word is life, and it leads to eternal life. I love you, son, and will always pray for. Love in Christ, mom». You see, the Bible is the word of God and it’s not like a book of the month kinda thing, this is the book of ages. Someday, our closed Bibles will testify against us. You see, Martin Luther said, «The Bible is alive, it speaks to me. It has feet, it runs after me. It has hands, it lays hold of me».
George Mueller said, «The vigor of our spiritual life will be an exact proportion of the place held by the Bible in our lives». Charles Spurgeon would say, «Nobody ever outgrows the scripture. The book only widens and deepens with our years, but you gotta open the book». The Bible says in acts 6:7 that, «The word of God increase and the disciples multiply». Acts 10: 44 says that, «The holy spirit fell on all those who heard God’s word». The Bible says in the book of Jeremiah 20:9 that, «The word was in his heart, but it was like fire shut up in his bones». It went on to say in 55:11 that, «My word will not return back void, but it will accomplish what I desire it to achieve and fulfill the purpose for which I send it».
Deuteronomy 4:2 says, «Do not diminish his word». Psalms 107:20 says, «He sent his word, and it healed them». Doctor Adrian Rogers said, «The key to understanding the Bible is look for Jesus in the Bible. Jesus is the hero of the Bible. If you read the Bible and you don’t find Jesus, you should reread the Bible. The Bible has one hero, his name is Jesus. One villain, that is satan. One problem, that is our sin. One solution, and that is salvation». That’s what the Bible is all about. But to finish our stories and to answer the question, «Why Jesus came»? We gotta look at one more thing. Let’s check it out.
The story of Zacchaeus ends at a table. You can be seated. Really, the entire Bible story ends at a table called, «The marriage supper of the lamb». One of the most prominent images in Jesus' ministry was a table. The most interesting thing about Jesus, one of the things that people struggled with the most is that he excluded no one from his table. All he ever looked for was a simple yes. The table is irrelevant if you don’t have a need. Your brokenness, your sin, your shortness, the area that you have a liability is the very thing that brings purpose to the table. It really is our liabilities, our weakness, our sin, our struggles, our fears, our doubts, our question. All of that brings purpose to the table.
Luke 5 begins to discuss with us that one of the biggest scandals surrounding Jesus' ministry was who he shared his table with. He was known for being a friend, listen to this, not of the religious, but of the sinner. If you wanna know who Jesus was to hang out with, he loves to hang out with sinners. You see, the problem with that, though, in Jesus' day is, if you were holy, you didn’t hang out with the unholy. If you were clean, you didn’t hang out with the unclean. Because it was his idea that what was on someone else would, what was wrong with someone else would contaminate what was right with you. But Jesus reversed the flow, and he would reach out and he would touch the leper, the sinner, the drunkard, the prostitute, the tax collector, the thief, the crooked people.
All of these people were not only touched by Jesus, but they were welcomed at his table. And the Bible said that every single one of them he touched was made whole. You see, what’s amazing in church life if you do this long enough, is how many people say things like, «Oh, if I ever came to church the ceiling would fall in on me». The Bible says the reason he came was to seek and save that which is lost. We asked the question upfront, «Why did he come? Why was he born in a manger? Why did he show up on this messed up planet»?
To seek and save that which is lost. That’s what the story of Zacchaeus teaches. You see, you thought you had to search for the perfect Christmas tree, but we came to tell you tonight is the perfect Christmas tree actually came looking for you. Jesus came looking for us. You know, the Bible actually says that, «Jesus invited himself to Zacchaeus' house». It doesn’t say that Zacchaeus invited Jesus. Jesus said, «Hey, I’m coming to your house». And it’s the same today, he’s inviting himself because he’s still seeking, he’s still saving because that’s why he came. That’s the whole point. That’s what Christmas is all about. Whatever somebody says it’s about, it’s all about he came to seek and save that which was lost.
If you miss that, you miss the whole thing. The Bible says this, that, «He stands at the door of our heart, and he knocks». And I love the next part cause it says, «So he can come in. If you open up, he’ll come in and dine with you». But some of you have left Jesus on the porch tonight. He stands at the door, and he knocks and you’re like, «Man, I can’t open this heart, it’s a broken heart. I can’t open this heart, it’s a bitter heart. Why would he want anything to do with this heart? It’s a hardened heart, it’s a neglected heart, it’s a bitter heart, it’s a deceitful heart».
Jeremiah 17 says this, that, «The heart is desperately sick and who could ever understand it»? But then, it goes on to say that, «The Lord knows how to search a heart». See, all those things that you think are gonna help fix the heart, it’s gonna get more and more and more sick, and sick, and more sick. But if you’ll open up your heart, the Bible says, «He comes in and he dines with you». He wants to set the table tonight. He wants a relationship with you. Every single one of you he came to seek and save that which was lost.