Zacchaeus: Salvation over Riches

Luke 19:1‭-‬10 NKJV

https://bible.com/bible/114/luk.19.1-10.NKJV

Then Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. Now behold, there  was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature. So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was going to pass that way.  And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to him, “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.”  So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully. But when they saw it, they all complained, saying, “He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner.” Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham;  for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

This passage of Scripture illustrates what is the very opposite of this generation, of this world. Many who have wronged other are unwilling to repent and seek resolution, forgiveness, with whom they have hurt. This could be due to self-righteousness, true unknowing of the impact of their actions, or the offender could care less...amongst other things.

Zacchaeus saw the Savior and conviction of his wrongs burn in his soul. When Yashua Hamashiach requested a meal in his home, his soul was freed because he willingly,  but truthfully repented before the Son of God.  Christ  said salvation has come to this home this day, because Zacchaeus followed the burning conviction of his soul to salvation.  A peak into why many will die not knowing salvation is identified here.

This opposes the encounter Christ had with another rich man of the day. In short, he declares his desire to follow Yashua Hamashiach.  In turn, he is told to sell all he has in benefit of the poor and go with the Savior. He could not and left salvation, which by all means was right in front of him...speaking to him, and walked away.

This is the plight of this and many generations polluted and infiltrated by Satan. He walked away because he valued his wealth over eternity with the Father, over everlasting joy, not momentary happiness.  Many choose the vain riches of this world over God, people, and themselves.  They are blinded from the truth, willingly in a growing number of cases. Hence why the words of Yashua Hamashiach are true: the path to destruction is wide, that of salvation is narrow. Destruction's path is wide because many will follow it. Salvation's path is narrow because few will find it and stay the course to the Father.

Isaiah 59:7

Their feet run to evil, And they make haste to shed innocent blood; Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; Wasting and destruction are in their paths.

The Narrow Way
Matthew 7:13-14

¹³ “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. ^14 [c]Because narrow is the gate and ^[d]difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

Jesus Counsels the Rich Young Ruler
Luke 18:18-23

¹⁸ Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

¹⁹ So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. ²⁰ You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’ ”

²¹ And he said, “All these things I have kept from my youth.”

²² So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”

²³ But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich.