“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
“…For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Luke 19:10
Zacchaeus was a wealthy chief tax collector. He was hated. If people saw him coming, I’m sure they went in the opposite direction. Everyone avoided him like the plague. They certainly weren’t willing to spend time with him. Afterall, who would want to spend time with a filthy sinner who made his money the way Zacchaeus did?
One day the unthinkable happens. Jesus invites himself to Zacchaeus’s home. The crowd watches and wonders how in the world Jesus would call Zacchaeus by name and ask to go to this hated man’s home. It proved to be important- Jesus loved and took time with a hated man and the hated man gets saved. Zacchaeus “found salvation” that day.
I can’t help but wonder, even though Zaccheus gave half his wealth to the poor and paid 4 times what he had stolen, did the haters still hate? Could people ever forget who Zaccheus used to be? Can they ever get beyond the fact that he is wealthy? Will they ever be able to forgive what he once took from them? Would they ever decide to trust him?
Maybe many took the ever famous… ‘I can forgive him, but I don’t have to spend time with him” attitude. Maybe they thought, I can love him “from afar.” Isn’t it great Jesus never had that attitude? May we be willing to love the before Christ version and nurture the after Christ version equally. May we be willing to invest in the “unlovable” as Christ taught we should. Afterall, aren’t we all “unlovable” at times?
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. ‘There is no commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:30-31
So then, Christian brothers, because of all this, be strong. Do not allow anyone to change your mind. Always do your work well for the Lord. You know that whatever you do for Him will not be wasted. (NLV)
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. (NKJV)
Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. (NIV)
Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it.
His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow.The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.
The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified.
He is not here; he has risen, just as he said.
Come and see the place where he lay.Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”
Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold your son!” Then He said to the disciple, “Behold your mother!” And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home. John 19:25-27
Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is,“My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
Some of those who stood there, when they heard that, said, “This Man is calling for Elijah!” Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink.
The rest said, “Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to save Him.”
And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.
Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.
So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, “Truly this was the Son of God!”
Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’This is the first and great commandment.And the second is like it:‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
