The Vertically Challenged Man
J. Gerald Harris
Luke 19: 1-10
The one thing we know about Zacchaeus is that he was vertically challenged. He was a wee little man. If I were making a movie about this narrative in Luke 19, do you know who I would cast as Zacchaeus? Danny DeVito. He's not quite five feet tall and he often plays a conniving and crooked character. In my mind, that is Zacchaeus before Jesus changed him.
I heard about a guy when went to the doctor's office for a physical. The nurse asked him his weight and he said, ''170 pounds.'' She had him step on the scales and she said, ''You weigh 200 pounds.'' The nurse asked, ''How tall are you?'' He said, ''Six feet.'' She measured him and said, ''You are actually five feet, nine inches.'' She started taking his blood pressure and he said, ''How can you expect my blood pressure to be normal? I came in here as a tall, slender guy, and you've already made me short and fat!''
When it comes to God's standard, we are all wee little people, - spiritually. Romans 3:23 says, ''For all have sinned and fall SHORT of the glory (standard) of God.'' When our children were little we used to measure them and mark their growth on the door facing in our kitchen. It was great to watch them shoot up. There was a mark for me as well. They always wanted to get to my mark. They would jump and want me to measure them when they were at the pinnacle of their jump.
But on God's door facing of righteousness, none of us measure up. We all fall short of God's standard: Jesus Christ. He has a name that is above every name.
A man became a child that day. In the East it is unusual for a man to run, especially a wealthy government official; yet Zacchaeus ran down the street like a little boy following a parade. And he even climbed a tree! Curiosity is certainly characteristic of most children, and Zacchaeus was motivated by curiosity that day.
John Calvin wrote, ''Curiosity and simplicity are a sort of preparation for faith ...
J. Gerald Harris
Luke 19: 1-10
The one thing we know about Zacchaeus is that he was vertically challenged. He was a wee little man. If I were making a movie about this narrative in Luke 19, do you know who I would cast as Zacchaeus? Danny DeVito. He's not quite five feet tall and he often plays a conniving and crooked character. In my mind, that is Zacchaeus before Jesus changed him.
I heard about a guy when went to the doctor's office for a physical. The nurse asked him his weight and he said, ''170 pounds.'' She had him step on the scales and she said, ''You weigh 200 pounds.'' The nurse asked, ''How tall are you?'' He said, ''Six feet.'' She measured him and said, ''You are actually five feet, nine inches.'' She started taking his blood pressure and he said, ''How can you expect my blood pressure to be normal? I came in here as a tall, slender guy, and you've already made me short and fat!''
When it comes to God's standard, we are all wee little people, - spiritually. Romans 3:23 says, ''For all have sinned and fall SHORT of the glory (standard) of God.'' When our children were little we used to measure them and mark their growth on the door facing in our kitchen. It was great to watch them shoot up. There was a mark for me as well. They always wanted to get to my mark. They would jump and want me to measure them when they were at the pinnacle of their jump.
But on God's door facing of righteousness, none of us measure up. We all fall short of God's standard: Jesus Christ. He has a name that is above every name.
A man became a child that day. In the East it is unusual for a man to run, especially a wealthy government official; yet Zacchaeus ran down the street like a little boy following a parade. And he even climbed a tree! Curiosity is certainly characteristic of most children, and Zacchaeus was motivated by curiosity that day.
John Calvin wrote, ''Curiosity and simplicity are a sort of preparation for faith ...
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