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“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” Surely these two men cannot have anything in common?

The Blind Beggar....Persistence......

Pilgrims.Travelling in a group, people crowding round him so that they wouldn’t miss a thing that he said.

So the blind man would hear the clamour of the group and ask who is passing by, so he shouted. And what happens, people tell him shush! Why? Because they might miss a word or two that’s being said.

But persistence, he keeps making himself heard. In verse 38 the word that is used for shout, means, just that. A shout. In verse 39 the word used for shout, means a heart wrenching cry.

As he shouts out, we feel the desperation of that man to see Jesus face to face.

It tells us two things: One about the blind man. If you want a miracle, you must show that kind of longing. About Jesus? It’s always more important to act than to talk. People respect a great speaker, but love a man with helping hands. They admire a man with a great mind, but they love a man with a big heart.

The second story is about Zacchaeus.

Zacchaeus was a man at the top of his profession, so he was hated. He was wealthy, but not happy. He had chosen a way that would make him a bit of an outcast, not many friends, not trusting many. But he was reaching after the love of God.

Now again imagine the scene, a tax collector not on the too tall side tries to get a look at Jesus. What do you do if you are in that crowd, a sly nudge, a slight kick, a push. The man would end up black and blue.

So up the tree he goes, a man of power scrambling up the tree like a cat. You can hear the mocking voices of those watching him.

And oh how they would have murmured when Jesus said I will come to your house!

But he took steps to show the community he was a changed man. In fact the steps he took were above the legal duty that he was to undertake!

You see, a testimony is worthless unless it is backed by deeds that guarantee its sincerity. It’s not just a change of words with Jesus, it’s a change of life.
But maybe these two men have something in common. They are both lost. They are both on the outside of society, but more importantly, before they meet Jesus they were lost to God.

But what does it mean to be lost? We may think it means damned or doomed. But it means something different, the word we read as lost, is really a word that means someone that is in the wrong place. These people are in the wrong place. There are so many today, outside this place, whose lives are in the wrong place. It’s a call from Jesus to seek and to save the lost.

Jesus didn’t have to go looking for the lost, they were there!

We can’t expect the lost to come a wandering up to the door, but let us be prepared to seek out those whose lives are in the wrong place.