I MUST ABIDE AT THY HOUSE.
By Uriah Smith
On one occasion, Christ made a visit to Jericho. He there met a rich publican, by the name of Zacchæus. It was his first visit that way, and the first time he had met this man. But he said to him, “For to-day I must abide at thy house.” Luke 19:1–9. This was the first and only instance in which the Lord invited himself to any place. He had many times been invited by publicans, Pharisees, and all classes, to visit them; and they had regarded it a great honor to have him for a guest. But here he gives an invitation to himself, or makes an announcement concerning himself, to visit one whom, so far as the record goes, he had never met before. Was not this a manifestation of an abrupt and undue familiarity?—According to the conventionalities of modern society, it was; but not according to the circumstances of that case, as revealed by the narrative. The whole occasion is an object lesson to show that Christ will make himself familiar and at home wherever there is a soul in need whom he can help and save. For this very purpose he was sent forth; namely, to seek and to save that which was lost. It was this spirit which led him to manifest the necessity that was laid upon him, and to declare to Zacchæus, “To-day I must abide at thy house.” Thus he fulfilled the prophecy of Isa. 65:1: “I am found of them that sought me not.” The queries arise: Has he ever invited himself to our houses? If not, have we ever invited him in? He says, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock.” We should at least cheerfully accept his offer to come in and sup with us. In this incident there are important lessons for us. The key to our Saviour’s gracious work is set forth in Luke 19:10: “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” This is Christ’s estimate of the condition of humanity: it is lost. Man is a lost creature; his condition is a pathetic one, view it from whatever standpoint we may. He is a toiling being, burdened with the cares and perplexities of life. He is worn with anxieties. He errs from the right way. He is far from his Father’s house. He is all destitution. He is compassed with dangers. It is impossible for him, of himself, to return to the haven he has left; and he stands face to face with final ruin. This is all included in the one word “lost.” And nothing could more fully express what the gracious Redeemer came to do for us than the words, “The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Again: we learn from this case that the Lord does not desire to delay the good that he purposes to do for us. “To-day,” he says, “I must abide at thy house;” not at some future and more convenient season. But we may perhaps feel that we are not in a suitable condition for the Lord to condescend to come under our roof. But how was it with Zacchæus? He was chief among the publicans. His position was not very honorable or attractive from a society point of view. He held a position which was much despised among the Jews. He was a tax gatherer, or customs collector, thought by the people (verse 7) to be a “sinner.” Thus among so-called respectable people, he did not occupy a very exalted place. He is especially designated as a “rich” man; and the ready suspicion in the hearts of the people concerning him would be that he had acquired his wealth by extortion, dishonesty, oppression, and all unfair means. He was, moreover,442a very eccentric man; otherwise he would hardly have so readily departed from the usual custom, as to run ahead of the crowd, and climb a tree where he would be so conspicuous to all as one of the publicans, whom the people regarded as traitors and apostates. But he shrank from nothing that he thought necessary to accomplish the desire of his heart, and get a good view of Christ. Regarded by the Jews as defiled by association with the heathen, and the willing tools of those who were oppressing their country, the publicans were ostracized from society. To such a one, and such a class, did Christ come with his ministry of love and comfort. And in this he has given a pledge that he is ready to come to all, however undesirable and unpopular their circumstances and conditions may be. He does not look at these particulars, but at the honesty and integrity of heart, such as he saw in Zacchæus. Let us, then, notice why Christ felt so constrained to visit this man, away in this byway of his ministry. What led him to say, “To-day, I must abide at thy house?”—He saw here a sinner who needed mercy, and would gladly accept of it. A necessity of love was inspired in the heart of the gracious Redeemer, love to do for Zacchæus what he saw that he needed, and for what might be accomplished later, through his influence, when he should be converted, and consecrated to the service of the Master. Here was a character the renewal of which would magnify his grace. Zacchæus was prompted, no doubt, by curiosity, in his desire and his efforts to see Jesus. But that is not to be despised nor overlooked in the work of grace; for it may be turned to good account, as in this instance. Anything that will bring us into closer contact with Jesus, within the circle of his influence and society, whatever may be the primary cause, can but do us good. But Zacchæus had something more than mere curiosity. The sequel seems to show that he had a real desire to learn more about Jesus as the promised Messiah, on whom many already believed. So we read that he “sought to see Jesus who he was” (verse 3); or, as some read it, “which he was;” that is, he had long heard of the name and fame of Jesus; all manner of rumors were afloat concerning him; some believed on him, and some denounced him as an impostor; and in the midst of these conflicting opinions, he would see and judge for himself, so far as circumstances would permit, as to this man’s character and claims; and he who could read the hearts of men as human beings never have been able to do, could detect this laudable desire, and respond to it accordingly. The kindness and tact Christ used in dealing with the publican, shows his gracious disposition toward all who need his help. Had he said, coldly and simply, to Zacchæus, when he saw him in the tree, “Zacchæus, come down,” the poor man would have perhaps thought that he was to be taken to task, and reproved severely for his boldness and curiosity; but Christ, without pause, went right on, with the comforting words, “For to-day I must abide at thy house.” Zacchæus was not a man to be turned from his purposes by difficulties, nor led to abandon his lawful desires for any such reason. Had he been such a man, he never would have become “chief” among the publicans, nor would he have become so notably “rich.” The strong points of his character were brought out by opposition. So when he saw that his longing desire to see Jesus was likely to be defeated on account of the crowd,—for he was small of stature,—he immediately devised a way to overcome that difficulty, by running ahead of the procession, and climbing a sycomore tree, to be above them when they arrived. This tree, says Farrar, is not to be confounded with the sycamine tree of Luke 17:6, nor with our own sycomore, but was a species of the Egyptian fig, with wide-spreading branches, beginning near the ground, and therefore easy to climb. And he was willing to compromise his dignity as an official and a rich man; for he must see Jesus. The record says that when Jesus came up, he looked up, saw him, and said, “So he will do to us, when we take as much pains to be near him and see him, with as good intentions as Zacchæus had. He will take notice of our desires to see him, look upon us, and speak to us like words of encouragement and good cheer.” Zacchæus was open and above-board in all his movements and professions. He did not, like Nicodemus, come privately to Jesus by night; but in broad daylight he put himself in a most conspicuous place, where concealment was impossible. And Christ took all possible care to relieve him from all embarrassment; he did not mortify him by the least allusion to his past life, or his present calling; and it does not appear that in all this conversation, either by the way or at his house, he said one word to him by way of reproof or rebuke, but made his kindness and love the irresistible instrument of breaking his heart. It is a manifestation of the highest wisdom in governing men. If Zacchæus had not been alert, and watchful, and determined, and resourceful, he would have missed this, the opportunity of his life. But now he was converted. He recognized and confessed Christ. “Behold, Lord,” he says. He showed his conversion by what he proposed to do. We need not impute anything extraordinary to him, in the way of crime, though doubtless he adopted all the wrong practices of his class; but Christ recognizes his condition as “lost.” His neighbors held him as a “sinner,” and his own confession seems to admit that he might have taken property from men unjustly. Publicans had every temptation before them in this respect, and we may justly regard him open, to some extent at least, to the charges common to his class, of making unjust assessments and gathering exorbitant tribute. But now he discards all such practices, and determines to give half of his goods to the poor, and to restore fourfold to any whom he might have wronged. And in this, says the record, he “stood forth,” that all people might witness to the stand he had taken. His words implied a settled purpose, and applied to the future. This is one of the particular and eminent fruits of conversion, to “unsin our sin,” as one writer expresses it, “and make restitution for the wrongs we have committed.” To others he pledged to restore fourfold. The Roman law required this, but the Jewish law only asked the principal, with one fifth added thereto. But here, besides giving up half of his legitimate gains, to the poor, he promises to give back, four times over, all that he should become aware that he had secured in any illegitimate manner. He had not been conscious of extortion in the past; for it would have been ridiculous to offer to give up only half of what might perhaps have been all required of him. Yet he felt now that some of his gains might have been secured in a wrong manner, and he would make haste to make restitution fourfold. And the Lord accepted his penitential pledges, and declared, “This day is salvation come to this house, forasmuch as he also is a son of Abraham.” Thus he will accept, fully and freely, any penitent who will come to him. When Zacchæus stood, and said what he did, it was as if he had said, “Lord, thy kindness and mercy to me, a sinner, have broken and subdued my heart. I love and adore that goodness which has treated me so infinitely better than I deserve. I expected for a moment, in the tree, to be exposed before the people, to have my sins set in order before my eyes. It would have been all right; but instead of this, I am selected from all the people in Jericho, and thou hast come into my house to be my guest. I can not withstand thy wondrous mercy. Truly thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. This is not the manner of man, O Lord. Thy mercy is above the heavens; and, behold, I am vile. Here I repent of past wickedness, and shall make restitution. One half of all my property I now divide among the poor. I shall make it known that to every one whose property I have rated unjustly, and so have extorted money from him by wrongful assessments, I will pay back, not only his proper demand, but fourfold.” Does the same impulse that led Christ to the home of Zacchæus, exist now with reference to ourselves? Let us see. If we have the same spirit and disposition that Zacchæus had, it certainly does. When Christ called him, he made haste to come down to meet him. Will we receive him as promptly and cheerfully to-day? He “received him joyfully.” Are we ready to receive him with the same spirit, in the same manner? Will we receive him in the face of opposition from others? Zacchæus did; for the people murmured at Christ, saying that he had “gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner.” But Christ recognized in him a son of Abraham. Are we ready to receive him as the Lord? Zacchæus said, “Behold, Lord.” Will we receive him by placing our substance under the control of his laws? Verse 8. If we give him such a welcome, he can not fail to come. To every such heart he knocks for admittance; and on these conditions he will give the command, “To-day I must abide at thy house,” and will take up his abode with us. How, then, must we prepare our house that he may make it his abiding place?—We must be ready to face objections and opposition, even at our own home, if need be. We must banish all that is objectionable to him, that he may have no rival guest in our hearts, but let him rule us and ours, without reserve, for the advancement of his own work in the earth. When he sees all these conditions supplied, we shall hear words which will be to us words of exceeding joy: “To-day I must abide at thy house.” “The dearest idol I have known,
Whate’er that idol be,
Help me to tear it from thy throne,
And worship only thee.”