|
Abraham was a wealthy businessman whom the Lord called out of a tradition of serving multiple gods to serve Jehovah, the One and Only true God. Jehovah declared a promise to Abraham and to the generations that would follow him.
This promise is known as the Abrahamic Covenant:
Now the Lord had said unto Abram,
“Get out of your country from your family
And from your father’s house
To a land that I will show you.
I will make you a great nation;
I will bless you and make your name great;
And you shall be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you,
And curse him who curses you,
And in you all the families
of the earth shall be blessed”.
- Genesis 12:1-3 (NKJV)
The Abrahamic Covenant promised greatness, blessing, and divine protection to all the families of the earth through Abraham. All those who would come to believe in the one true God, Jehovah, could receive the promises of God that were based upon the Abrahamic Covenant, provided that they could identify themselves as sons of Abraham.
All those who would come to believe by faith in the Son of God would automatically become children of Abraham through Jesus Christ. This meant that one did not have to be born a Jew to be a son of Abraham. One could become a son by believing in Jesus Christ, thus opening the way to receive the blessings of the Abrahamic Covenant.
In Luke 19:1-9, Jesus met a businessman named Zacchaeus who worked in the tax collecting business. Although born a Jew, Zacchaeus had decided to become a publican, who collected taxes for the Roman Empire. Jews who became publicans were viewed as traitors, because they had built their wealth by taxing their own people, placing heavy financial burdens upon them in the name of an empire that oppressed them. Zacchaeus had built his wealth by becoming a part of a system that opposed the Jews and worked against everything Godly that the nation of Israel represented and valued.
Zacchaeus recognized his shameful position, and he longed to see this Messiah that everyone was talking about - the Messiah who would bring an end to the very Roman system of which he was a beneficiary.
Zacchaeus, being short in stature, was so eager to meet this Messiah that he climbed a sycamore tree so that he could get a good look at Jesus as He passed through the crowd. Jesus noticed Zacchaeus up in the tree. He saw the intent look on his face. He called him to come down and declared before everyone that today, He would stay at Zacchaeus’ home.
Wow! Jesus the Messiah is going to stay at the house of Zacchaeus the sinner, the betrayer of his people, the one who built his wealth purely based upon greed! Zacchaeus had traded away the future of Israel to amass his wealth, and now Jesus appeared to be endorsing his behaviour by visiting his home.
Of course, that was the external view. Jesus was only interested in redeeming Zacchaeus’ heart, just as He is interested in redeeming yours and mine. It is man who looks at the external things, whereas God always looks at the heart (1 Samuel 16:7b).
Those who heard Jesus’ declaration must have thought:
- Should he not first repent?
- Should Jesus not first condemn Zacchaeus’ behaviour?
- Should He not first remind this man of both his great natural wealth and the equally great spiritual poverty of his sins?”
In fact, the visit of Jesus to his home led Zacchaeus to repent of his sins, commit to restoring fourfold unto those whom he had taken advantage of, and commit half of his wealth to the poor. As a result of this confession and commitment on the part of Zacchaeus, Jesus declared his household saved and proclaims him a son of Abraham (Luke 19:9). Zacchaeus can now partake of the Abrahamic Covenant!
Many children of Abraham do not know of the inheritance that their father Abraham has left for them. They do not even know that they do not have to be born Jews to make claims upon that inheritance. They live lives based on pure greed, and they unknowingly trade eternal things for temporal things.
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.” - Matthew 6:19-20 (NKJV)
They have emptiness on the inside of their souls, and long to know the Messiah. But they are hampered by many Christians who are judgmental, indifferent, or too busy with religious activities to recognize their cries for the Messiah. These people are our vendors, customers, employees, investors, business associates, and political leaders. They are the people of influence in the marketplace with whom we interact every day as we conduct our Kingdom businesses.
As Kingdom-minded Christians, we must recognize that the Gospel is not just good news to those who are financially poor and physically jailed, but it is also for those who are spiritually poor and spiritually bound.
Marketplace believers are in a unique position to share the Gospel with these physically wealthy and powerful individuals. But we must expand our ministry to be one that recognizes that the Son of Man has come to seek and save lost souls everywhere - in our prisons and in the White House; in the mission fields of Africa and on Wall Street; and in the inner cities and the outer suburbs (Luke 19:10).
They are also called to become sons of Abraham. They can be counted among “those of the Earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:3) through the Abrahamic Covenant, as soon as they reject the god of this world and accept Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Saviour.
My prayer for you today is that God will grant you the grace to fully understand the blessings you have through Christ Jesus as a son or daughter of Abraham and the wisdom and courage to share the Gospel in the marketplace.
|
