A Memorable Visit.

JERICHO city was all astir when Jesus entered there. Blind Bartimæus, whom everybody knew, had received his sight. Rapidly spread the news, and from street, court, and alley the curious crowds issued forth to see the Doer of this mighty deed.
The great concourse grew greater, and jostled closer together as each individual sought to see Jesus. Zacchæus was among them. Little of stature, his chances of beholding the gracious Saviour were small indeed. The man, however, was in earnest; and earnestness overcomes difficulties, and finds ways to secure the end in view.
Freeing himself from the crowd, Zacchæus runs before it, and climbing into a sycamore tree, ensconces himself among its branches till Jesus should pass by.
A word on this man’s occupation. He was a tax-gatherer, and chief among them. This class was regarded
WITH PECULIAR DISLIKE,
for the sight of a publican reminded the Jew of his being under the hated Gentile yoke. Nor were their actions, in the main, likely to win them favor. Whatever their virtues, honesty was not one of them.
Zacchæus may have been an exception to the rule, and doubtless was; but whether so or not, we may be permitted to look upon him as a picture of a sinner―a great sinner―but one who through divine grace desired with his whole heart to see Jesus.
Are we as earnest in this thing as Zaccheus was? There is no matter beneath the sun that calls for such fervent thought, yet, alas! how seldom is it considered. We live in an earnest age. All around us MEN OF THE WORLD are seeking eagerly enough to reach the goal of theft ambition, be it wealth or fame, or place or power; but who among them cares to think of eternity and the things connected with it?
Yet what is all and every earthly gain in comparison with Christ and the saving knowledge of Him? Earth’s choicest gifts are but fading flowers.
Christ is not like that. The soul that has Him for its portion possesses eternal treasure, and to miss Him is to lose everything. Hold in your hand what you will of earthly good—money at the bank, houses in the town, land in the country, well-chosen investments at home and abroad—all must be left behind. Death’s door is too strait for aught but the individual soul to pass through. Naked we came into the world, and naked we must go out.
But see! On comes the surging crowd. The place is reached where Zacchæus is, and Jesus looks up and beholds him. Was it by chance that He looked up at that very moment―a mere coincidence, and nothing more? From such a conclusion we instinctively turn away. He, who in an earlier day had seen Nathanael under the fig-tree, saw Zacchæus in the boughs of the sycamore, and He knew too what had led him there.
Not to gratify idle curiosity had this man of wealth
CLIMBED, LIKE A SCHOOL-BOY,
into this roadside tree. What he had heard of Jesus had more mightily moved his heart than perhaps he himself was conscious of, and an unseen power had led him to that spot where he was to be blessed with the joys of God’s salvation. “He looked up” ―the eye of the seeking Saviour meeting the eye of the seeking sinner. Who shall tell us what that look did for Zacchæus?
And now the Saviour speaks. Burdened as we may believe Him to have been—for He was going up to Jerusalem, and all that should befall Him there pressed upon His soul—yet He would pause once again to pour into a sinner’s empty heart the choicest treasure heaven’s hand could give.
“Zacchæus, make haste, and come down; for today I must abide at thy house” (vs. 5). Thus He calls this “chief among the publicans” by name, as if He had long known him. It is not hard to picture Zacchæus
TREMBLING FOR VERY JOY,
and wondering as he heard these gracious words. Had he desired to see Jesus? He should be abundantly satisfied; for the Saviour would be his guest, and enrich him with eternal blessing.
Is my reader one whom God has made anxious about salvation? Like Zacchæus, do you desire to see Jesus? to see Him as your own personal Saviour? Perhaps the deep sense of your unworthiness has hitherto kept you from Him; you have feared He would have naught to say to a sinner like you, Hark! Jesus calls thee by thy name. By this printed page, by these words of an unknown friend,
JESUS CALLETH THEM
He knows whom He calls.
Thou art not too bad for Him; and lest thou shouldst think so, He says, “The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost” (vs. 10). Lower than lost thou canst not be. Make haste, then, and come down, down at the Saviour’s feet; for Jesus would abide at thy house today.
“Make haste!” Simple words, but how solemnly significant! Aged man, the evening of thy days has come, and the deepening shadows warn that night is near, and thou art still unsaved. “Make haste!”
“There are no pardons in the tomb,
And brief is mercy’s day.”
And thou, dear sick friend, whose life is ebbing fast away, make haste! Dark indeed will be the valley of death to thee if thou hast not Jesus to brighten it with His presence and the knowledge of His love; and that dark valley leads to a darker land beyond. Make haste, lest the Saviour pass by, and then thou mayest wait in vain for His return.
And thou too, dear youth, or gentle maiden, to whom life is in the opening bud, and the world seems so fair, make haste, and answer to the loving call of Christ. Let there be
ROOM IN THY HEART
for Him, and take thou upon thyself His sweet and easy yoke. It will not make thy house less bright to have Jesus there, and His company will bring naught but gladness with it. Strange that any should say nay to Him, or not make haste to receive so great a guest!
In Zacchæus we behold the obedience of faith; for “he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully” (vs. 6). Note these two words― “RECEIVED HIM.” The door swings on that hinge. How much is bound up with the soul’s simple reception of Jesus Salvation came to Zacchæus in that one way, and so with us; and it is thus we become children of God. “As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name” (John 1:1212But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: (John 1:12)). Do any anxiously inquire, What is meant by receiving Jesus? We reply, It is to believe in Him; for both terms are used in this verse to express the same act. But we must receive. Him as the Scriptures set Him forth before OUT eyes.
A stranger knocks at our door; he hands us letters of introduction from dear friends across the sea. Those letters tell us the stranger’s name, his occupation, his object in coming to this country, and other things concerning him which our friends think we should like to know. Having read the letters, we shake the stranger warmly by the hand, we bid him welcome, and receive him, not as one of whom we know nothing, but as one about whom the letters of our friends have fully informed us.
So it is in our receiving Jesus. The inspired letters, which God hath sent, speak to us of His Son.
DO YOU ASK HIS NAME?
It is Jesus―Jehovah, the Saviour. His home? The heaven of heavens. His mission to earth? “The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost” (vs. 10). He has come to preach the gospel to the poor, to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind (see Luke 4:1818The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, (Luke 4:18)); He has come, “not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:4545For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many. (Mark 10:45)); He has come into the world to save sinners, even the Chief (see Tim. 1:15); He has tome to hem our sine in His own body on the tree (see 1 Peter 2:2424Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. (1 Peter 2:24)), to be wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, to bear the chastisement of our peace, that by His stripes we might be healed (see Isa. 53:55But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5)). It is as such that we must receive Him; and to those who receive Him thus the Saviour says, “This day is salvation come to this house” (vs. 9).
Angry were the murmurs of the multitude when they saw what was done. “He was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner” (vs. 7), they contemptuously exclaimed.
WE OWE MUCH TO THEIR COMPLAINTS.
Jesus was wont to answer them by some of the sweetest sayings and parables of grace. Thus He showed the objectors that there was no harmony between heaven’s thoughts and theirs.
The act that stirred their anger made all heaven rejoice. “There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth” (Luke 15:1010Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth. (Luke 15:10)). Zacchæus was a sinner; he did not pretend to be anything else. And Jesus knew that He was inviting Himself to a sinner’s house, and, as a sinner, Zacchæus received the Saviour. Reader, go and do thou likewise.
Nothing less than salvation did the Saviour bring, and anything short of it would have left Zacchæus where he was before―a lost sinner, and nothing more.
A tender conscience and a generous heart this “son of Abraham” had. If it chanced that he exacted more than was his due, he restored it fourfold; and with an open hand he gave to the poor, even to half his goods. But with these admirable qualities he needed salvation as much as the most iniquitous publican that ever breathed. He belonged to a class which the Son of Man came to seek and to save―a class to which we all belong, and which that word lost so faithfully describes. How suited to each other were these two―the lost sinner, and the Saviour of the lost.
In Him there is rest for the weary, health for the sin-sick, freedom for the slave, riches for the poor, pardon for the guilty, cleansing for the leprous, life for the dead, and salvation for the lost. All fullness dwells in Him. Whatever your need, the answer to it is found in Christ. The free favor of God has treasured up in Him all that any can possibly require, and infinitely more. In receiving Him, we receive all.
Only a word more need be added. If Zacchæus had not received Jesus that day, he would never have had another opportunity. The Lord would pass that way no more. It was today or never with him. It proved to be his last chance.
So with us. The last invitation comes, the last appeal, the last warning, the last offer. It comes without our knowing it to be the last. We hope and think others are to follow. But if God says of a man, “Ephraim is joined to idols: let him alone” (Hos. 4:1717Ephraim is joined to idols: let him alone. (Hosea 4:17)), then you may call, but he will not answer; you may show him his danger, but he will not see it; and you may reason with him, but he will not understand. His conscience, which once troubled him, is quiet now, the eternal future awakens no concern, his fears have fled, all is still; but it is the stillness of death, an oppressive calm, the sure precursor of a coming storm!
Lest it be so with you, unsaved reader, hasten to receive Jesus. “Today, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts” (Heb. 4:77Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. (Hebrews 4:7)).
W. B.
 
1. Reader, we beg you to pay heed to this appeal. The writer of it, less than three months ago, passed away to his eternal rest. He will appeal no more by spoken word. Meet him in glory. ―Ens. G. M.