The Fruit of the Sycamore Tree - J Vernon McGee - FULL Sunday Sermons

Now, this morning, our subject is the fruit of the sycamore tree. This morning, we do not have a text, but at least we are going to start on a launching pad, and that is the first verse. For this is a verse that puts this entire incident concerning Zacchaeus into orbit. It reads like this: "And Jesus entered and passed through Jericho."

We've had Jericho up before in this series of going through the scriptures. Back in the Book of Joshua, we saw that this was the first place that Joshua made an attack. God would not even permit his people to take anything out of that city. It was called the accursed thing. The people were eaten up there with social diseases. Only God knew about germs then, so he told the people, "Hands off of everything. The city is cursed. It's to be buried under rubble. It's never to rise again." And cursed is the man that will rebuild Jericho. It was rebuilt because man is in rebellion against God, and there came those which we'll come to later in the Old Testament who did rebuild that city. And at the time of our Lord, it was inhabited.

And we find that the Lord Jesus now goes out of his way in this last trip to Jerusalem, where he had begun six months before, yonder in Caesarea Philippi, to steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem to die. But on the way down, he detoured, and he went through the city of Jericho because in that city were two blind men, two men that had a great need, two men that were lost, two men that he said he'd come to save. For he says, "The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which is lost." So we read, "He entered and he passed through Jericho."

There is a tremendous sweep here. There is a movement here, and if we miss that movement, we'll miss this incident altogether. But this movement is not confined to one local, to one geographical spot on this earth. After all, you and I this morning live on an earth that's cursed, and the curse is upon this earth as much as it's ever been upon the little city of Jericho. And the Lord Jesus Christ did not come down from Caesarea Philippi just to Jericho. He came from heaven's glory down to this earth in order that he might seek and save that which was lost.

And so the movement is much larger. And if you'll go to the Gospel of John, you'll find our Lord describing it. He says there, "I came forth from the Father and am come into the world; again, I leave the world and go to the Father." There's the movement. There's a movement that's greater than entering and passing through Jericho. There is a movement of the Son of God out of heaven's glory, coming down to earth's night and earth's sin, in order to seek and to save that which was lost. He says, "I came forth from the Father and am come into the world on a mission, a mission of going to a cross." For at this very moment, he's on the way to the cross in order that I might die for sinful man. But I haven't come to stay in the world. "Again, I leave the world and go to the Father."

Now, that's the background, my beloved, of this incident here. And until you and I see this tremendous movement that is here, then we'll not quite understand what what's taking place here when he enters and passes through the little city of Jericho, that accursed city. We will not understand why the Son of God has left heaven's glory and come down to this earth, and in earth's night, to go to a cross. He's done that, for "the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost."

Now, will you notice as he enters the city of Jericho, we are introduced to the one person here that Dr. Luke wants us to see. Our Lord came after he's, without doubt, one of the most interesting persons in scripture. And unfortunately, so many interesting people in this world are crooked. Have you ever noticed that? They're the ones that make the news. The stories are about them. And this little man here, I submit to you this morning, with no scriptural proof whatsoever, other than that which I shall adduce in the next few moments, that this is the biggest rascal in scripture, this little fellow Zacchaeus. And the Holy Spirit, with a one flourish of the pen, gives us his story. And there are three things said about him here, three statements. Will you notice them?

First, "Behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus." That's the first statement. Now, names in the scripture are meaningful. In fact, every name has a meaning, and we've lost a great deal by not having these names translated. We've seen that before, and here's another incident where that's true. I got the thrill of my life several years ago when I looked up the meaning of Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus is a Hebrew word. His parents were Hebrew, and Zacchaeus means "pure." Now, his parents gave him that name before he became a publican, a rascal, a thief, a crook, and a sinner. And isn't that just like parents? They gave him the name, and actually, instead of saying "little Zachy," they said "pure, little pure." Well, don't all parents, when they look down in the crib and see their offspring? Isn't that the feeling that you have, and I have, when we look down in the crib for the first time and saw that little one, our own flesh and blood? Wasn't it beautiful? And wasn't it wonderful? As someone has said, it may have a head like a ten-cent watermelon, but we think, "Ma, that's the most beautiful thing in the world." And you can imagine the parents of Zacchaeus. They went and looked down in the crib, and the mother said, "There's only one name that fits the little fella. He's so innocent, he's so pure, he's so lovely. We'll call him 'Pure'." That's what they called him. And what a travesty his life was upon that name.

You remember a few years ago, a gangster in this country, the newspaper reporters very flippantly gave him the cognomen of "Snow White." Huh? Well, may I say, Snow White is no name for a gangster. And "Pure" is no name for a publican. But here we have a "pure publican." That's like talking about white cold and black snow, and hot ice, and a cool day taxes in June. There was a salesman from a corporation out of Chicago, traveling in Texas. He called his boss, and his boss asked him how the weather was. And he says, "It's hot." Boss says, "I can't understand you. Bad connection." He says, "It's hot." He says, "I still don't understand you. Would you spell it for me?" He said, "Yes. H as in Hell, O as in Oven, T as in Texas. Hot." It's like talking about being cold down there this time of the year. But this publican had the name of "Pure." And "Behold, there was a man named Pure." That's the first thing that we're told about him.

And the second thing is, "which was the chief among the publicans." Now, that tells a story in and of itself. He was the chief among the publicans. And if you've noticed the gospel records, they always make publican and sinner synonymous. Have you ever noticed? Again and again in the record, it says the Lord Jesus was speaking to the publicans and sinners. And the accusation made against him was that he would company with publicans and sinners. And publicans led the list. They seemed to be worse than just the ordinary sinner, and they were. You couldn't find anyone in a worse category than a publican in that day. This man was the chief among the publicans. And one of the interesting things about him, we know he's a little man, he's short of stature, as we'll see in a moment. There's another little man, and his name's Paul the Apostle, and Paul said of himself that he was the chief of sinners. And here is the chief of publicans. Both of them got saved. There's hope for you, and there's hope for me. The chief of publicans and the chief of sinners got saved. And so this man Zacchaeus is the chief among the publicans.

Now, a publican was a tax gatherer. And there's nothing exactly wrong in being a tax gatherer, although we folk in Southern California thought for a while that we had one that there was something radically wrong with him when we got our last tax bill. But every time I get it, I feel very unkindly toward that fellow. Every time I get my bill, and I'm sure you feel the same way. But actually, it's one of the necessary evils in this land of ours. It's a necessary thing, and there's nothing particularly wrong with the office. But there was in that day, and the reason was this: Rome had a complicated system whereby they ruled over people without actually getting their hands dirty. They had a way of finding out those that would betray their own nation, and they used them. Russia has used the same device. Nazi Germany used it to soften up the enemy. It is being used today in this land of ours by communism. It is a method that's as old as the sin of man. And Rome would not collect taxes from a subject people. They farmed that out. They would call in somebody that's a member of that people, that race, that nation, and say to them, "We'll offer you a certain territory if you will pay us so much for that territory. Then you go into that territory and you gather the taxes." You see, they didn't carry out the dirty business. They let some quisling, they let some betrayer of their own people. And among the Jews, when anyone of their nation sold out to Rome for a price, he became the lowest person that they could imagine of. There was no sinner to compare to him.

It is said that Zacchaeus was the chief of the publicans. He got to the top in the racket. He made it pay. He's one that wasn't satisfied to be at the bottom. He must get to the top. And somewhere along in his life, he had to make that decision. It was a dark day, the day he made his decision. And he made a decision that every man has to make sooner or later. Every person gets to the crossroads of life, and you have to decide certain things. You have to face it. Every man has to decide sometime or other whether he's going to be honest or dishonest. Every woman has to decide sometime or other whether she'll be pure or impure. That's a decision you've got to make. You can't avoid it. You can't evade it. One dark night, and it was dark, and it was night. Zacchaeus had an offer: becoming a publican. And he waited. I think he's one of the most intelligent men you'll meet in the scripture, a clever crook. He waited. On one side, "I'm a member of Israel. I have a God-given religion. I'm respected in the community. I can go along, but I'm not getting anywhere. I'll never become rich, subject to Rome." And over in this other hand, there's an offer been made to me. I can become a publican, and if I become a publican, I turn my back upon my people. And for an Israelite, many turned his back upon his religion and upon his God. And this man Zacchaeus saw that if he started down this way, it was a one-way street. He could never come back. But there was a pot of gold at the end of that street. You could get rich if you became a publican. And he waited. Which shall he take? I say it was a dark night, for that night, that man pushed this aside and turned his back upon his people, his religion, his God. He could no longer go to the temple. That's what the publican meant when he said, "Oh God, make a mercy seat for me." I'm not sure but what this is the publican who prayed that prayer. "I haven't any place to go for mercy." And he took that. He became a publican, and he became the chief of the publicans.

And then, will you notice, "he was rich." That's the third thing. He made it pay. When a poor widow came to him and said to him, "Mr. Zacchaeus, I can't pay my taxes this time. They're too exorbitant. Won't you, won't you let me off?" He didn't let her off. He said, "You either pay them or else." And it was always "else" with him. He was rich. What a story for a publican! He was rich. He made this dirty business pay. And then, my beloved, after he became rich, after he got everything this world could offer him, after he'd bought everything that his heart wanted, he had all the money he wanted, he had all that he needed. Now, this man is face to face with a question that many of you have had to face, and some of you today are. After you get what you want, you don't want it. After you get everything this world has to offer, it won't satisfy your heart. Someone has said that the heart is the most remarkable part of the human body that God, God has ever made, because though it's a small instrument, you can put the whole world in it, and if you put the whole world in it, you can't feel it. And if you had the world this morning, you wouldn't be satisfied. The most unhappy people in the world today are these who live in Hollywood, who have money and fame and everything that goes with it, and they are unhappy. They are the ones that commit suicide. They are the ones that become cynical and cry out against life. Why? Because if you had the whole world this morning in your hand, you wouldn't be happy. Zacchaeus wasn't happy.

And he looked back down that one-way road that he had come. He looked. He wished he could retrace his steps, but he couldn't retrace his steps. And I think that he is the publican who said, "Oh God, be merciful to me, a sinner. Oh God, make a mercy seat where a poor publican like me, Zacchaeus, who's supposed to be pure, and I'm corrupt and rotten, in a place for me to come." But there was no place for him to come, and he wanted to come. And that's the reason Jesus went through Jericho. Come, make a mercy seat for him. This fellow, he had no ray of light in his life, except one day he heard a new prophet had arisen in Galilee by the name of Jesus. And word was around that this new prophet was receiving publicans and sinners. Zacchaeus said, "That's the first one that's ever come along that would have anything in the world to do with us publicans. There is evidently a little hope for me."

And then one day, the town of Jericho, for it was the place where the publicans lived, they were ostracized. They had their own little colony in the accursed city. That community was electrified. They heard that Jesus had called one by the name of Levi, as he sat at the seat of custom. We know him as Matthew, and had said to him, "Come, follow me." And Levi had left that tax table and the gathering of taxes and was now following Jesus. And Zacchaeus said, "So help me, if I ever get the opportunity, I want to get through to that man. I want to get through to this one who may be able to open a way to God for me. I need to get to God, and I'm shut out. I want to get to him."

So that day, when word was passed into the city of Jericho that Jesus was coming, the whole town turned out. And little Zacchaeus said, "I'm going to see him." But he was short of stature. He was as blind as Bartimaeus. He had eyes, but they were too close to the ground. He couldn't see. I learned when I first came to Pasadena years ago, and I pass this on to you this morning without any charge whatsoever, that if you want to see the Rose Parade, don't go down there and spend the night. If you're like I am, Scott, you don't buy a seat, but don't spend the night down there. You don't need to. Thirty minutes before the parade comes along, take you a step ladder, about five—they've tried to cut them down now, they did let me use mine this past time—seven feet, and you get up on that, you're above the crowd, you can see the Rose Parade. Won't cost you a thing.

Now, my beloved, may I say to you that that's exactly what Zacchaeus did. He didn't have a step ladder, but he made his way down the street. He kept trying to edge his way in, elbow his way into the front line. He couldn't. No one's going to let him in. And he finally gets down to the very edge of town, and there are the sycamore trees. That's his one opportunity. And he climbs up into the sycamore tree. Let me read verse four: "He ran before, climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him; for he was to pass that way." That was the line of march. Zacchaeus says, "I'm at least going to see him." And he climbed up that sycamore tree.

Have you ever stopped to think that there's humor in the Bible, and it's in most unexpected places? And if you doubt that, let me suggest you drive out this afternoon to where there's a sycamore tree, take a look at it. Have you ever observed the sycamore tree? It has slick bark, and it's always a long ways to the first limb. Remember, he's short. Wouldn't you love to have a picture of Zacchaeus getting up that sycamore tree? He worked to do that, friend. Oh, he wanted to see Jesus. If you had been there and said to him, "Little fellow, you certainly are working at this," I think that was almost breathless because he's certainly working at it. He would have said, "I must see Jesus. I've got to see him." And he worked to get up into that sycamore tree, and he crawled out on a limb. And another thing about a sycamore tree: it has big leaves. And I think he got well hidden up there, and all he could do was just push the leaves out and look. He had a front-row seat. He's right on a 50-yard line. He won't miss a thing.

Now, and he's sitting there. And then you have this very wonderful verse here: "When Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him." And may I interpret at here? I don't like to interpolate in the word of God, but I can't help but believe that when our Lord got here and looked up, he laughed. Because our Lord did laugh, you know. I think he laughed as if to say, "Well, you made it. You wanted to get up there to see me. Well, you've made it." And now notice what he says: "He saw him and said unto him, Zacchaeus." He knew him. My Lord knew him, and he knows you this morning, my friend. "Zacchaeus, make haste and come down." And I think they both laughed. He—I think he said, "If you could have seen me get up here." You know, you don't come down one of these trees in haste. But he came down in haste. And we're told here, "Zacchaeus made haste, and came down, for today I must abide at thy house." And he made haste and came down, and received him joyfully. This is the greatest experience Zacchaeus has ever had.

Now, our Lord goes with Zacchaeus to his home. He's a rich man. He must have had a lovely home. And we're told this: "When they saw it, they all murmured, saying that he was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner." Now, maybe a while ago, when I was being very hard on Zacchaeus inwardly, you were defending him. You were saying, "That preacher is taking an unfair advantage of Zacchaeus. He's not here to defend himself, and he's not quite the rascal that he thinks he is." Now, maybe you disagreed with me, but I'll say this: the neighbors of Zacchaeus agreed with me. They said, "That's always that same crowd, you know." They—they said, "He's gone to be guest with a man that's a sinner." And nobody was there to defend Zacchaeus and say he wasn't a sinner. He was. That was obvious. It was evident. Everybody said, "He's a sinner. He's a sinner." And they were shocked that Jesus would go into the home of a man that's a sinner. And he's a prophet. He's a savior on the way to Jerusalem to die. And he's going to say in a moment, "The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which is lost."

Now, we have here, without doubt, one of the most interesting conditions in scripture. Actually, there's something left out of the Bible here. You know what it is? It's the interview that the Lord Jesus had with Zacchaeus on the inside. It's not recorded. When that door closed, and Zacchaeus and Jesus were on the other side, and you and I are left outside with the crowd, and we walk around, everybody's saying, "I can't understand it. I'm shocked. He's gone into the home of one that's a sinner." My question is, what took place on the inside? What happened? I don't know. Honestly, I don't know what took place. There was no keyhole reporter there. The FBI was not on a trail. I don't know what happened. All I know is that there was a lapse of time. How much? I don't know. Don't think long. And I see the door open, and Zacchaeus stood and said unto the Lord, "Now listen to him." This is the publican that just went in the door. "Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken anything from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold."

And you know, the neighbors on the outside just couldn't believe what they heard. They couldn't believe that this man had never been in the business of restoring to anybody anything, and he had never been known to give to the poor. And all of a sudden, after this interview, the door opens, and Zacchaeus stands there, and he says, "Lord." Calls him Lord. Jesus has become his Lord. And since he's his Lord, he says to him, "Half of my goods I give to the poor, and if I have taken anything by false accusation, I'll restore it." And may I just suggest that he had taken something by false accusation, or he never would have said it. He's a rascal. He's a publican. He's rich. All that fellow had stolen. He was crooked. Now he says, "I'm going to be honest." Now he says, "I'm going to turn over a new leaf." Now he says, "I'm going to be a different man."

I submit to you this morning that there took place on the inside of that house the greatest miracle that the Lord Jesus ever performed. Oh, you said, "But he still the waves?" Yes, he did, and that was a great miracle, wasn't it? Somebody says, "And he healed the sick?" Yes, he did, that was a great miracle. Somebody says, "And he he cast out demons?" Yes, he did. Somebody says, "He raised the dead?" He did. And you think that there took place the greatest miracle? Yes. I see a man who is crooked, a sinner, twisted, distorted. He comes into contact with Jesus Christ. The door opens, and he's a transformed man. A miracle took place on the inside. That miracle that takes place in the heart of any sinner that comes to Jesus Christ. And my brother, my sister, today, that's a greater miracle than walking on water. That's a greater miracle than healing the physical bodies.

How a Lord enters Jericho, and what does he do? He reaches up into a sycamore tree and he pulls down some sycamore fruit. Little fellow by the name of Zacchaeus. I never knew what sycamore fruit was before. It was Amos the prophet. They criticized him because he was a country bumpkin and he came to town and began to prophesy, and they said, "You're a country rube, go back to the country, don't prophesy in the King's Chapel." And Amos said, "You're right. I'm a herdsman, just a cowboy. I'm a herdsman, and I'm a plowman. I'm a country rube, like you say, and I'm a gatherer of sycamore fruit." Now, I don't know what that is. But one day Jesus went into Jericho and reached up into a tree and pulled down Zacchaeus. That sycamore fruit. And I want to tell you, it wasn't very good fruit either. You look at him: publican, corrupt, rotten sinner. But olives are not good either when you take them off the tree. They got to be processed. They've got to be transformed. They've got to be regenerated. The Lord Jesus took Zacchaeus, sycamore fruit, and I don't think it's very good. And he took him down, took him into the house, and then the door opens, and he comes out, and he's a new man in Christ. Something's happened. Something has happened to the little man.

Now, will you notice something, and I must close. Zacchaeus didn't come to the door and say, "I want to give my testimony." Don't misunderstand me. It's wonderful to have a good testimony. Zacchaeus came to the door and said, "My life has been changed. And here's the proof: I'm going to—I'm going to start returning what I've stolen. I want to make things right. And I'm going to start doing what I've never done before. I'm start going to start giving instead of getting." He didn't come to the door and say, "Well, I think I'm going to join the church." Now, don't misunderstand me. I believe in joining the church. We emphasize that here, rightly so, I think. And I think every Christian ought to join the church. But Zacchaeus didn't come to the door and say, "I'm going to join the church." He said, "My life has been transformed." He didn't come to the door and say, "Now I'm going to get busy in service. I'll probably get on three or four boards. I want to serve on a half a dozen committees, and I'm going to get busy for the Lord." I wait just a minute. That's important. That has its place. And I think that that's something that will follow. But that's no proof that you're a Christian. That's no proof you've had an encounter with Jesus. Jesus Christ. The proof is: has your life been transformed?

May I turn over briefly to the Epistle to James? He discusses this very thing. Fact of the matter is, I'm confident that Dr. Luke was withheld by the Spirit of God from giving us the only interview that Jesus ever gave that's recorded. That we are not given the details of it. And the reason is this: that we do not know what took place on the inside for the very simple reason that Zacchaeus is to come to the door to emphasize and to illustrate what James had said. James says in the second chapter of his epistle, verse 17: "Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone." You see, James is not saying something that's contrary to Paul. James is merely saying this: that saving faith produces works. It was Calvin who said, "Faith alone saves, but the faith that saves is not alone. It produces something good. Works must follow." And even this man goes on to say this: he says, "Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: show me thy faith without thy works, and I'll show thee my faith by my works." Now, he concludes with this: "But wilt thou know, oh vain man, oh thoughtless man, that faith without works is dead?"

I do not see Zacchaeus' face. I'm confident that on the inside, our Lord discussed with him what he always discussed with every sinner. One was man's need, and I do not think he had to emphasize that too much with Zacchaeus. And then he talked about God's ability to meet that need. And Zacchaeus, yes, in his own home, as he came in contact with Jesus Christ, he came in contact with the Savior. He accepted him and received him by faith. How do I know? Because he comes to the door and shows me the fruit of faith. The Lord Jesus himself said, "It is not by your fundamentalism. It is not by your doctrine. And it is not by your creed, but by its fruits ye shall know them." And this is an hour when fundamentalism needs a culture and a conduct as it's never needed it before. It's all right to be fundamental in your creed, but let's be fundamental in conduct. The basic virtues are not in evidence today as much as doctrine is in evidence, and we need both.

My beloved, if you have come in contact with Jesus Christ, if you have had an encounter with him, he will make you honest. He'll give you an integrity. That's the first thing that Paul says in the Epistle to the Romans to those who come to Christ, who've entered in by faith into this great salvation. He says this: "Provide things honest in the sight of all men." That'll be your testimony before for the world. That's what Zacchaeus had. Zacchaeus said, "I've been a crook. I'm honest now." That's the reason I know he's come in contact with Jesus Christ. And you can tell. It'll make you dependable and loyal. It'll make you truthful. If you come in contact with him, you'll become a person that can be trusted and one in whom you can have confidence.

The employer of a large number of people in the state of Texas said this to me some time ago. He said, "I have to be careful, but," he said, "I try to employ Christians in my place of business. But," he said, "you know, I won't employ all Christians. I always ask them, 'Where you a member of a church? Who's your preacher?'" And he says, "I always write him and I ask him one specific question: 'Can this person be depended upon?'" He says, "That's the evidence. That's the evidence." The little maid was asked how she knew she was converted, and she says, "I sweep back of the door." Now, I tell you, my beloved, when there are those today who profess to be Christians, and you're not sure of them, they cannot be trusted. They are character assassins, and to your face, they pretend to be your friends, and then plunge a knife in your back. May I say, they have no evidence they've been born again.

If you come in contact with Jesus Christ, he transforms lives. He gives you more than just a testimony to stand up and say, "Jesus saves and keeps and satisfies." He transforms your life, and he'll make you honest. He'll make you dependable. I have here—I close with this. I have here a fishing license for the state of Texas. You can have it if you want it. Didn't do me any good. In fact, I don't think the fish knew I had it. May I say that this license that I have this morning doesn't guarantee you'll catch fish, but it does give you permission to fish. Do you have this morning a license? Have you a license today that you're a child of God? May I say that if you have a license today, it gives you a permission today to stand and say, "I'm a child of God by faith in Christ." That was never challenged or questioned. When you're fishing, and if you trust him today, he's your savior. But that man on the outside is saying with James, "Show me your faith by your works." Zacchaeus says, "I can. I was once a crook, now I'm honest. I was once a publican, now I'm giving instead of getting. I've got my string of fish."

Friend, this morning, have you come in contact with Jesus Christ? If you have come in contact with him and come to grips with him, he's transformed your life. You could tell the next day where the Lord Jesus had stopped at the home of Zacchaeus. That fellow the next day didn't go down with the other publicans to steal and rob from people. He said, "I'm different. Jesus Christ came into my home. He came into my heart. He's my Lord. He's my savior, and I'm transformed." Shall we pray with our heads bowed, eyes closed? Stay with us just a few moments now. We'll be out of here in just a few minutes, about five minutes.

Let me ask you a very personal question. I'm not asking this morning, "Have you given a testimony?" I'm not asking you this morning, "If you join the church?" I'm not asking you to dare your fundamentals. I'm not asking you, "Are you busy on a dozen different organizations today?" I'm—I'm asking you one thing this morning: Have you come to grips with Jesus Christ? Have you? Do you know what it is to come to him personally and trust him and commit your way to him and come to know him whom to know aright is life everlasting? If you haven't, if I were you, I—I wouldn't leave this place until I'd settle that matter for time and for eternity. He left heaven's glory. He went all the way down here to a cross, and then he went back to heaven in order that you and I as sinners might be saved. "A Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which is lost." Oh, how he longs this morning to come to grips with you.