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The content of your work helped me understand the story of Jesus and Zacchaeus. Well done!
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After reflecting the story, the irony, and its meaning has greatly affected each one of us. As living in a once in a lifetime life, we all wanted to enjoy our lives, and we all have our own ways on how to enjoy it. Zacchaeus was lost, he wanted people to look up on him; basing on how people made fun of him because of his height. As time goes, Zacchaeus was then known to be a sinner, he was despised and was then looked upon as one of the worst of sinners by the people around him. He then saw Jesus, he was interested in Jesus and wanted to see Him, and we could also interpret that by his action, he wanted to be seen or found, he wanted to be saved that day, as Jesus initiates that He comes to seek and save those who are lost. We saw the result after Jesus arrived at the tax collector's home, Zacchaeus then pledged to give half of his possessions to the poor, and if he cheated anybody out of anything, he will pay back four times the amount. Zacchaeus was found. Jesus portrayed change, change for the better, He also portrayed direction, direction for those who are lost.

We all could relate on the story of Zacchaeus, on the fact that we all wanted someone to look up on us, as the feeling of someone looking up on you seems so powerful, but what we didn't know is that we don't have to feel powerful; in my opinion, from what Iv've learned, we should give others what we have so that we are all equal, no one's fighting for anything, no one is lost, and we are all saved by one another in the eyes of the Lord.

The fact that Zacchaeus was lost, the homily from yesterday could also be reflected on the story, the father said; "It's not enough that we go to church every sunday, kailangan panindigan natin ito... We must constantly renew our commitment to the Lord, our faith must always be strengthened by the way we live our life from day to day." he stated that we are not Christians just because we go to church every sunday, or because that is our chosen religion, we are still lost if that's what we believe in, we should show and prove God that we are a Christian, that we are His followers, to be found.

Photo retrieved from:
https://sterlingsop.wordpress.com/2015/04/30/z-is-for-zacchaeus/

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Salvation, hope and love. Jesus showed to us what pure love can do, as what he showed to zacchaues. The people around zaccheus treated him like a sinner but jesus saw something else in him. The time Jesus responded to him when he needed help from getting eaten by hatred, He was elated by the way jesus approched him. Nobody loved Zacchaeus because of his image, he had never experienced love.

Zacchaues is considered as a sinner but we must not avoid him. They just need to hear the Gospel message and they are just in need of love. We usually show interest for people like zacchaues for he is different and also because of the image he is carrying, and that involves him being a sinner. But not Jesus, he showed interest in him and wanted to save him. Jesus had a soft spot in his heart for people like zacchaues.

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One day, a wealthy chief tax collector named Zacchaeus was roaming around Jericho. He noticed a commotion with the crowd because of Jesus’ arrival. Zacchaeus wanted to see how special witnessing Jesus in action when interacting with different kinds of people. A lot of people knew about Jesus, and sees him differently. He was told to be a savior, the chosen one, a judge, and even a crazy human being, but one of the most popular portrayal of Jesus to the people is that he performs miracles to cure the illnesses of many people. This portrayal also became Zacchaeus’ way of seeing Jesus as a God. He was really curious about how remarkable Jesus can be as a professor of magical power, which made him stop and watch Jesus during his visit to Jericho.

Unfortunately, Zacchaeus is too small for him to see Jesus from the crowd, but his eagerness to witness Jesus did not stop him to think of an idea to see what’s happening behind the crowds’ commotion. Zacchaeus’ curiosity made him climb a sycamore tree, which became a successful way to see Jesus in person. He thought that Jesus will not be able to notice him despite the number of people surrounding Jesus. Suddenly, Jesus called him and requested him to climb down the sycamore tree. Zacchaeus was shocked because he did not expect a supreme being like Jesus Christ to notice him even if his position was a little bit obscured. Because of this occurrence, Zacchaeus was able to portray Jesus as a God who can see all people even with disabilities or flaws. Jesus’ sudden attention to Zacchaeus made him portray God like a hidden camera, because even if we cannot see him as a person, he watches us every single time we make our move. Jesus knows how we think, see, and speak even if he isn’t visible physically.

Jesus also shocked the crowd when he interacted with Zacchaeus, because Zacchaeus was known as a corrupted chief tax collector. They were confused about why Jesus was talking to a sinner, but Jesus believed that change is possible for everyone. When Zacchaeus talked to Jesus, he knew to himself that he is grateful that Jesus payed attention to him even if he lies to the community a lot. He immediately admits to Jesus that he is a really sinful person, and he promised that he will make up all of his sins by paying the people four times more from what he stole from them. Then Jesus said that “Salvation has come to this house today, because this man also belongs to the family of Abraham.  The Son of Man came to find lost people and save them.” This incident made Zacchaeus realize that even if how sinful we become, God will always be there to forgive us and give us another chance to change.  He changed not because he was afraid of Jesus Christ or God’s punishments, but he understood that doing wrong things will not increase the numbers of your wealth. He also learned that knowing and doing what is right is far more important than being rich. He also knew that God doesn’t judge us on how sinful we are, he knew that God would rather look at how we change for the better.

Photo from: https://www.google.com/search?q=zacchaeus+meets+jesus&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjXg9uW4IzdAhXIQd4KHQHNDCUQ_AUICygC&biw=1280&bih=614#imgrc=3NaRgMEkFRuYaM:

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Salvation, hope and love. Jesus showed to us what pure love can do, as what he showed to zacchaues. The people around zaccheus treated him like a sinner but jesus saw something else in him. The time Jesus responded to him when he needed help from getting eaten by hatred, He was elated by the way jesus approched him. Nobody loved Zacchaeus because of his image, he had never experienced love.

Zacchaues is considered as a sinner but we must not avoid him. They just need to hear the Gospel message and they are just in need of love. We usually show interest for people like zacchaues for he is different and also because of the image he is carrying, and that involves him being a sinner. But not Jesus, he showed interest in him and wanted to save him. Jesus had a soft spot in his heart for people like zacchaues.

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MAR ZHAYVIER ROSALES 38m
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We are all sinners when we started living in this sinful world but we have different experiences in receiving Christ as our Lord and Savior. As we live with God, we must love him with all our heart. We must surrender our lives with him because everything will be in control under his hands. God is looking for the people who are lost and God saw Zacchaeus because he was a sinner. As a Christian, we look for the people who are sinners for them to save by God. The image of God was a loving father who wants his son to be saved. It was all love that lead Zacchaeus conversion. Even though how sinner we are, God will always love us unconditionally especially when we repent 180 degrees. There is no turning back from that sin because if we go back in that sinful life then repentance never happened in the first place.

Before Becoming a Christian, I was not that much believer and I have that sinful life. God will always make a move that will touch our hearts for us to follow him with all our heart. Sinners will always receive salvation if we repent and have faith in him. We will receive his grace through faith. I am thankful to God because he used my friend to surrender my life and repent my sins. Zacchaeus realized that when he sinned, his spiritual life is dead but God touches his heart and repented. Being Christian is not that easy not because you are a Christian doesn’t mean problems will not come to your life. Being a Christian is hard because more problems or temptations will come to your life. And it will test your faith to God just like the story of Job. Even though he lost everything, his faith to God is still there. We must surrender our life to Christ. It is not yet too late for us to repent our sins and be Christlike.

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                            Zacchaeus the sinner

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Zacchaeus the sinner

All good , all love, and all joy as I accept Jesus in my heart,   as well as  zacchaeus joyful acceptance.  Jesus mirrors his Father’s unconditional love for sinners. A Supreme being; who sees  knows all.  Jesus looked at Zacchaeus  and didn't see his past sin or his present struggle.  We see the physical limitation but Jesus saw the spiritual need. The real need – forgiveness of his sins and new life in Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, most of the people I interact with, I notice more of the externals than the far more important truth that they were created in the image of God and are in need of a Savior and that was changed.  Everything changes when you know you’re loved. For years, Zacchaeus had cheated and swindled people out of money. No one loved him. I don’t know what exactly Jesus said but something flipped in Zacchaeus’ heart. He left his encounter with Jesus giving back four times the amount he had taken.Zacchaeus would not have stopped cheating and stealing from people if it wasn’t for Christ’s acceptance of him, just as he was.

He woke up that day a taker and went to sleep that night a giver.  Christ loved him, accepted Zacchaeus unconditionally, and personally included him in his life, even though he knew what a great sinner he was.  This is what caused Zacchaeus’ change of heart. Love is the only thing that causes his  conversion.  If we just knew how to love more like Christ loves people, our world would change and become a better place.  Christ was able to love deeply, because he is both human and divine.  The Holy Spirit bound him and his Father together and they thought, loved and acted as one.  Christ was rooted in his Father’s love. Just as Jesus was rooted in His Father’s love, our heart needs to be centered in God’s unconditional love for us, in order for us to be able to begin loving other people the way that Jesus did. Zacchaeus experience  the love of God, the same with me. After all the worse phase of my life, I have to get close enough to embrace it. Everything I went throughout with my life, I had no doubt about  him. I have to do something about my questions, my fears, and my  doubts.  We can search for Jesus all we want, but truth is we will never be searching for Him longer than He's been searching for us.

Everything changes when you know you’re loved.Jesus changed myheart.  Have you ever been in a situation where you couldn’t see yourself anymore because of all the negativity life has brought to you? Definitely yes, I have experience this in all cause, different problems, same feeling and up to now I am still experiencing this. That is what the story is trying to show us, no matter how I  hate myself, how low and how evil I am  on other people's perspective and no matter how worthy we are of judgment, God will always see the best in me. The unexpected of all the unexpected will happen. In the end, when you eventually choose to be the better version of yourself, your past, both the good and the bad, will not matter anymore. This story is  beautiful example  how I  set things right again. Recognizing  the truth in Jesus’ words and did something about it. No matter what my past maybe, Christ didn’t judge me. It will  start from us, we could work a little harder on inviting Jesus into our homes as well.  God’s forgiveness is a mystery,  in the sense that, although I know the limits of my human forgiveness, I acknowledge that with God’s forgiveness that  there is no limit . Experience taught me that, however much I want to forgive, there are always the transgressions that I struggle to forgive, the hurts that we cannot absolve, that cling to us for life. But I know in my heart that I deserve a peaceful  and happy life, that’s why we forgive because it’s for myself not for them.  Our Father, when we meet Jesus it is a life-changing experience.  It made me realized  that all are created from God’s love, and therefore worthy of forgiveness.  At the end of the day, We all desire for happiness and acceptance.

Muyot, Dainielle Vien C.