Impartial Father

Bulletin

Dan Peters
09/01/24 - Character

Impartial Father

Peter lived his life among the Jews who thought God was partial to them. After all they could boast that Abraham was their father (Luke 3:8), but John the baptist spoke against the idea that God is partial to the physical descendants of Abraham. If the Jews would bear no fruits in keeping with repentance, they would be “cut down and thrown into the fire” (v.9). But later in Luke’s gospel there was a Jew who did not rely upon a partial God. He must have learned something about Jesus that drew him to see more of Jesus. What was there in Jesus that Zaccheus saw? “And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, “Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” And he hurried and came down, and received Him joyfully. When the people saw this, they all began to complain, saying, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner!” But Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I am giving to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone, I am giving back four times as much.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham.
“For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Luke 19:5-10).

If God is impartial, then character matters, truth matters. Convinced of this, Zaccheus changed, repented. The proof of his repentance is in the willingness to give half his possessions to the poor. The willingness he had to restore anything he may have wrongfully taken as a chief tax collector. He was willing to do anything in accordance with right living, if he could be a son of Abraham in truth, in the inward man. This is what salvation looks like. If God is impartial, and we begin to see ourselves as sinners, then what is to be done? Rather, what is to be undone! Restoration, even 4 times as much. Transformation from sinner to saint. What did Zaccheus now come to believe that had changed him so much? Do you believe God is impartial? There are some major implications to this idea.

Peter says, “If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth” (1Peter 1:17). Did Zaccheus now fear God toward the people he had defrauded? How will God deal with him? Will God defraud Zaccheus like Zaccheus did with others? No. No. No! I will restore, I repent. Salvation came that day to Zaccheus. May Jesus have such an influence upon me. I too, pray to an impartial God. Dan Peters