part 2 of “RATTLE”
You must know that this series has been on my mind for a year. Last Easter, there was a song that came out called “Rattle!” by Elevation Worship. If you haven’t had the opportunity to listen to this song it is worth the time and can be found on YouTube and Spotify. The lyrics of the bridge of the song are where the idea for this series came from and over the next few weeks we will be looking at some stories of people who experienced the rattle of Jesus. The lyrics are:
“My God is able to save and deliver and heal
And restore anything that He wants to” [1]
So let’s dive into a familiar story together. In Luke 19, we find the story of a “wee little man”. If you know the song you probably started singing it to yourself. Zacchaeus was a very rich chief tax collector and he lived in Jericho. Tax collectors were usually rich as they would charge a little more tax from the people and give the appropriate tax to where it went and they would keep the extra for themselves. Zacchaeus heard that Jesus was going through town and wanted to see him, but could not see over the crowd. So he climbed a sycamore tree so he could get a better look at Jesus.
But as Jesus came by, he called up into the tree:
“‘Zacchaeus!’ he said. ‘Quick, come down! I must be a guest in your home today.’” - Luke 19:5 NLT
Zacchaeus climbed down from the tree as fast as he could. He was excited and overwhelmed with joy. I mean I would be too if JESUS was coming to my house! Zacchaeus was no doubt rattled at this whole event. He stood before Jesus and said:
“Meanwhile, Zacchaeus stood before the Lord and said, ‘I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have cheated people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!’” - Luke 19:8 NLT
Jesus responds to Zacchaeus’ repent of the things he had done by saying:
“Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham.” - Luke 19:9 NLT
But of course, this wasn’t the only rattle that went throughout Jericho that day. There was no doubt that Jesus gave Zacchaeus a rattle. But He also gave the people watching a rattle as well. After Jesus announced that He was going to the house of a man like Zacchaeus, we read these words in the Bible:
“But the people were displeased. ‘He has gone to be the guest of a notorious sinner,’ they grumbled.” - Luke 19:7 NLT
There were rattled. They were appalled at this whole thing. They couldn’t figure out why Jesus would do such a thing or why Jesus would want to hang around such “scum” (Matthew 9, NLT). But they were missing the point. They were missing who Jesus was actually on Earth to be around.
“For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.” - Luke 19:10 NLT
Jesus came into Jericho that day looking for Zacchaeus. Jesus called him by name. He didn’t say “hey you in the tree” or “this is for the man in the tree”. Jesus called him Zacchaeus. Jesus knew his name. Jesus came to town specifically to talk and restore Zacchaeus. Jesus didn’t let what Zacchaeus had done in the past stop him. Jesus met Zacchaeus where he was at and offered him the rattle of restoration.
Jesus does the same for us as well. Jesus calls us by our name. Jesus knows our name! Jesus came to this Earth to die for us and call our name so that we could be restored as well. Jesus doesn’t care about the past. Jesus just wants those who are lost. We all can get lost - even if we have been following Jesus for years and years. We all can get lost. But that’s where the good news that Jesus is in the business of restoration. Jesus can and will restore anything and anyone that He wants to.
[1] Artist: Elevation Worship
Song: Rattle!
Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Steven Furtick / Chris Brown / Brandon Lake
RATTLE! lyrics © Essential Music Publishing, Bethel Music Publishing
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