Jesus' Misión Series

JESUS MISSION

Text: Luke 19:1-9

Introduction

1. Illustration: Jesus’ mission we're told in Luke 19:10 is to “Seek and save what was lost.” Lost doesn’t mean “damned or doomed,” says William Barclay. In the New Testament it simply means to save people in the wrong place. Barclay continues that “a thing is lost when it has gotten out of its own place into the wrong place.” Have you ever said to your kids (or you husband!), “put that back where it belongs, that’s not where that belongs; put it back in its place.”

2. So, Jesus came to put us back in the right place!

3. We’re in the wrong place because of what Adam and Eve did in the Garden of Eden. We were intended for paradise, but sin left us in chaos.

4. But Jesus came to put us back where we belong.

5. Read Luke 19:1-9

Transition: The first person that Jesus came to put back is…

I. Sinners Who Earnestly Look for Him (1-4).

A. Climbed a Sycamore Tree

1. If you closely examine the life and ministry of Jesus, you must take notice that he came to seek out the outcasts of society. Look at what Luke tells us in v. 2, “There was a man there named Zacchaeus. He was the chief tax collector in the region, and he had become very rich.”

a. Luke is the only one of the Gospel writers to mention Jesus’ meeting with Zacchaeus.

b. What makes this event so important was that Zacchaeus was a tax collector.

1) Tax collectors were hated by the Jews because they were collaborators with the Romans.

2) As such, they collected taxes for the Romans, but they had the authority to collect more than was required by Rome and would therefore pocket the extra money.

3) So, they were rich, but they were considered outcasts by the Jews because they exploited their own people.

c. You could go so far as to say, they were grouped with such people as prostitutes and people of disrepute.

d. But it gets worse, not only was Zacchaeus a tax collector, but he was also the “chief tax collector.”

e. For this reason, he would get a cut from the other tax collectors.

f. As a result, “he had become very rich.” So, he was hated and despised more than other tax collectors.

2. However, there’s another interesting thing about Zacchaeus. In v. 3 we learn, “He tried to get a look at Jesus, but he was too short to see over the crowd.”

a. Not only was Zacchaeus a tax collector, but he was also a short tax collector.

b. He wanted to get a look at Jesus. He had heard about the rock star preacher from Nazareth. He had heard about his teaching with authority unlike anyone else.

c. He had also heard how he had healed the blind, the lame, the deaf, and loosened the tongues of the mute.

d. He had heard that Jesus was no ordinary man, and that he was kind and accepting of those considered as outcasts by society.

e. He heard that Jesus was coming through town and wanted to get a look at the famous teacher.

f. Unfortunately, he was short, too short to see over the crowd.

3. But look at what Zacchaeus does in v. 4, “So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree beside the road, for Jesus was going to pass that way.”

a. Here we see something unique about Zacchaeus, he was so hungry for a spiritual change in his life that he was willing to go the extra mile for it.

b. He was unable to see Jesus, but he was so desperate, that he sees a sycamore-fig tree and decides to climb it so he could see Jesus.

c. The sycamore tree was very plentiful in Palestine, and in fact, still is today.

d. It was like an oak tree, with a short trunk but very substantial and wide spreading limbs.

e. What a great stroke of luck for a short guy like Zacchaeus!

f. Or was it a stroke of luck? Maybe it was the providence of God!

B. If You Look for Me

1. Illustration: Ever hear how the Grand Canyon was formed? A Scotsman dropped a nickel down a rabbit’s hole!

2. Jesus came for sinners who are so desperate for him that they will seek him until they find him, no matter what obstacle they must go through.

a. “In those days when you pray, I will listen. 13 If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. 14 I will be found by you,” says the LORD. “I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes. I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you and will bring you home again to your own land.” (Jer. 29:12-14).