A CAMEL, A NEEDLE, AND A SYCAMORE TREE
(A Tale of Two Rich Men)
(Luke 18:18-25 & Luke 19:1-10)
Tonight our Scripture reading is from the Book of Luke. The first passage is Luke 18:18-25 and the second is Luke 19:1-10. Go ahead and find both of these in your Bibles, and place your fingers between the pages.
We’re going to be flipping back and forth between these passages as we compare two rich men who sought out Jesus.
One man we’re going to look at is a ruler, probably a Pharisee, who had the respect of those around him. The other man is a tax collector, who was hated by his people. Not only was he a tax collector, he was a chief tax collector.
Neither Matthew, Mark, nor Luke tell who the ruler is, but we do know he is young. He is usually referred to as “the rich young ruler.” Luke does tell us the tax collector’s name. It is Zacchaeus. We don’t know his age, but he is probably a middle-aged man.
The Gospels don’t go into a lot of detail to describe these two men, but we do know they have a few things in common. They are both Jews. They both made a special effort to see Jesus, and they were both wealthy.
Just to set the time and place for you - Jesus and His disciples had passed through Samaria, and they were going through Galilee on the road to Jericho. It wouldn’t be long before they entered Jerusalem where Jesus would be crucified.
Both men were seeking Jesus.
Before Jesus and His disciples entered Jericho, Mark tells us in chapter 10 verse 17, “ 17Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him. . .” Look at Luke 18:18. It says, “ 18Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
So we see that the “rich young ruler” was anxious to see and talk to Jesus. He had heard that Jesus was a great rabbi or teacher. He came running and knelt before Him. He was looking for something.
Now look at Luke 19 beginning with verse 1, “ 1Then Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. 2Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. 3And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature. 4So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was going to pass that way.”
Zacchaeus had also heard of this great man, and he wanted to see for himself who this man was. There was a crowd of people surrounding Jesus and Zacchaeus, not being very tall couldn’t get a good look.
So he ran ahead as fast as his legs would take him, and climbed up a sycamore tree so that he could see this great rabbi everyone had told him about. Both men were seeking Jesus, and it seems they were seeking Him for the wrong reasons.
The rich young ruler asked Jesus to tell him what he had to do to inherit eternal life. But I believe he just wanted Jesus to reassure him that he was already good enough to inherit eternal life. I don’t think he was seeking a close personal relationship with Jesus.
On the other hand, Zacchaeus was just curious. He saw a large crowd and he knew someone big or famous or popular was coming to town. He may have heard of Jesus and the healing and other miracles He had performed.
He knew about Jesus, but he didn’t really know who Jesus was. He wasn’t seeking a close personal relationship with the Savior either.
So, both of these rich men were seeking Jesus for the wrong reasons, and neither of them really understood who Jesus was, but:
Jesus knew the two rich men.
Many of you have a close personal relationship with Jesus. You know Him as Lord and Savior of your life. Some of you have believed on Him and have accepted His free pardon of sin. You have been saved, but you don’t really know Him up close and personal.
And, then, there may be one here tonight who has never met Jesus. And you don’t know Him because you haven’t believed on Him or asked Him to save you. You know about Him, but you don’t know Him.
If you are one who has a close relationship with Him, you can get even closer to Him and get to know Him even better. If you are one who has been saved but don’t really know Him up close and personal, you need to get to know Him better.
If you are one who has never accepted Him as your Savior, you need to come down out of your tree and let Him come dine with you. He wants to give you eternal life, and all you have to do is say, “Yes, Lord. Please save me.”
The rich young ruler asked Jesus, “ Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He thought he was talking to a man, a prophet, a teacher. He didn’t know that he was speaking directly to the true and living God.
Jesus knew the young man’s heart and his motives. And in Luke 18, verse 19 He asked the young man, “ 19 “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God.”
He’s telling the young man, “ You really don’t know who I am, so why do you call Me good. You think I am only a man, and no man is good. Only God is good.” Jesus knew the rich young ruler, and He knew Zacchaeus.
Both of these men were seeking Jesus, but they were seeking Him for the wrong reasons. And neither of them really knew Jesus. They knew about Him but they didn’t know Him on a personal level. Even so, Jesus knew them very well.
Pride and riches can be a great stumbling block to salvation, but Jesus knows our hearts. He knows what is important to us and He calls us to come to Him. There were some similarities between these two men, but there was one great difference:
One was haughty and one was humble.
Jesus knew the heart of the rich young ruler. He says this to him in Luke 18:20&21. 20“You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’ ” 21And he said, “All these things I have kept from my youth.”
Jesus knew that the young man was haughty and full of pride. He was sure that the young man knew the Law backward and forward. The young ruler had been brought up in the Mosaic Law and had been trained in them from his youth.
The man had probably kept all the laws as much as was humanly possible, but there was something missing. The law was given to man so that we would know what sin is, but keeping the law won’t save you.
Romans 3: 19 & 20 says, “ 19Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. 20Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”
Many people today believe that doing good deeds is enough. George Barna did a survey of teenagers. 86% of them claim to be Christian. (Actually 34% are born-again Christians.) Of all the teenagers that he surveyed, 60% of them said that a good person could earn eternal salvation through good deeds.
Folks, you can be as good as you possibly can. You can be faithful to your spouse and still go to hell. You can live your life without killing anyone, and still go to hell. You can be as honest as the day is long, and still go to hell.
And you can honor your father and your mother all your life, and still go to hell. You can be as good as humanly possible and give everything you have to charity and still split hell wide open.
Jesus told the rich young man, “There is none good but God.” Romans 3:10 tells us, “ 10 “There is none righteous, no, not one;”
We can keep all the laws and we can do good deeds, and think nothing but nice thoughts, but the fact is, “ 6 . . .we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags;” (Isaiah 64:6)
How did the rich young ruler respond to Jesus? His pride was showing when he said, “All these things I have kept from my youth.” In other words, “ I’m a good man. I’ve kept all the laws. I deserve to inherit eternal life.”
Pride can sneak up on us sometimes. There was an Amish farmer who bought a new pair of overalls. The Amish people are known for living simple lives and avoiding pride.
The farmer put on his new overalls and looked in the mirror and said, “ Oh. This will never do! I’ll be proud in these!” So he took off his new overalls and put on the patched, worn and dirty ones.
Then he stood in front of the mirror again and said, “ Ahh, you’d look good in anything!” The sin of pride can be so deceitful that you can be proud that you’re not proud. The rich young ruler was proud of how good he thought he was.
Now let’s see how Zacchaeus responded to the call of Jesus. Look at Luke 19:5, “ 5And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to him, “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.”
Zacchaeus didn’t have the same prideful attitude that the rich young ruler had. After all, he was a grown man sitting in a tree. I’m sure when Jesus went over and talked to him, the crowd was amused to see this rich man balanced on a limb.
It must have humbled Zacchaeus when this great rabbi told him to hurry and come down from the tree because He was going to stay at his house. That had to be a total surprise to the little tax collector.
Tax collectors were hated by their fellow Jews. They were classified as sinners probably because they were allowed to gather more than the government required and then pocket the excess amount.
Another reason they were hated was because they were viewed as traitors who worked for the Romans. But Jesus made a point to associate with tax collectors. He ate with them and He even chose one of them (Matthew) as one of His twelve apostles.
By doing this, Jesus was sending a message to the people. He would welcome those who were humble and repentant, even tax collectors, but He would scorn the arrogant and prideful Pharisees.
So when Jesus came into Jericho, He didn’t stop at the mayor’s house to pay His respects. He didn’t pay a visit to one of the prominent Pharisees in town.
Instead, He went over to a tax collector perched in a tree, and said, “ come down, for today I must stay at your house.” Jesus knows our hearts. He seeks out the humble, but He scorns the proud.
As we compare these two rich men, we see that both of them were seeking Jesus, and that they didn’t know Him very well, but He knew them. We see that one was full of pride and the other was humble. Now let’s see how:
They responded to the calling of Jesus.
Look at Luke 18:22-25, “ 22So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” 23But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich. 24And when Jesus saw that he became very sorrowful, He said, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God! 25“For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
You see, the rich young ruler thought he had it made. He thought everything was going his way. He had it all down here on earth and he thought that his obedience to the law guaranteed him eternal life. But, as I said earlier. Something was missing.
The something that was missing was humility. The man didn’t know he was lost, and you’ve got to know you are lost before you can be saved.
Jesus really threw the young man a curve when He told him to get rid of everything and follow Him. He was expecting Jesus to pat him on the back and tell him that his good deeds had earned him a place in heaven.
Jesus said, “ You still lack one thing. Die to self. Give up all that you own and follow Me.” The young man was sad when he heard this. We don’t know if he followed Jesus’ instructions. It doesn’t tell us here, but we can assume that he didn’t follow Jesus at this time. Maybe later he came to his senses and followed Jesus.
Then Jesus told His disciples something disturbing. In verses 24 and 25 He says, “ How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God! 25“For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
He didn’t mean that a rich man can’t enter heaven. He knew the young ruler’s heart, and He knew how he would respond. What Jesus was saying was, “ If you love your material wealth more than you love Me, you won’t enter God’s kingdom.”
The rich young ruler had two major problems that would effect where he would spend eternity. He was full of pride, and he valued his material possessions more than he valued eternal life.
Zacchaeus had a completely different response to the call of Jesus. He wasn’t sad at all. Look at Luke 19: 6 – 10, “ 6So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully. 7But when they saw it, they all complained, saying, “He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner.” 8Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.” 9And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; 10“for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
Zacchaeus didn’t argue with Jesus. He didn’t make excuses or tell Jesus that he would rather stay up in the tree. He didn’t say to Jesus, “I’m a wealthy man. I’m the chief tax collector, and I have the right to sit in this tree if I want to.”
No. He “made haste, and came down, and received Him joyfully.” This great teacher actually spoke to the despised tax collector. This was probably the first time any well-respected Jewish rabbi had ever gone out of his way to speak to him.
Jesus knew Zacchaeus’ heart. He knew that Zacchaeus wasn’t all puffed up with pride. That Zacchaeus didn’t feel that his good deeds qualified him for eternal life.
And notice another difference between Zacchaeus and the rich young ruler. Jesus didn’t have to tell Zacchaeus to get rid of his material possessions and follow Him.
He said in verse 8, “ Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.” Zacchaeus was a changed man.
He came to know Jesus as his Savior and Lord, and in verse 9, “ 9 . . .Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house,. . .”
In verse 10, we see one of the main points in this passage. Jesus said, “ 10“for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
If you are full of pride and don’t know you are lost, you can’t be saved. And another thing we can take home with us is this: We must die to self.
Jesus said in John 16:26, “ 26“For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”
