Today we will be looking at Luke chapter 19, to see what Jesus was focused on in the last weeks of His life on earth. We know Jesus was in Jericho enroute to Jerusalem. Back in Luke 9:51, we read, “When the days drew near for [Jesus] to be taken up, He set his face to go to Jerusalem.”
On the last leg of His journey, Jesus and His disciples traveled to Jericho which was considered a major hub for those who were traveling up to Jerusalem for the annual feasts. The name Jericho means "fragrant" or "scent" as the city was abounding in palms, rose-gardens, and balsam. Jericho was a major commerce hub for Jews and Gentiles alike. OT scholar Alfred Edersheim called first-century Jericho “the Eden of Palestine, the very fairyland of the old world.” It could be compared to the modern-day Monte Carlo on the French Riviera with all its beauty and glamour.
Who does Jesus encounter on His travels to Jericho? Lepers, an unnamed woman bent over for 18 years, children, a tax collector, a blind beggar, a rich man - all of whom had significant obstacles to overcome to come to Jesus. Just like today - there are societal, material, physical, spiritual, emotional obstacles which come between people and the Lord. Some of these barriers are imposed by others while some are self-imposed.
It’s interesting that in the previous chapter of Luke (18:18) a rich young ruler came up to Jesus and asked what was necessary to get to heaven. How did Jesus answer this man? “Sell all that you have, give it to the poor and follow Me.” His love for money was his god, it was an obstacle. How would that sit with us today? God is not against making or having money, it is the love of money and the decietfulness of riches that creates all kinds of evil and keeps people from God.
When Jesus saw this man’s struggle with His answer, He said to His disciples, “Just look at how difficult it is for those who put their trust in their position and possessions to enter the Kingdom of God!” And then He compared the chances of a rich person getting into heaven to a camel squeezing through the eye of a needle (18:24-25). The disciples asked, “then who can be saved?” Jesus told them, “It’s difficult but nothing is impossible for God” which we will see in the next story today.
Luke 19:1-10
1 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 And there was a man called by the name of Zaccheus; he was a chief tax collector and he was rich. 3 Zaccheus was trying to see who Jesus was, and he was unable due to the crowd, because he was short in stature. 4 So he ran on ahead and climbed up a sycamore tree in order to see Him, because He was about to pass through that way. 5 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.” 6 And he hurried and came down, and received Him joyfully. 7 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!” 8 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.” 9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
This passage is filled with Biblical truths about:
? The Sinner
? The Savior
? The Work of Salvation
1. The Sinner
In the midst of this bustling town of Jericho, Jesus zeroes in on one person - Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus’ name means, “innocent, pure, clean, and righteous.” His parents chose a beautiful name for their son, but that was not his reality. Zacchaeus was the chief tax collector of Jericho, boss over the other tax collectors. He not only collected taxes for the Roman government, he collected money from those working for him and from all the citizens of Jericho. He was able to charge an inordinate amount of money on top of the taxes people were paying and in doing so became very rich, powerful, and privileged. You and I thinking we pay a lot of taxes now but historical records show that back then there were:
? real estate taxes
? a poll tax (Matt 22:17)
? export and import taxes collected at seaports and the gates of cities and countries
? a crop tax
? an income tax
? road tax
? fees to enter any other town
? taxes on animals
? taxes on carts
? a salt tax
? sales tax
? tax on the sale of slaves and the transfer of property, and emergency taxes!
It was up to the tax collectors to determine how much tax they would charge. Zacchaeus may have been rich but it came at a cost - he was despised and rejected by the Jews. Tax collectors were considered the worst kinds of sinners, they weren’t even allowed to enter the synagogue and no one was allowed to offer an atonement for them. Tax collectors had no hope of forgiveness, no hope for redemption. They were bound for hell.
In Luke 18:9-14 Jesus tells the story about two men who went to the temple to pray - one a Pharisee, and the other a tax collector. The tax collector could only stand at a distance from the temple and Jesus described him as beating his chest and praying to God for mercy. The tax collector wasn’t given access to the mercy seat by the religious community. He was an outcast, and all he could do was stand outside the temple and cry out for mercy. The Pharisee on the other hand was comparing himself to swindlers, evil-doers, adulterers, and to this wicked tax collector outside the temple - as if he deserved God’s grace and mercy. What an oxymoron.
Maybe Jesus was telling Zaccheaus’ story? Something was happening in Zaccheaus’ heart in this passage in Luke 19 - he wanted to see who Jesus was. Perhaps he was the tax collector praying for God’s mercy and God heard his cry.
By then, everyone in the entire region had heard about Jesus but what did they think about Him? Some thought He was a demon, others a fanatic, a blasphemer, a heretic, a prophet, a miracle worker, but some truly believed that He was the Son of God and Zacchaeus wanted to know the truth about Him.
In order to see Jesus, Zacchaeus would have to overcome some obstacles to get through the crowds, Zacchaeus was short or “vertically challenged.” In fact, based on skeletal remains and other evidence, most anthropologists believe the average height of a Jewish male living in Israel in the first century AD was 5'1" (155 cm). Since he couldn’t see over the people or get through the crowds, he goes to extraordinary lengths to fulfill his quest, even to the point of the embarrassment of climbing a tree as an adult male with the position in the community as a wealthy “ruler.” It must have been a strange sight, it would be seeing some billionaire climbing a tree to get a better view of a football game
Zaccheaus climbed the sycamore tree hoping to see Jesus but Jesus sees him. We think the sinner is seeking the Savior (and he is) but in reality the Savior is seeking us, seeking for lost sinners. This was the day that the sinner met:
2. The Savior
In the midst of the throng, Jesus stops, looks up in the tree and calls out Zacchaeus by name and tells him to hurry and come down because He was coming to his house for dinner. Can you imagine - The Savior of the world coming to the house of the worst sinner in the world?
And how did Jesus know Zacchaeus’ name and why was it so urgent? There was an urgency in each of His encounters because He was on His way to the cross. What did Zacchaeus do? He hurried down from the tree and was overjoyed to receive Jesus into his home.
What does this say about the Savior? His attitude was a bit different from this Pharisee’s. What was people’s mood when they saw Jesus singling out Zaccheaus? We read in v. 7 that everyone was so disappointed in Jesus. Of all the people and the places Jesus could have spent time with - he goes to the home of one of the worst possible sinners. If Jesus would have listened to the court of public opinion he would never have even spoken to this man. In today’s culture He would have been cancelled. What’s wrong with you, Jesus? This will ruin your reputation (and ours). We have no idea what Jesus said to him in the house but we can assume that He spoke about forgiveness, about repentance, about the Kingdom. Zacchaeus was lost but Jesus found him. It was:
3. The Work of Salvation
Zacchaeus totally embraces God’s mercy and repents. Jesus’ personal love, grace, and mercy completely transformed his life. He stated,
Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.”
This was genuine repentance, the robber is now the giver, the self-serving man became the selfless man. No doubt he had defrauded his own people of their money but now he was going to make it right. Why did he say fourfold? Because in Exodus 22:1, if you robbed someone with violence and destruction, a fourfold response was required and Zacchaeus did this with joy. On top of the promised restitution he made a pledge to give 50% of his wealth to the poor. This is the beauty of what the work of salvation can do to change a person’s heart and life. Jesus needed to come to the earth, without him we would be lost. In v. 10 Jesus says:
For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.
Jesus removed the barriers so that people could experience salvation. He came to save those marginalized by age, gender, illness, occupation, and Jesus didn’t care if you were a Roman or a Jew. He didn’t only come to save the oppressed but the oppressor. Jesus said: He too is a son of Abraham. Zacchaeus was changed. A changed identity, a changed trajectory - he was now in the family of God, saved for eternity. Zaccheus’ transformation was so radical that according to Clement of Alexandria, he left Jericho and went on to become the pastor of a church in Caesarea.
The Son of Man was incarnated, came into this world for the purpose of pursuing and saving those who are on the road to destruction and headed for hell. That’s why He was going to Jerusalem - to die on a cross for the sins of the world. For the oppressed and the oppressor.
It couldn't be clearer. Jesus didn’t come into the world to be a good teacher. He didn’t come to be a moral leader. He didn’t come to espouse religious ideas. He didn’t come to raise the religious consciousness of the people in His community and in society. He didn’t come into the world to show us what a good life looks like. He came into this world to rescue each of us from everlasting destruction because without Him we had no hope. He knew the price that would be necessary to pay so that every obstacle could be removed.
We all are sinners in need of God’s mercy. Jesus is the only way to salvation, and if we receive that salvation, we become saints, children of God. By God’s grace we are embracing His transformational work of salvation in our lives, and God is breaking down obstacles that keep us and others from coming to Him. Jesus came to seek and to save that which is lost. Are we doing the same?
