What Matters To Jesus?
Part 1 in the series, The Journey To Jerusalem
March 10, 2002
This morning we are precisely four weeks out from celebrating the single greatest event in mankind’s history. In four weeks we will celebrate Easter, the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the grave. Today, however, we begin a series entitled, The Journey To Jerusalem. During this four week journey we will observe the events leading up to Christ’s crucifixion. We will walk with our Lord down the dusty roads of Samaria & Galilee, Jericho, Bethphage & Bethany until we finally end up in Jerusalem.
We will see with our own eyes and hear with our own ears the amazing things that Jesus does even as the shadow of His own death looms overhead. Keep your eyes on this God-man each step of the way because if you take your eyes away for even a moment… if you dare to blink, you just might miss the wondrous works of this carpenter from the backwoods of Nazareth.
If you have your Bibles turn with me to Luke 18:31-34:
Then He took the twelve aside and said to them, "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things which are written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be accomplished. [32] "For He will be handed over to the Gentiles, and will be mocked and mistreated and spit upon, [33] and after they have scourged Him, they will kill Him; and the third day He will rise again." [34] But the disciples understood none of these things, and the meaning of this statement was hidden from them, and they did not comprehend the things that were said.
In Luke chapter 18 we find Jesus making His final journey from Capernaum, his base of operations, to Jerusalem where He would fulfill His ultimate mission. Along the way Luke records some very special events. To begin with Jesus heals 10 lepers. Nine of these lepers were Jews the other was a Samaritan. They approach the Lord and call out for Him to heal them which Christ does, however, something unexpected happens. Of the ten men who were healed, only one returns to acknowledge Jesus for Who He truly is, yup, it’s the Samaritan, one of the people for whom the Jews held great disregard.
Isn’t it interesting that despite the tension between Jews and Samaritans, the one place we find them freely interacting with one another is on the fringes of society where the outcasts and lepers lived. I gave this story some thought and it occurred to me that God desires us to be like the leper in that as outcasts, we are broken and contrite of heart and God loves a contrite heart. Psalm 51:17 says: The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.
Last Sunday we talked about the pain principle and how pain has a clarifying effect on us if we allow God to use our pain. As lepers, these 10 men were total outcasts. Separated from family members, unable to hold their children near, embrace their wives, these men knew what it meant to suffer. Along comes Jesus and our Lord immediately recognizes their pain and honors their request for healing. Why? Well, at least part of the answer was that their spirits were broken before the Master and the Master was touched by this. In other words, these lepers had not allowed their pain to embitter them, rather they allowed their pain to humble their hearts before God. May we allow God to use the pain in our lives to humble us and lead us into an ever deepening relationship with His Son.
After healing the lepers, Jesus and His disciples move on down the road. As they travel Jesus tell them a parable or story about a judge. This particular judge did not fear God nor respect people. In the same city as this judge lived a widow. This poor widow was being oppressed by her opponent and she approached the judge to ask him for his help in procuring justice. Although the judge was unwilling to assist her at first, she finally wore him out and he chose to help her.
Contrary to public opinion, this parable was not intended to teach us that if there is something we want or need, that if we constantly pray and pray and pray, that God will eventually honor our requests. This parable was intended to demonstrate that when we are suffering persecution, as is promised to those of us who follow Christ, if we remain faithful and cry out to God for justice continually, He is faithful and will come to our aid. Once again we see that many of Christ’s lessons are not lessons of promised sunshine and joy, but of promised difficulty and pain.
It is important to note that in Luke 18:6-8 states: And the Lord said, "Hear what the unrighteous judge said; [7] now, will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them? [8] "I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?"
On His way to Jerusalem Jesus had some very specific lessons He wanted His disciples to understand and assimilate into their hearts and minds. Not the least of these lessons was that hard times will come for those who follow Christ and when those times come, we must remain faithful to the end because God has promised to be faithful to us. Our heavenly Father will not allow justice to elude us, but will Himself defend and protect us at the right time.
The question is… will Christ find that His church has remained faithful to Him when he returns for her?
Now many of you may already know that as Jesus and his disciples traveled toward Jerusalem, they did not travel alone. What holiday was going to be celebrated in Jerusalem as the Lord approached the city? That’s right, Passover was nearing. Because of this, great multitudes were traveling along the roads right alongside Jesus and His disciples. Now this makes for some interesting conversations as our Lord was quite aware of those around Him. He not only knew their thoughts, but He also knew their needs. As usual Jesus was concerned for those who were lost in the darkness and so He spoke to them. Sometimes His words were sharp like a surgeon’s scalpel; at other times His words were soft and gentle and reassuring like a mother caring for her children.
Along the way the Master, sensing that there were those in the crowd who were self-righteous and viewed others with contempt, told a story about a Pharisee and a wicked tax collector. Now bear in mind that the Pharisees were the Jewish religious leaders of the time. They were considered the holiest of holy men and were held in very high regard by the average Jew.
The story goes like this…
Parable of this story is… God despises the arrogant but give grace to the humble in spirit.
Further down the road we find mothers and fathers bringing their children to Jesus so that He could lay His hands on them and bless the little ones. The disciples found it bothersome assumed that Jesus would feel the same way so they started telling these parents to take their children away and leave their Master in peace. As it turns out our Lord had a different attitude about the whole thing. In Luke 18:16-17 we read: Then Jesus called for the children and said to the disciples, "Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these. [17] I assure you, anyone who doesn’t have their kind of faith will never get into the Kingdom of God."
Are we beginning to see a pattern developing here? A leper, a widow, a tax collector and a child. What do these individuals have in common? These were people of no social status, these people were nobodies in the eyes of the world. But Jesus, Jesus has a different opinion. Jesus says that the kingdom of God belongs to the nobodies, those who do not approach it on the merits of their own status, but instead, fall at the feet of the Savior and beg for His mercy and grace. Christ was not impressed by the things that our world is impressed by. God desires for us to face and understand our darkness, our sins, our brokenness. God wants us to approach Him with the faith of a child. Our heavenly Father yearns for us to seek Him, He yearns for us to climb up on His lap with no agenda, no preconceived notions. Our Father loves us with a love beyond all comprehension and we suffer when we fill our lives with the pride of life, pride in ourselves and our accomplishments.
Question: Where are you this morning? When’s the last time you crawled into daddy’s lap and just let Him hold you close? Did you know that the Aramaic word for God is Abba? Abba means daddy and it is a term of endearment that means an awful lot to me. When I worship during the week and on Sunday’s, I almost always use the word dad as I crawl into His lap and hold Him tight.
I was talking with my pastor friend who lives in Provo last week and when he began talking to me I could sense he was struggling with something. As it turns out, he had come under attack by some of the folks in his church. Folks, let me tell ya, there’s probably nothing more painful to a pastor or a leader in any church than to be attacked by those you serve.
In any case I knew his pain and wanted to help, but the truth was, the only One Who could truly heal my friend was Jesus Christ. Pat knew this and he made a statement to me that was powerful, he said, “Darron, I just need to spend some quality time with dad (meaning God) and just worship Him.” Man… when he said those words, my heart immediately connected to his because he was so right. Pat had told me that his greatest struggle was that he felt so inadequate.
Have you ever felt inadequate? Have you ever had to embrace your shortcomings and failures? You know that’s exactly what the tax collector did in Jesus parable. While the Pharisee was completely self-reliant and proud of himself, the tax collector fell on his face and cried out to God for mercy and guess who God honored…
I encourage you this morning. If you’ve been struggling or hurting lately, just crawl into daddy’s lap and let Him hold you close. Let God wrap His strong arms around you and heal your pain. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done or where you’ve been, there is mercy and grace enough to forgive and cleanse the worst sinner in the world at the foot of the Cross. Don’t let guilt or shame keep you away from your Heavenly Father, run to Him today.
After telling the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector, a wealthy young ruler approached Jesus and asked Him what he must do to receive eternal life. Listen to Jesus response: Luke 18:19-21
"Why do you call me good?" Jesus asked him. "Only God is truly good. [20] But as for your question, you know the commandments: ’Do not commit adultery. Do not murder. Do not steal. Do not testify falsely. Honor your father and mother.’ "
[21] The man replied, "I’ve obeyed all these commandments since I was a child."
Okay, so far so good I guess. Jesus responds: Luke 18:22-24: "There is still one thing you lack," Jesus said. "Sell all you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." [23] But when the man heard this, he became sad because he was very rich.
[24] Jesus watched him go and then said to his disciples, "How hard it is for rich people to get into the Kingdom of God!
Phew! Is Jesus really sticking it to people or what! I mean one lesson after another and they just get tougher and tougher to accept don’t they? But you know what? Following Christ is the most important decision you’ll ever make and it’s also the toughest because Jesus doesn’t settle for anything less than TOTAL surrender.
You see Christ doesn’t just want your presence in church. Jesus doesn’t just want your attention on Sunday morning. God isn’t asking for you bake cookies and pies and casseroles for potluck. The Lord isn’t interested in your grasp of Scripture. God wants it all. Isn’t it interesting that we find it challenging but doable when it comes to following Christ, but as soon as God says, “Give me your gold, trust me with your money” we suddenly gulp.
Was Jesus implying that we must give all of our money to the church in order to get into heaven? Absolutely not! What Christ was trying to communicate was that those things we hold dearest must not come before God. Okay, it’s time to face off. I want everybody here to hold up a spiritual mirror to your face, look yourself square in the eyes and ask, “What am I holding back from God?” “What part of my life have I not yet surrendered to my Lord and Savior?” Yeah, I can feel the tension in here. It’s not an easy thing to do, but do it! I implore you, hold the mirror up to your face and do it!
Let’s take a moment and just ask God to open the eyes of our hearts to whatever it is that we may be holding back from Him.
As we close this morning there is one more parable that is so fantastic that I must share it with you. In Luke 19 we find that Jesus and his disciples finally make it to Jericho, just a stone’s throw from Jerusalem. As they enter the city a crowd surrounds the Lord. Now in Jericho there lived a certain tax collector, who was a rather short man and his name is…
Okay, I just can’t resist. I want everyone to sing the first verse with me… “Zacchaeus was a wee little man and wee little man was he” Hey, sometimes it’s the kids songs that have the deepest theology right? Okay, here’s the story. Zacchaeus is a Jewish tax collector, the worst kind of tax collector because he was Jew and had chosen one of the most abhorrent professions in the eyes of any Hebrew. As a tax man Zacchaeus would have accumulated a tidy nest egg over the years as it was common practice for collectors to skim a percentage of the money they received which they kept for themselves.
This despised little man catches wind of Christ’s presence in his town and so he makes his way to where Jesus is talking with the crowds. One problem… he’s 5 foot nothing and just can’t see so he starts jumping up and down in order to get a better view, but to no avail. Finally, in desperation and anticipation, he climbs a sycamore tree to get a good view of this legendary preacher. Zacchaeus finally reaches a sturdy branch where he props himself up and with a big grin he looks down upon all the excitement. To his amazement, Jesus looks up and without hesitation announces that He will be having dinner with Zacchaeus tonight!
What a marvelous event! Nothing short of miracle has happened to Zacchaeus. You see Zacchaeus simply wanted to be close to Jesus, he just wanted to see Him up close. This detested little man was valuable in God’s eyes. It didn’t matter to Jesus that Zacchaeus was a cheater and a swindler. He knew who Zacchaeus was and looked beyond all of that to the heart of this little man and saw promise. And when the Lord looked up into the tax collector’s eyes, there was an immediate connection and connection led to transformation. Watch what happens…
Luke 19:6-10
Zacchaeus quickly climbed down and took Jesus to his house in great excitement and joy. [7] But the crowds were displeased. "He has gone to be the guest of a notorious sinner," they grumbled.
[8] Meanwhile, Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, "I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have overcharged people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!"
[9] Jesus responded, "Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a son of Abraham. [10] And I, the Son of Man, have come to seek and save those like him who are lost."
It is a wondrous thing to watch God’s overwhelming love and mercy change a life! It’s the reason I dedicated my life to ministry many years ago. Everywhere Jesus went, lives were changed. The Father’s presence emanated from Jesus, it was unmistakable, it was irresistible but only to those who were lost and were willing to confess it. Think about it. Without a convicting sermon, not even a word of accusation, Jesus presence changed Zacchaeus’ life. Jesus came over for dinner and life was forever changed!
Are we having dinner with Jesus? Are you taking every possible advantage of your relationship with the Savior? Does His presence in your home give you great excitement and joy as it did Zacchaeus? Does the Lord’s presence in our lives transform us from day to day?
A rich young ruler approached Jesus and had it all figured out. He had obeyed all the laws from childhood and yet, when Jesus looked deep inside and challenged this man to genuinely lay down his life to follow Him, he could not. He was unable to leave his wealthy lifestyle behind to find true riches. Zacchaeus met Jesus and without a word, Zacchaeus knew in his heart that all of his money didn’t amount to anything compared to knowing Jesus Christ. Zacchaeus life was immediately transformed.
I ask you this morning, what was the difference between the rich young ruler and Zacchaeus? Why did one soul receive salvation while the other left unchanged? And what of the disciples? What do you think they felt as they observed this amazing transaction? For the next few weeks I want you to observe the pattern as Jesus approaches Jerusalem. It’s the Master’s last days with His friends and every word, every look every moment counts! What will Jesus do next? What will you do next? Let’s pray…
