The Road To The Cross Leads Through Jericho

Luke goes on to tell us that immediately, because of his faith, this man received his eyesight, and began following Jesus.

3. Lives Are Changed (Zacchaeus - Luke 19:1-10)

Every time I read this passage, I can’t help but sing the “Zacchaeus” song I learned in Sunday school. As the progression to the cross continues, Jesus enters Jericho with one person on His mind; Zacchaeus!

Zacchaeus was a chief tax collector, and very wealthy. One can assume that he drew his wealth from the taxes that he gathered. He made sure that Rome received what Rome asked for, but pocketed a little bit of profit for himself. He was probably not the most popular man in town, but Jesus came for him.

It’s amazing that on this road, He comes looking for us. Many of our most profound moments with Christ do not take place in the crowd, but as an individual.

Zacchaeus, being small man, decided to climb the tree to see Jesus. Jesus picked him out of the crowd, and spoke to him directly. “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” (Luke 19:5) Many of us know the feeling when Christ places His finger upon us. He has called us ALL by name.

When Jesus reaches out to us, and we accept it, we become changed people. A man called a ‘sinner’ by those around them promised to give half of his wealth away, and repay any whom he cheated four times what he took from them. That is a radical change.

In his book, An Anthropologist on Mars, neurologist Oliver Sacks tells about Virgil, a man who had been blind from early childhood. When he was 50, Virgil underwent surgery and was given the gift of sight. But as he and Dr. Sacks found out, having the physical capacity for sight is not the same as seeing.

Virgil’s first experiences with sight were confusing. He was able to make out colours and movements, but arranging them into a coherent picture was more difficult. Over time he learned to identify various objects, but his habits--his behaviours--were still those of a blind man. Dr. Sacks asserts, "One must die as a blind person to be born again as a seeing person. It is the interim, the limbo . . . that is so terrible."

To truly see Jesus and his truth means more than observing what he did or said, it means a change of identity. Zacchaeus went from a man people hated to a new creation because Jesus changed him.

The road to the Cross had to go through Jericho, and it still passes that way this morning.

Conclusion:

As people make their way to the Cross, they must pass through a “Jericho” moment. In three lives we see all the things that we are confronted with at the foot of the Cross. It is at the foot of the Cross that we are forced to look at our sinful lives. Our “goodness” fails to live up to the Holiness found in the presence of a holy God.

It is at the foot of the cross that we, like the blind man, we cry out for Jesus to touch us. It is at our point of deepest needs that we cry out to Him for mercy.

It is at the foot of the Cross that Jesus calls us out of our sins, and causes us to live a new life. Sometimes the outward signs are radical. Other times, we have a peace in our heart that allows us to know that He has changed us.