Quest 7
Luke 19:1-10
Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. 3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.
5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today." 6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.
7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, "He has gone to be the guest of a 'sinner.'"
8 But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount."
9 Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."
Small things in the Bible -
Small army – Gideon and 300 take on 100,000 enemy soldiers
Small weapon – David and Goliath
Small lunch – 5 loaves and 2 fish to feed 5,000
Small organization – 12 apostles
Zacchaeus was a small man with a big story about Jesus’ life purpose.
Chief tax collector in prosperous city of Jericho.
He entered Jericho and was passing through. And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich.
Zacchaeus was a rich.
He was short: He was small in stature.
He was lost. He wanted to see Jesus: And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not . . . So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way.
The Holy Spirit tells the church about the danger of the love of money:
1 Timothy 6:9-10 - But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.
What Zacchaeus teaches us about Jesus’ mission:
1. Zacchaeus illustrates Jesus’ stated mission: “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
Jesus knew him by name.
Jesus invited himself to Zacchaeus’ house.
Some have higher standards than Jesus: And when they saw it, they all grumbled, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.”
2. Zacchaeus is the application of Jesus’ parables of lost things.
Luke 15 has three parable of lost things – a lost sheep, a lost coin, and a lost son.
Don’t miss the significance of “lost” in these parables:
o Not damned or doomed.
o But out of its place into the wrong place.
3. Zacchaeus didn’t have to change to come to Jesus – he changed because he came to Jesus.
Sometimes we get it backwards – we think we have to clean up our act to come to Jesus.
Example: It would be like Jesus refusing to be seen with Zacchaeus until he first gave half of his possessions to the poor and paid back everyone he had cheated fourfold.
It is an attempt to earn redemption or salvation, to deserve it. Jesus did not come for those who deserve it.
Jesus’ people on Jesus’ mission open their arms to people regardless of behavior, just like Jesus.
Zacchaeus was out of place. He needed to come back to his place. Are you out of place?
Example: Story of lost World War 2 B-24 bomber, Lady Be Good. It was found by an oil exploration crew 16 years later and 400 miles past its air base in the Libyan Desert, just sitting on a sand dune.
