Of Crowds and Scoundrels (2)
Notes
Transcript
Handout
2 April 23 (Palm Sunday)
Please turn to Luke 19.
Today is Palm Sunday - it marks the beginning of Holy week or Passion Week. We remember and celebrate when Jesus entered Jerusalem for the last time prior to His crucifixion and resurrection. On Palm Sunday, we often focus on Jesus riding on a donkey and the people shouting Hosanna Hosanna. But I want to look at an event that happened right before Jesus entered Jerusalem. It’s His encounter with a man named Zacchaeus, which I believe epitomizes the Gospel of Christ.
As we look at this encounter between Zacchaeus and Jesus, I want us to keep in mind that Jesus knew what was coming.
And taking the twelve, he said to them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished.
For he will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon.
And after flogging him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise.”
Jesus knew what was coming (He’d seen crucifixions before) - yet he remained focused on the mission of helping people see and experience the Kingdom of God. And at the center of that mission is eternal life – that God wants us to enjoy Him forever. And so with the cross before Him, Jesus still found time for people.
Verse 1 -
He entered Jericho and was passing through.
Two things: First, this was not the Jericho the Israelites destroyed in the OT. Secondly, Jesus intended to pass through. His destination was Bethany and stay at a friend’s house, and then on into Jerusalem. I doubt there was any intention of stopping. However, as we’ll see in a moment, Jesus, as
Jesus often did, made room for interruptions and the unexpected. Jesus frequently paused for those who often get passed by, overlooked – the marginalized.
Jesus didn’t stop for everybody – but He did stop for people who were genuinely seeking Him and He allowed room for the Spirit to guide Him and interrupt. Even before Jesus entered Jericho, He paused for a blind man ….
If we want to be like Jesus ….
And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich.
Tax collectors were Jewish traitors and scoundrels. They were traitors because they aligned themselves with and worked for the Romans, who occupied Israel. They were scoundrels because they gained their wealth at the expense of their fellow Jews.
The Romans said everyone must pay tax. The TCs would collect the tax, but they would also erroneously inflate the tax for selfish gain. For example, if the Roman tax was $20 dollars a month, the TC would collect maybe $30, $40, or $50 dollars a month, pocketing the difference. So, you can see, TCs were Traitors, Scoundrels with a S - and consequently they were despised, shunned and were considered to be among the worst of sinners.
Zacchaeus, however, was no ordinary TC. He was a chief TC. Remember Vizzini from the Princess Bride? Zacchaeus was the regional manager - he managed other traitors and scoundrels. Not a good guy.
Let’s pause for a moment.
What caused Zacchaeus to become a tax collector? What caused him to become a traitor and a scoundrel? What’s his story? Where did he come from? What were his experiences?
I wonder, did the people of Jericho know his story?
Did he have a bad childhood? Did he start collecting taxes out of desperation just trying to feed his starving family - maybe just for a year, get on his feet and then it spiraled out of control? We don’t know his story. Do we need to know his story?
I’ve discovered that too often we label, and we judge without knowing people’s stories. What he was doing was wrong - we get that. But we often judge and label while only knowing a fraction of people’s lives, only seeing a moment of behavior - we talk if we know everything there is to know about them …. We talk as if we’re right in our miniscule judgement. If we can convince ourselves that our judgment is right, that lets us off the hook from doing something.
This is a little different, but same idea. Couple years ago, when I had a living room I was in my living room sitting on the couch just numb. I stared out the front window, and I noticed a guy washing windows at the apartments across the street. My initial nano-second of a thought - who wants to wash windows for a living. And it hit me - “Shame on you Chad, you don't know his story. What if he's doing the best that he can do? What if he is in recovery, and even though this may not be his dream job, it is the best job he can get right now - and it’s paying the bills, and putting food on the table?” I was judging without knowing his story. I saw only a fraction of his life and made a judgment.
Now I know that washing windows is different than being a tax collector. What Zacchaeus was doing was wrong - we’re not letting him off the hook, but if we’re going to be Christian, then it might be in our best interest to understand that people have stories behind their behavior. People have stories of why they are where they are in life.
So,
Who are the traitors and scoundrels in your world? Do you know their stories?
Who are the people that perhaps you have unfairly labeled and judged without knowing their story?
And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small in stature.
Again, we don’t know his story; we don’t know why he wanted to see Jesus, but let’s play around with that for a moment. Let’s get curious.
What might be some reasons this scoundrel wanted to see Jesus?
Let’s think out loud.
Maybe Z is simply curious - “Is this guy (Jesus) for real?”
“I’ve heard this Jesus hangs out with sinners like me. I wonder. I’ve got nobody - no one likes me. I wonder if this Jesus …?”
What if Zacchaeus was desperate? What if he was at that place of realization that he was a scoundrel, and that money doesn’t buy happiness. What if Z had hit bottom – and no one knew it or cared? What if seeing Jesus was his last effort to stay in the “game?” What if Z was looking for someone to give Him hope, give him time, give him a little attention to say you’re still valuable …?
Again, we don’t know the motive for wanting to see Jesus. What’s the point I’m trying to make?
What do we know? He wanted to see Jesus but was prevented from doing so. For whatever reason, the crowd blocked Zacchaeus. How so? Scripture says it was because he was short in stature. I think this a double entendre. He was physically short, but he was also short in social likeability and respect. They had little use for him, so they blocked him.
I doubt his physical stature prevented him from seeing Jesus. See, a crowd can easily make room for shorter people and allow them to move to the front. But they didn’t. This tells me that the crowd intentionally blocked Zacchaeus. The crowd saw an opportunity to stick it to the man – and they did! “This guy doesn’t deserve to see Jesus and we’re going to make sure he doesn’t!”
Let me ask you – who does?
Who deserves to see Jesus? Everyone.
And we'll talk more about the crowd next week, but let me say this, in Scripture the crowds who followed Jesus were notorious for preventing people from seeing Christ. They were notorious for impeding Kingdom work. Now I'm not saying you and I are part of the crowd … but I am saying, we better not be.
Review:
1)Jesus remained focused on the mission. What can you do to remain focused on the mission?
2) He made room for interruptions and traitors and scoundrels. What can you do to make room for Divine interruptions – make room for traitors and scoundrels?
3) Do we know other people’s stories? Name one person who you can simply ask – what’s your story? And then listen.
4)Even traitors and scoundrels deserve to see Jesus. How can you let people see Jesus in you?
If you need to see Jesus …?
Communion - TJ