The Road to Calvary: Jericho

We have been following Jesus’s final journey to Jerusalem, as laid out in the book of Luke.

Luke 9:51 ESV

When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.

Last Week we saw the People Jesus interacted with as he left Galilee in the north, and came to Samaria

The Samaritans and Jews did not get along, there was a centruries long feud between them,

Jesus looked past this, did not allow his followers to cast judgment on them, and even accepted them

And we saw how when we take time to look past our anger and see people as people, that sometimes the people we least expect become the ones that are the best at spreading the gospel.

Now We see Jesus leaves Samaria and goes to Jericho.

Jericho is not on the way to Jerusalem from Samaria!

Jesus takes a detour here!

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Lowest city on earth.

WHY???

Jericho has it’s own past.

Oldest walled city in the world

Often Destroyed

Joshua 6:15–20 (ESV)

On the seventh day they rose early, at the dawn of day, and marched around the city in the same manner seven times. It was only on that day that they marched around the city seven times. And at the seventh time, when the priests had blown the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, “Shout, for the Lord has given you the city. And the city and all that is within it shall be devoted to the Lord for destruction...” So the people shouted, and the trumpets were blown. As soon as the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted a great shout, and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they captured the city.

Jericho was the first city to be captured in the Promised land, as such it has constantly been tied to the idea of God’s deliverence

Jesus as a deliverer decides to go through Jericho on his way to Jerusalem as an echo of that deliverance

Many of the Judean kings had a “winter Palace” in Jericho

and since the time of king David, when the King returned from Jericho to Jerusalem there was great rejoicing

So this is actually leading up to palm sunday and the triumphal entry, which echos the return of the king from Jericho.

Jesus is proclaiming that he is the king returning to his home.

We will get to that more in a couple of weeks.

There were People in Jericho that needed Jesus

The Blind man Bartimaues:

Only Mark records his name, though Matthew and Luke both share this account.

Mark 10:46–52 ESV

And they came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart. Get up; he is calling you.” And throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. And Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” And the blind man said to him, “Rabbi, let me recover my sight.” And Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way.

Jesus heals a blind man with a word.

Many people tell him to be quiet, but he shouted! and Shouted and shouted!

The last time people shouted in Jericho the walls came crashing down.

This man shouts and even as people try to keep him from getting to jesus he shouts!

and once Jesus hears him, he calls Bartimaeus to him, and the people who were just blocking him, now make room for him

Church what this tells me is that you cannot be dismayed by the walls and Obstacles that keep you from God’s will.

Dont be afraid to Shout, or Cry out, and make your desires known to God,

How many times do we hear people say “Be quiet!” or do we feel like our prayers and our desires need to be quiet and orderly

and yes there is a place for order

But sometimes we just need to shout and Cry out to God to help us.

Jesus then asks the man what he wants.

I feel like it would be obvious, - He’s blind, he wants to see.

But I am convicned that if this man came to Jesus and asked for a peanut butter sandwich Jesus would have given him a sandwich and then let him remain blind.

When we come to Jesus in prayer dont be afraid to ask Jesus specifically for what you want.

This wasn’t the only person Jesus encountered in Jericho

Luke follows up this account with another one

Luke 19:1–10 ESV

He entered Jericho and was passing through. And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small in stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all grumbled, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

Zacchaeus Was a wee little man.

And a tax collector

Tax collectors in that time were about as corrupt as you can get

No one likes tax collectors. even today.

they worked for the romans, so they were seen as traitors

THey had to collect a certain amount for rome, any extra they collected they were allowed to keep.

Meaning they could determine their own paychaeck based on how much they told each person to pay.

and they had the army of rome at their beck and call.

they were extorsionists.

is was legal theft

But Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus, but because he was short he couldn’t see over the crowd

so he climbs up into a tree

Btw there is a 2000 year old sycamore tree still standing in Jericho, famously called Zacchaeus’s tree. you can go see it. Its a big tree, 2000 years ago it would have been smaller but it is still a large eoung tree to climb up and see over everyone’s heads.

Jesus invites himself to Zacchaeus’s house.

Jesus often ate with tax collectors, he had a disciple, Matthew, who used to be a tax collector.

Everytime he did the tax collectos had a change of heart.

Zacchaeus gives up everything he has, pays back those he had wronged and gives everything to the poor.

This happens less than one chapter after the account of the rich young ruler

Luke 18:18–27 ESV

And a ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.’ ” And he said, “All these I have kept from my youth.” When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. Jesus, seeing that he had become sad, said, “How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” Those who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?” But he said, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”

The Rich young ruler was not willing to give everything up, But Zacchaeus, a tax collector did.

Becuase with Jesus anyone can be saved.

What is impossible with man, is possible with God.

It was impossible to tear down the walls of jericho, but God did so when the people shouted.

It was impossible for a blind man to have new sight, but once he found Jesus his sight was restored

It was impossible for a rich man to enter heaven on goodness alone, but the evil tax collector, upon finding Jesus found salvation.

Church: What impossible thing do we want God to do here in Oswego?

It’s impossible to reach everyone in this city

It’s impossible to reduce inflation

It’s impossible to pay all my bills with our taxes going up

It’s impossible for God to forgive me after what i have done.

Its impossible for me to forgive those who have hurt me or my family.

Not with God.

Nothing is impossible for Our God.

But we cant do it on our own.