When Zacchaeus Encountered the Savior
Notes
Transcript
Opening Illustration
Opening Illustration
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So, please turn your Bibles to the Gospel of Luke.
We will conduct our study in Chapter 19 and focus on verses 1 through 10.
Our message this morning is titled “When Zacchaeus Encountered the Savior.”
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As you are turning to our passage today, please keep in mind this fact:
Jesus’ encounter with Zacchaeus is an example of the kingdom of God bringing salvation to the outcasts.
It also provides a lesson on the proper kingdom use of money and possessions.
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So, this morning we will cover three main points:
1) The Sinner
2) The Encounter
And...
3) The Salvation
Opening Prayer
Opening Prayer
Before we consider our text, please join me in prayer...
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Heavenly Father...
You are xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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Help us to xxxxxxxxxxxxx
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Thank You for xxxxxxxxxxxx
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And it is in Jesus’ name we pray all these things...
Amen.
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Let’s turn to our text for today:
Reading of the Text
Reading of the Text
1 He entered Jericho and was passing through.
2 And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich.
3 And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small in stature.
4 So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way.
5 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.”
6 So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully.
7 And when they saw it, they all grumbled, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.”
8 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.”
9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham.
10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
So, let’s look at our first point...
1) The Sinner
1) The Sinner
Verses 1-4: 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.
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As we have talked about previously in this study, tax collectors are viewed as disloyal Israelites who where hired by the Romans to tax other Jews for personal profit.
So, they became symbols for the worst kind of people to the Jews.
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The MacArthur New Testament Commentary on Luke says:
“Although tax collectors were the most hated and despised outcasts in Israel, it was not a crime to be one, since taxation is a divine institution.
The theocratic kingdom of Israel in the Old Testament was funded by a detailed taxation system in which every Jewish person paid essentially 23.3 percent of their income to support the government.
When some repentant tax collectors asked John the Baptist, ‘Teacher, what shall we do?,’ he did not tell them to quit their jobs as tax collectors, but rather charged them, ‘Collect no more than what you have been ordered to.’
Jesus commanded that taxes be paid when He said, ‘Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s,’ and He Himself paid the required taxes.
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What God denounced was abusive or illegitimate taxes, extortion, dishonesty, and taking money from people by use of physical violence, intimidation, and cruelty, as tax collectors in the ancient world did.
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The Roman occupation of Israel involved more than just a military presence; the nation was also subject to Roman taxation.
The taxes in Galilee, for example, were forwarded by tax collectors to Herod Antipas, and by him to Rome.
Antipas sold tax franchises to the highest bidder, and such franchises were a lucrative business.
Tax collectors had a certain amount that they were required to collect, and whatever they collected beyond that they were permitted to keep.
In addition to the poll tax (on everyone, including slaves), income tax (about one percent), and land tax (one tenth of all grain, and one fifth of all wine and fruit), there were taxes on the transport of goods, letters, produce, using roads, crossing bridges, and almost anything else the rapacious, greedy minds of the tax collectors could think of.
All of that left plenty of room for larceny, extortion, exploitation, and even loan sharking, as tax collectors loaned money at exorbitant interest to those who were unable to pay their taxes.
Tax collectors also employed thugs to physically intimidate people into paying, and to beat up those who refused.”
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Zaccheus probably oversaw a large tax district, and had other tax collectors working for him.
Jericho alone was a very prosperous trading center and was a well-known toll place in Isreal, especially for goods passing east and west between Judea and Perea.
So, it is certain that Zaccheus was a wealthy man.
It is striking to note that only a chapter earlier, Luke recorded the account of the rich young ruler, and Jesus’ statement about “how hard it is for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God.”
Here Jesus demonstrates that with God, nothing is impossible.
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xxxxxxxxxxxxxx Luke 3:12–14:
12 Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?”
13 And he said to them, “Collect no more than you are authorized to do.”
14 Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages.”
xxxxxxxxxxxx Matthew 9:9:
9 As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.
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Luke records that Zacchaeus “was seeking to see who Jesus was” and the imperfect tense of “seeking” in Koine Greek suggests he had wanted to see him for some time.
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“The crowd” apparently refers to people in Jericho who lined the street to see Him pass through.
They had undoubtedly heard about the recent raising of Lazarus in Bethany, less than 15 miles away.
That, combined with His fame as a healer and teacher, stirred the entire city when word arrived that He was coming.
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A “sycamore tree” is a tree with low, spreading branches.
Precisely, the sycamore fig can grow sixty feet tall.
This tree is not the mulberry fig of western Europe, but more like an oak tree, only with a short trunk and wide, lateral branches that make for easy climbing.
So, a small person could get out on a limb and hang over the road and have a “bird’s eye” view.
This was an undignified position for someone of Zaccheus’ rank, but he was desperate to see Christ.
In other words, such undignified behavior, according to that culture, indicates that more than curiosity was at play here.
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2) The Encounter
2) The Encounter
Verses 5-7: 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.”
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When Jesus said, “I must stay at your house today,” this was worded as a mandate, not a request.
It is the only place in all the gospels where Jesus invited Himself to be someone’s guest.
A self-invitation was not the norm in Judaism, and verged on impropriety.
The reason for this it that there was the divine necessity of Jesus’ bringing salvation to Zacchaeus’s home.
So, just as Jesus’ forthcoming passion in Jerusalem was divinely ordained, so Jesus’ individual actions all fit into the divine plan, even his bringing salvation to Zacchaeus’s home.
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Zacchaeus—who only wishes a glimpse of the famous teacher—gets much more: he will host the teacher in his home.
The request shows that Jesus accepts Zacchaeus.
Zacchaeus welcomes Jesus into his home, whose acceptance is a sign of fellowship and forgiveness.
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The crowd is offended by Jesus’ intention to stay with Zacchaeus.
They like Jesus’ miracles, but they do not care for his personal associations.
The complaint about Jesus staying with sinners shows that the crowd has learned little from his ministry.
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You see, Beloved, both the religious elite and the common people hated Zaccheus.
Zacchaeus symbolized the authority of a government that was taking the people’s money and oppressing them.
They did not understand, and in their blind pride refused to see, what possible righteous purpose Jesus had in visiting such a notorious sinner.
As the Pillar New Testament Commentary on Luke says:
“What earlier typified Pharisees has now spread to the population at large:
All ‘complain’ or ‘grumble’ against him.
In the parable of the Lost Sheep, ninety-nine sheep were safe and one was lost;
In the Zacchaeus story, one is safe and ‘ninety-nine,’ as it were, are lost.
Moreover, the hostility of the crowd has shifted from Zacchaeus to Jesus.
In showing mercy to a tax collector, Jesus has taken the scorn and hatred directed to tax collectors upon himself.”
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Among the Jews it was an unheard-of thing for a rabbi or any other religious leader to lower himself (in their eyes “pollute” himself) by staying at the house of a “publican”.
So they were greatly offended at His allowing Himself to be entertained in the house of Zacchaeus, a prominent member of this despised class.
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xxxxxxxxxxxx Matthew 11:19:
19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.”
xxxxxxxxxxxxxx Luke 15:2:
2 And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”
xxxxxxxxxxxxxx Luke 7:39:
39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.”
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Matthew 9:10–13:
10 And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples.
11 And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
12 But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.
13 Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
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3) The Salvation
3) The Salvation
Verses 8-10: 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.”
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Zaccheus’ willingness to make restitution was proof that his repentance, faith, and conversion where genuine.
The example of Zacchaeus, who gave away half of his goods, underscores the kind of openhanded generosity that characterizes those whose hearts have been transformed by the gospel.
So, it was the fruit, not the condition, of his salvation.
As theologian James R. Edwards says:
“This vow is not made as a precondition of Jesus’ acceptance, but as a result of it.
Jesus does not require Zacchaeus to change before he takes up residence with him;
Jesus takes up residence, and his presence evokes a transformation within Zacchaeus.”
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The law requires restoration of the amount wrongfully taken, plus a fifth as a penalty, so Zaccheus was doing more than was required.
The law required 4-fold restitution only when an animal was stolen and killed.
If the animal was found alive, only two-fold restitution was required.
But Zaccheus judged his own crime severely, acknowledging that he was as guilty as the lowest common robber.
Since much of his wealth had probably been acquired fraudulently, this was a costly commitment.
On top of that, he gave half his goods to the poor.
But Zaccheus had just found incomprehensible spiritual riches and did not mind the loss of material wealth.
He stands in stark contrast with the rich young ruler in Luke 18:18–24.
As the New International Commentary on the New Testament on Luke says:
“Numerous connections secure the Zacchaeus episode within its immediate co-text, underscoring the degree to which the significance of this scene is forcibly constrained by its narrative location.
Zacchaeus is like others on comparable quests who are faced with obstacles;
Zacchaeus, like a widow, a toll collector, children, and a blind beggar, is a person of low social status; and so on.
By far the most impressive parallels are between the accounts of the rich ruler and of Zacchaeus.
Both are ‘rulers.’
According to his self-evaluation, the first keeps the commandments, while Zacchaeus is, according to popular opinion, a ‘sinner.’
The ruler is counseled to sell all he has and give to the poor; Zacchaeus sells half of his possessions and gives the proceeds to the poor.
Both are wealthy.
In the first interaction, Jesus is asked, ‘Who then can be saved?’ while at the conclusion of the second, Jesus asserts, ‘Today salvation has come to this house.’
Such points of contact serve to orient our reading of Luke 19:1–10 to the correlation of status and suitability for the kingdom.”
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xxxxxxxxxxxx Leviticus 6:1–7:
1 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
2 “If anyone sins and commits a breach of faith against the Lord by deceiving his neighbor in a matter of deposit or security, or through robbery, or if he has oppressed his neighbor
3 or has found something lost and lied about it, swearing falsely—in any of all the things that people do and sin thereby—
4 if he has sinned and has realized his guilt and will restore what he took by robbery or what he got by oppression or the deposit that was committed to him or the lost thing that he found
5 or anything about which he has sworn falsely, he shall restore it in full and shall add a fifth to it, and give it to him to whom it belongs on the day he realizes his guilt.
6 And he shall bring to the priest as his compensation to the Lord a ram without blemish out of the flock, or its equivalent, for a guilt offering.
7 And the priest shall make atonement for him before the Lord, and he shall be forgiven for any of the things that one may do and thereby become guilty.”
xxxxxxxxxxxxxx Numbers 5:5–8:
5 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
6 “Speak to the people of Israel, When a man or woman commits any of the sins that people commit by breaking faith with the Lord, and that person realizes his guilt,
7 he shall confess his sin that he has committed. And he shall make full restitution for his wrong, adding a fifth to it and giving it to him to whom he did the wrong.
8 But if the man has no next of kin to whom restitution may be made for the wrong, the restitution for wrong shall go to the Lord for the priest, in addition to the ram of atonement with which atonement is made for him.
xxxxxxxxxxxx Exodus 22:1:
1 “If a man steals an ox or a sheep, and kills it or sells it, he shall repay five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep.
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xxxxxxxxxxx Romans 6:11–14:
11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions.
13 Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.
14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 1 John 1:6:
6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Acts 19:18–19:
18 Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices.
19 And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver.
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xxxxxxxxxxx Deuteronomy 15:7–8:
7 “If among you, one of your brothers should become poor, in any of your towns within your land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother,
8 but you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be.
xxxxxxxxxxx 2 Corinthians 9:6-15:
6 The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.
9 As it is written, “He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.”
10 He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.
11 You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.
12 For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God.
13 By their approval of this service, they will glorify God because of your submission that comes from your confession of the gospel of Christ, and the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others,
14 while they long for you and pray for you, because of the surpassing grace of God upon you.
15 Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!
xxxxxxxxxxx 1 Timothy 6:17–18:
17 As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.
18 They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share,
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By his actions, Zacchaeus reveals that he also is a true son of Abraham as Galatians 3:6-9 says:
6 just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”?
7 Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham.
8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.”
9 So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
xxxxxxxxxxxxx Galatians 3:29:
29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.
And...
As Romans 9:6–8 says:
6 But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel,
7 and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.”
8 This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring.
xxxxxxxxxxxx Romans 2:28-29:
28 For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical.
29 But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.
So, he is not just his physical descendant but a true spiritual descendent of Abraham.
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xxxxxxxxxxxx Matthew 1:21:
21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
xxxxxxxxxxx 1 Timothy 1:15:
15 The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.
xxxxxxxxxxxxx Ezekiel 34:16:
16 I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice.
xxxxxxxxxxxx Ezekiel 34:11:
11 “For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxx Matthew 18:12–14:
12 What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray?
13 And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray.
14 So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxx John 10:14–15:
14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,
15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.
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Again, I appreciate the words of wisdom of theologian James R. Edwards when he says:
“The fellowship of Jesus is not offered as vindication of poor and condemnation of rich, but as ‘good news of great joy’ to all who are lost, whether poor or rich.
Grace is forever scandalous because it is forever undeserved.
It is doubly scandalous for Zacchaeus, a rich oppressor, who seems so much less deserving of grace than Lazarus, a wretched outcast.
Grace is a scandal because it insists on including those whom we wish to exclude.
The story of Zacchaeus illustrates such grace.
It ends not with Zacchaeus seeking Jesus but in Jesus seeking him, not in Zacchaeus’s moral perfection, but with his recovery and restoration as a ‘son of Abraham.’
The ironic interaction between Zacchaeus and Jesus is not unlike a former student of mine, a Hindu at the time, who began to read the New Testament—and discovered that the New Testament was ‘reading’ him!
The decisive seeker is not Zacchaeus, but Jesus, who accomplishes God’s mission, as foretold by the prophets, ‘to seek and save what was lost.’”
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Whosoever accepts Jesus whole-heartedly in his life and becomes personally acquainted with Him receives real salvation, a salvation which brings about an effective and practical revolution in his life, inwardly and outwardly.
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Closing Illustration
Closing Illustration
So, as this message comes to a close...
I would like you to consider this:
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Closing Prayer
Closing Prayer
Let’s pray...
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Heavenly Father...
If anyone hearing this message right now does not know You in a saving way:
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I appeal to Your Name’s sake!
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For those hearing this message who already know You:
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Again, I appeal to Your Name’s sake!
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It is in Jesus’ name we pray all these things...
To God be all the glory.
Amen.
