The King Who Seeks and Reigns
Notes
Transcript
It has been several years since we first opened the Gospel according to Luke together.
Some of you were not here when we began.
Others were.
What I want to begin with this morning is a reminder of the big picture.
Before we continue on into Luke chapter 19, we need to pause—not to start over, but to re-orient ourselves.
Luke did not write his Gospel as a collection of disconnected stories.
He tells us at the very beginning that he set out to write an orderly account,
so that his reader might have certainty about the things he had been taught (Luke 1:1–4).
1 Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, 2 just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, 3 it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4 that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught.
Luke is showing us who Jesus is, why He came, and what it truly means to respond to Him.
And from the beginning, Luke has been clear about one thing:
The kingdom Jesus brings is not what people expect.
Luke shows us a gospel that moves from the outside in.
The lowly are lifted up.
The proud are brought low.
Those assumed to be “inside” God’s favor are exposed, and those written off as “outsiders” are welcomed by grace.
This is an upside down kingdom.
Luke begins with barren Elizabeth,
a young and obscure Mary,
shepherds in the fields,
and a Savior laid in a feeding trough.
He continues with tax collectors, sinners, women, Samaritans, the poor, the sick, and the broken.
Over and over, Jesus shows compassion where religious people show contempt,
mercy where others draw lines, and grace where people expect condemnation.
Most recently, as we worked through Luke 18,
Jesus taught us to persevere in faith while we wait for the fullness of God’s kingdom.
He showed us that no one is justified by their good works, but only by humble dependence on God’s mercy.
He welcomed little children and told us that the kingdom must be received, not earned.
And He confronted a rich ruler who walked away sorrowful because he would not let go of what mattered most to him.
Luke 18 leaves us with a question hanging in the air:
Who will enter the kingdom of God?
That question brings us to a turning point in Luke’s Gospel.
Up to this point, Jesus has been traveling, teaching, inviting, and revealing.
From here on, He is moving steadily and deliberately toward Jerusalem.
The tone begins to shift.
The invitations become sharper.
The divisions become clearer.
The cost of responding to Jesus becomes unavoidable.
Luke 19 is not just the next chapter.
It is the turning point.
Everything Luke has shown us so far prepares us for this moment.
The upside-down kingdom.
The outside-in grace.
The call to repentance, faith, surrender, and trust.
In this chapter we will meet a man perched in a tree—an outsider despised by his own people—who receives Jesus with joy.
We will hear a parable about a King who entrusts his servants with responsibility while He is away.
And we will feel the tension building as Jesus moves steadily toward the city that will ultimately reject Him.
Luke 19 is where the road narrows.
As we step into Luke 19 this morning, we are not just turning a page.
We are stepping into the moment where Jesus calls and a man responds.
The question is no longer theoretical.
It is deeply personal.
And the call turns to us also.
Will we receive the King?
Will we trust Him?
Will we follow Him?
Let us turn now to Luke 19:1–28 and see what happens when Jesus comes seeking the lost.
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.” 11 As they heard these things, he proceeded to tell a parable, because he was near to Jerusalem, and because they supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately. 12 He said therefore, “A nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and then return. 13 Calling ten of his servants, he gave them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Engage in business until I come.’ 14 But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to reign over us.’ 15 When he returned, having received the kingdom, he ordered these servants to whom he had given the money to be called to him, that he might know what they had gained by doing business. 16 The first came before him, saying, ‘Lord, your mina has made ten minas more.’ 17 And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant! Because you have been faithful in a very little, you shall have authority over ten cities.’ 18 And the second came, saying, ‘Lord, your mina has made five minas.’ 19 And he said to him, ‘And you are to be over five cities.’ 20 Then another came, saying, ‘Lord, here is your mina, which I kept laid away in a handkerchief; 21 for I was afraid of you, because you are a severe man. You take what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow.’ 22 He said to him, ‘I will condemn you with your own words, you wicked servant! You knew that I was a severe man, taking what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow? 23 Why then did you not put my money in the bank, and at my coming I might have collected it with interest?’ 24 And he said to those who stood by, ‘Take the mina from him, and give it to the one who has the ten minas.’ 25 And they said to him, ‘Lord, he has ten minas!’ 26 ‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 27 But as for these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slaughter them before me.’ ” 28 And when he had said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.
Jesus and Zacchaeus
Jesus and Zacchaeus
If you grew up in Church, this section likely already has you singing.
Zacchaeus was a wee little man and wee little man was he!
The song focuses on his stature, but what Luke really focuses on here is the character of this man.
He was a chief tax collector, and he was rich.
In the book of Luke, we have already been introduced to tax collectors.
We know they were Jews, who were despised by their fellow countryman because not only did they work for the Romans, but they stole from their own people.
How they earned a living was by extorting more money out of people than they actually owed for taxes.
Luke says Zacchaeus was a chief tax collector.
He was the boss of the tax collectors.
That meant he made a lot of money—but he made it in the worst way possible.
Rome told him how much tax to collect, but Zacchaeus could charge people more than required and keep the extra for himself.
He also took a cut from the tax collectors under him.
The system was built on taking advantage of people, especially the poor, and Zacchaeus was very good at it.
Because of this, everyone hated him.
To the Jews, he was a traitor—a fellow Jew working for the enemy.
He was seen as greedy, dishonest, and unclean.
Religious people would not accept his money.
He likely was not welcome at the synagogue.
Even though he was rich, Zacchaeus was cut off from his own community.
Even through all of this, Jesus had gained Zacchaeus attention.
All of this together is part what makes this story so powerful.
And I say part because the most significant portion of this story is not a despised small man climbing into a tree,
But rather the call and response that follows.
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.”
Now, if we will slow down just a bit, there is a really beautiful picture here—
one we might miss if we rush past it.
What Luke shows us in these verses is a kind of balance, a harmony the Bible is very comfortable with, even when we are not.
Most of us know that within the Christian world there tend to be two camps.
One camp emphasizes how God chooses us—His sovereignty, His initiative, His grace.
And that is not wrong.
Scripture is clear that salvation begins with God.
It is hard, in fact, to overemphasize the sovereignty of God.
And we see that very clearly here.
Jesus is walking through Jericho, surrounded by a large crowd.
Zacchaeus is up in a tree, unnoticed, uninvited, and unlikely.
And yet Jesus stops, looks up, and calls him by name:
“Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.”
That is God’s initiative.
That is grace reaching down.
That is the pursuing love of God toward an individual sinner.
But Luke does not stop there.
We are also told that Zacchaeus received Him joyfully.
6 So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully.
He responds.
He comes down.
He opens his home.
He welcomes Jesus.
And that is the other side of the picture.
Some people like to frame these things as opposites
—God’s choosing on one side, human response on the other—
as if they cannot exist together.
But the Bible does not seem bothered by that tension at all.
It simply presents both as true.
Jesus calls Zacchaeus.
Zacchaeus responds to Jesus.
The Bible never asks us to choose between those truths.
These truths are present in the same book and same passages over and over again.
37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.
The father is giving people to Jesus.
If we goo a little father
40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
That is man’s responsibility, belief.
Keep going
44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.
This is the sovereignty of God in salvation.
Then again in verse 47
47 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.
Salvation is a gift from the father to the son.
Or if we look to Paul
18 So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.
Chapter 9 is all about the sovereignty of God in salvation.
But then we get to Romans 10:9-13
9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Scripture invites us to believe them both.
These twin truths are running along the the same track.
Like two rails on a rail bed.
On the surface there is tension.
We can’t resolve these realities.
JI Packer said
A God whom we could understand exhaustively, and whose revelation of Himself confronted us with no mysteries whatsoever, would be a God in man's image, and therefore an imaginary God, not the God of the Bible at all.
That is why I am not interested in joining camps.
Once we choose a camp, we tend to start defending our position instead of listening carefully to the whole counsel of God.
Scripture is far more comfortable holding truths together that stretch our understanding.
Packer argues for calling the relationship between divine sovereignty and human responsibility an “antinomy,” not a “paradox” as many have done.
“An antinomy exists when a pair of principles stand side by side, seemingly irreconcilable, yet both undeniable” (26).
In other words an antinomy is an apparent contradiction, not a real contradiction.
Although some people have commonly referred to divine sovereignty and human responsibility as a paradox, this is not the case.
For a paradox is a dispensable, comprehensible play on words intended to unite two opposite ideas.
Packer recognizes this antinomy, or mystery, may lead to the temptation to an exclusive concern with one of the two sides.
The way to avoid such extremism is to make “it our business to believe both these doctrines with all our might, and to keep both constantly before us for the guidance and government of our lives”
Here in this story, Luke gives us a quiet reminder: salvation is initiated by God’s grace and received by genuine faith.
Not everyone responds when Jesus calls—but Zacchaeus did.
And he did so with joy.
The truth of this is found in Zacchaeus words and actions as well as Jesus response.
Read again with me
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.”
Zacchaeus displayed genuine repentance.
Jesus says Today salvation has come this house since, since he also is a son of Abraham.
We need to put our thinking caps on.
The common understanding of the phrase son of Abraham means that he is a Jew.
But how did Abraham believe?
What made Abraham righteous?
6 And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.
Paul said
7 and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring,
and
7 Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham.
If we go back to Luke 3:8 when John the Baptist is calling out the crowds coming to him to be baptized
8 Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham.
Zacchaeus faith moved him to action.
That is the reason Jesus came.
10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
The crowds of course did not like any of this.
We saw this by how they grumbled -
English Standard Version Chapter 19
He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.
Jesus proceeds to tell the parable in verses 11-28.
The people around grumbled when Jesus went to Zacchaeus home even though he had just he was giving half of his wealth away to the poor, which would have been a significant amount, and he would restore anyone he had defrauded fourfold.
Zacchaeus genuine faith brought genuine repentance and action.
The parable of the ten minas emphasizes to the people listening the need for action as a result of salvation.
The story Jesus tells here is of a wealthy man who is leaving to receive something even greater, a kingdom.
To receive it he has to travel into a far country to receive it.
This shows an aspect of time.
It would be a significant journey for him and take a long amount of time.
Jesus is setting the stage for the Jews to understand, that He, the Messiah, is going to go away.
He's talking about His coming ascension to the right hand of the Father.
The period of time that there's going to be there before He returns as, Lord of all the earth, and Lord of everything.
He calls ten of his servants and gives theme each one mina and tells them to use it to engage in business until he returns.
A mina was equal to about 100 days wages, so it was not an insignificant amount.
They were to use it to continue the work of the master.
This was an important picture for the Jews to grasp and an important one for us as well.
The picture that we get in this passage is how you and I are supposed to live our lives in this interim period.
The story goes on in verse 14, and it says, "But his citizens hated him..." And this is different.
This is not the same people as his servants.
This is a different group of people now.
These people, his citizens, Jesus says hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, 'We do not want this man to reign over us.'"
They sent a delegation to whoever was going to crown this man as Lord of this kingdom that he was going to receive.
They want to say we reject this man's leadership over us.
This is primarily a picture of the Jewish people because you'll notice it says these were "his citizens."
In a very literal sense, the Jews were His citizens.
This is a picture of the rejecting population of the Jews.
The majority of the people of Israel who rejected their own Messiah.
Of course there are a lot of Gentiles who have that same attitude.
We don't want Him to reign over us.
Nobody's going to tell me how to live, or tell me what to do.
Jesus uses this parable to illustrate the response of unbelieving people and the expectations of his followers during his absence and the importance of faithful service.
The nobleman, representing Jesus, entrusts his servants with minas, symbolizing the gospel, and instructs them to engage in business until his return.
The parable emphasizes that all believers share the same responsibility to actively invest the gospel in their lives and communities.
As Jesus continues two servants successfully multiply their minas, demonstrating faithfulness, while a third servant, paralyzed by fear, fails to invest his mina and is deemed wicked.
This servant's actions reflect a misunderstanding of the master's character, portraying God as harsh rather than generous.
The text warns that neglecting to use God-given gifts can lead to loss, as the unproductive servant loses his mina.
Ultimately, the parable teaches that Jesus will return to hold his servants accountable for their actions.
Luke, Volumes 1 & 2 Use It or Lose It
Scholars have long wondered whether the third servant was saved, or whether he was lost forever. The story does not say. Maybe the wicked servant stands for someone who is in the church but does not actually have a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. J. C. Ryle thus describes him as a “professing Christian who is content with the idle possession of Christianity, and makes no effort to use it for his soul’s good, or the glory of God.
Luke, Volumes 1 & 2 Use It or Lose It
David Gooding asks: “Could anyone who truly believes that Christ gave his life for him, ever turn round and tell the Lord that in asking him to work for him, the Lord was asking for something for nothing? And would any one who believes that Christ’s death has secured him forgiveness for all his sins, ever tell Christ that he was afraid to work for him in case he made a mistake?”
Notice that the Master refers to this person as a wicked servant.
That's what's really going on.
It wasn't that the Master was wicked.
The servant, in fact, was the wicked one.
He completely ignored the command that the Master gave when he gave out the minas in the first place.
He completely ignored... And then he blamed his lack of faithfulness on some character flaws of the Master.
And yet we see the opposite when what we see in this parable is,
that when the Master sees what his servants have done, he rewards them generously.
Lavishly, as a matter of fact.
Not a cruel man, a very gracious man
The text encourages believers to actively engage with the gospel,
serving God with their time and resources, and reassures them that their efforts, despite imperfections, are accepted through Christ.
The question for us, of course, is what we are doing with what we have.
The Master has been gone a long time, but one day soon he will come again, in royal triumph.
Are you working hard for his kingdom?
Are you making wise investments with your time and money that will strengthen your spiritual portfolio?
What are you doing with the gospel?
I believe Jesus is telling this story to show those people who were scoffing at Zacchaeus that, and those who were following him that judgment will take place.
As a Christian, you're going to be judged according to how you invested in the kingdom.
You are not going to be judged for your sins.
That judgment has taken place already.
That occured when Jesus paid that penalty for us on the cross.
He hung on the cross to die for your sins.
He was judged for your sins!
His blood covers our sin.
But there will also be the Judgment seat of Christ as Paul calls it.
In theological terms today we call it the Bema seat of Christ.
In scripture it is generally understood there are two judgments in the end times.
One the Bema seat judgment, and the great white throne judgment which we see in Revelation.
The Bema seat is for believers, like what Jesus is describing here, they will be judged based upon how they used what Jesus gave them during his time away.
The Great White throne will be for unbelievers, those who are dead in sin, their names are not written in the book of life and have rejected Christ.
The reality of judgment tells us something important:
what we do with Jesus matters,
and what we do for Jesus matters.
Not because we are earning salvation—but because salvation changes us.
That is why Luke places these two scenes together.
Zacchaeus is not an isolated story.
In Zacchaeus, we see how salvation begins.
In the parable of the minas, we see how salvation continues.
It is a call to faithful living.
So as we step back and look at Luke 19 as a whole, Luke is not giving us two disconnected moments.
He is giving us one unified message.
And that brings us to where we must land today.
Zacchaeus reminds us that salvation is not something we achieve.
It is something we receive.
Jesus seeks.
Jesus calls.
Grace reaches out first.
And yet Zacchaeus responds—joyfully, humbly, and visibly.
His faith does not remain hidden.
It reshapes his life, his priorities, and his relationships.
Then Jesus tells a parable that looks forward.
The King will go away.
There will be time.
There will be waiting.
And during that waiting, His servants are entrusted with responsibility.
The message is simple and sobering:
Grace received always leads to faithfulness lived.
So the question Luke presses on us is not merely, Have you been called?
The question is also, What are you doing with what the King has given you?
Some in this passage receive Jesus with joy.
Some openly reject His rule.
And some appear to belong to Him, but do nothing with what they have been given.
Luke wants us to examine ourselves honestly.
Have you received Jesus personally, like Zacchaeus, with repentance and joy?
Are you trusting in grace alone, not your background, morality, or religious activity?
If you belong to Christ, are you living faithfully in the long in-between—
using your time, your resources, your influence, and your gifts for His kingdom?
One day, the King who went away will return.
And when He does, grace will still be grace—but faithfulness will matter.
So today, the call is not complicated.
Receive the King.
Trust Him.
Follow Him.
And while we wait for His return, let us live lives that show He is worth everything we have.
