Designed for Salvation

Jesus and Zacchaeus

Introduction

Last week we looked at Jesus’s interaction with the two blind men outside of Jericho. We learned about what Jesus did after leaving Jericho. Today we will get a small glimpse of what He did before leaving. Not His entire ministry in the city but a small glimpse of one important interaction He had inside.

Jericho… Is an important city not far from Jerusalem. It is about 16 miles as the crow flies from Jericho up to the city of Jerusalem. If you remember your Old Testament its the first city Joshua overtakes as he enters Israel. Joshua and the Israelites march around the city and God brings the walls down so they can over take it. Archeologists have excavated the ruins of Jericho and located segments of the wall from the story in your bible.

The truth of the bible… The bible consists of real stories about real people from real places. The bible is not folk lore or moral fairy tales its a record of real events.

Trade… Jericho name means city of palm trees. Date Palm groves and balsam groves in the city that were its chief commerce. Jericho sits in the bottom of a valley surrounded by mountainous harsh terrain. The date palms and balsam were feed by the springs in the valley. Jericho was gateway into the Jordan valley for trade.

Jericho - 850 feet below sea level

Jerusalem - 2500-3000 feet above sea level

The climate in Jerusalem was perfect for growing things. The climate was so usually nice Jericho was often a vacation spot for those who lived in the surrounding area. Something like San Francisco.

Setting… Jericho was a kind of Oasis surrounded by a harsh climate. This is the setting for todays parable. A place of busy trade with a great climate and ample water surrounded by harsh wilderness.

Lk 19:1–10 19 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.”

Details… Lukes account provides a lot of details for this very short interaction. This story has more details that is typically provided in Jesus’s interactions with other people in the gospels. We learn Name, Job, Rank, Height, Wealth, possibly social status. That is a lot for a gospel account

Not just a tax collector… We learn Zacchaeus isn’t just a tax collector, He is a chief tax collector. The only chief tax collector listed in the bible. He isn't just a Jew employed by the Roman government, He is a Jew very successfully employed by the Roman Government.

Rich… The text says he is rich. He has made a great deal of money doing what He does and He has become a prominent member of the tax collectors. He is a somebody in the world of the Tax Collectors and the Romans.

The tax system… Roman bid system. Guarantee x amount of tax's to the government. You then employ people underneath you to collect those taxs.

Commerce of Jericho… All the hard work his fellow Jewish people do has been lining the pockets of the Roman government. And in true tax collector fashion all the tax he has been colleting hasn't just been for the Romans. Those tax's, the one he gets to add on the top, have been going to him.

Separated… Understandably so this man lives in Jericho but he is not accepted by the people He lives amongst. Tax season makes me mad enough the way it is. If I knew there was a single someone who got to choose how much to rip me off I don’t know what I might do.

v7 He has gone in to be the guest of a sinner… Jesus has gone in to be with that guy. Remember names are rare in the gospels. Zacchaeus would have been well known. He is the chief tax collector of the wealthy city Jericho. Oh it’s him. It’s Zacchaeus, can you believe he is eating with him? Zacchaeus lives in Jericho but because of his profession, the decisions he has made. He isn't one of them he isn't accepted. His lifestyle has made him an outsider.

Surrounded and short… So we find this wealthy, prominent outsider in the streets of Jericho surrounded by people who don’t accept him. And that's nots all. As if his profession did not set him apart enough he is remarkably shorter than everyone else around him.

Overlooked… People already avoid him because of what He does. On top of that he is shorter than everyone else. Zacchaeus is either avoided because of what He does or overlooked because of his height. For all intents an purposes I see a man alone.

Among us… I cant help but see Zacchaeus’s everywhere in our communities. He is the neighbor down the road. He is the delivery driver on the route. The parent dropping their kid off at school. Even the person in our own families. Zacchaeus’s are people alone, surrounded by others but not really part of them.

Given up on… The alcoholic, the drug abuser, the thief, the prostitute. You pick the category, someone who has chosen a path in life everyone recognizes isn’t good and has been written off by everyone around them.

Those who have never been witnessed to… I have heard the testimonies of faithful confessing Christians who have admitted that while they were trapped in their sins for years no one witnessed to them. And I have to wonder, Am I the problem. Have I overlooked that person trapped in Sin and alone.

In your life… Do a self inventory right now. You can probably quickly come up with at least a couple who are stuck in an obvious lifestyle of sin. If you continue your inventory. If you really search through your rolodex of people my guess is your going to stumble across something else. People in your life you have written off or simply overlooked, like the crowds had written off Zacchaeus, that you didn't even realize you had. People you moved into the category of Unredeemable. Will never change. There’s no hope for them.

The crowds attitude… Do you see the crowds attitude? “He has gone in to be the guest of a sinner. ”Why would Jesus eat with him? Doesn't he realize who that is? He’s the tax collector. He doesn't deserve Jesus’s time or attention.

Pride… What does that sound like to you? That attitude that says others don’t deserve. To me it has pride written all over it. It’s no different that what Satan did to God. It’s no different than what Cain did to able. It’s I deserve what another has, not them.

Zacchaeus’s attitude… The text says Zacchaeus “joyfully received” Jesus. What a contrast to the crowd.

Humility… I see the exact opposite of pride from Zacchaeus. I see humility. I see an eagerness to receive Jesus.

Zacchaeus in action… In the parable Zacchaeus is doing several things. He ran to the tree. He climbed it. He hurried and came down when Jesus called him. He received Jesus. He stood and spoke. Zacchaeus, the last person anyone expected, pursued Christ. He responded to the presence of Jesus.

Proverbs 18:12 “Before destruction a man’s heart is haughty, but humility comes before honor.”

Jesus honored Zacchaeus because he was humble.

The crowds action… In contrast the crowds only action in the parable was this “7 And when they saw it, they all grumbled”. Grumbling that's the extent of the crowds action. The could have asked Him questions, invited Him to lunch, brought the sick for healing you name it. The only thing they did when Jesus Christ the Son of God came near was grumble. Complain about someone else.

Pride is a dangerous sin… Church pride is a dangerous sin. Slipping into pride means you often miss what’s wrong in your own life. They are so busy looking into the life of Zacchaeus they completely miss the fact the savior has come. They miss the fact their own hearts are in a terrible condition. The salvation that could have been theirs, walked right on past them as they grumbled. If any one of them, any single one had earnestly sought God that day they would have received salvation just like Zacchaeus.

Zacchaeus disadvantage… I bet there were times when Zacchaeus felt like his height was an issue. Where he felt like less of a person because he wasn't tall. But what was it that drove Zacchaeus up the tree to see Jesus? His height. Why was it that Jesus saw Zacchaeus in the crowd? The fact that he was in a tree.

Zacchaeus height may have seemed like a disadvantage. But when Zacchaeus let who he was draw him to the Lord, it became his advantage. It was not by chance or accident that Zacchaeus was small.

Psalm 139:13 “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.”

Designed for salvation… There was a day in Zacchaeus’s mothers womb that God looked ahead and saw him meeting Jesus. He was uniquely designed by God so that one day because he was smaller than those around him he would climb up the tree Jesus found him in.

Don't begrudge… Don't look at yourself as less. Know that however God choose to design you was intentional. The way you were designed by him was meant to draw you to Him and bring glory to him in the process.

Old testament connection… There is and Old Testament connection to Jesus’s interaction with Zacchaeus in the Book of Joshua.

Wander… The Israelites are done wandering the the wilderness for 40 years and it is time for them to enter the promised land

Spies sent… Joshua sends two men into Jericho to spy.

Rahab's house… They enter the house of a prostitute named Rahab.

King searches… The king finds out they are with her and send for them.

Hide and escape… Rahab hides them on her rooftop and later lowers them down from a window in the wall so they can escape.

Covenant made… Before they escape they make covenant with her. If you conceal us and help us escape, when Israel comes in to take the land you and everyone in your house will be spared.

Rahab spared… When Israel conquers Jericho they spare Rahab and her family.

Rahab Jesuses grandmother… Rahab goes on to be Jesus’s great great great great and so on grandmother.

Matthew 1:1–6 “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram, and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David the king. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah,”

Think about that. Jesus is standing in the city where his great grandmother received the spies of Israel, made a covenant with them and became one of Gods people.

Boaz and Ruth… The Boaz and Ruth listed are the same two from the book of Ruth. One of the bibles greatest love stories. An you know who Boaz’ mother is, Rahab, the prostitute who took in Joshua’s two spies.

One woman from many… This was one woman in an entire city, was willing to sperate from the “crowd”, the people she was surrounded by, to choose covenant with God.

Looked down on… She was a prostitute. Not one of society's up class. How many of her own people would have looked down on her just like they did Zacchaeus?

Alone… Woman would not have wanted to be her friend for fear of luring their husbands away. Men would have wanted to be around her for one reason only. She would have been a very alone person like our Zacchaeus.

Written off by others… And yet this woman who everyone else would have written off received covenant with God and became the great grandmother to Jesus.

Saved Rahab… Salvation came to the house of Rahab, the lone house of one woman caught in sin in the city of Jericho.

Saved Zacchaeus… Salvation came to the house of Zacchaeus. The lone house of one man caught in sin in the city of Jericho.

Others see the brokenness… Where others saw the brokenness of Zacchaeus Jesus saw a child of God waiting for salvation.

Came to save us all… Prostitute, Tax collector. Jesus did not condemn anyone. He addressed their sins and then called them to new life. It didn’t matter how unclean or unworthy they may have seemed to others.

John 3:16–17 ““For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

Out of the crowd… Zacchaeus had to come out of the crowd to meet Jesus. He had to get up in the tree and set himself apart from everyone else to find salvation.

Rahab’s crowd… Rahab had to come out of her own kind of crowd. She had to set herself apart from her city. She had to become an Israelite by covenant to receive salvation.

Time to step out… Is it time for you to come out from among the crowd? To step away from everyone else and choose your own path of following the Lord. Is it time to make a distinction in your life that clearly sets you apart as the Lords.

What if He didn't… If Zacchaeus had stayed with the crowd, would he ever have received Jesus?

The price of staying with the crowd… Let me tell you the price of remaining with the crowd is high. If you want to follow the crowd, please understand, you will end up where the crowd is headed.

Luke 13:22–27 “He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them, “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’”

Zacchaeus transformation… Zacchaeus’s transformation is huge. It’s a complete 180 that can be easily lost in the text.

“Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.”

The poor… Upon Zacchaeus’s conversion he is immediately concerned with the poor. He has spent a life taking advantage of people to gain wealth, to the point he has become the rich. If the poor had been a concern in his life before he would not have been over taxing people in the first place.

Those he defrauded… The law of Moses required those who stole from others to repay what was taken plus one fifth, 20% the value of what was taken.

Numbers 5:6–7 ““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, 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.”

Radical generosity… Restoring 4 times what he had taken from others was an act the goes beyond restitution and into radical generosity. Radical generosity is a theme laced throughout the new testament. We are generous because God has been so generous.

1 John 4:19 “We love because he first loved us.”

Thankfulness… What Zacchaeus is demonstrating here is thankfulness. Knowing He deserves judgment, He has instead received salvation. His heart is full of the joy of knowing the Lord.

Life marked by Jesus… Zacchaeus’s life is completely different now. This is life and life abundantly. He truly living now. He isn't a slave to money. He doesn't have to take other peoples money. Now he can give money. Jesus is his Lord now not wealth.

Rich Young ruler… Once again I want to point us back to the story of the rich young ruler just a few passage back. This young man come to Jesus and has everything but eternal life. So He asked Jesus what must I do to inherit eternal life. Jesus’s response paraphrased is, obey the law of Moses and give away your wealth to follow me. The Rich Young ruler walks away rejecting Jesus because He cant give up his stuff.

The Rich Zacchaeus… But Zacchaeus who is rich and needs nothing meets Jesus. He is willing to give up all that he has, all his wealth, for Jesus. Zacchaeus realized something even before He meet Jesus. You could have everything this world has to offer but its not enough. There is no amount of wealth in this lifetime that can fill the heart of man with satisfaction with God.

Mark 8:34–38 “And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.””

Life without God plus anything, is nothing. Life with God, even without anything else, is everything.

Closing

Zacchaeus… The root of Zacchaeus’s name is Zaccai. It means pure, or innocent.

Jesus’s last statement to the crowd...

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 acted...

Will you act...