True Faith

INTRO

When one person wants to radically encounter Jesus in a new and refreshing way, it impacts a whole lot of people. In Luke 19, one “wee little man” was literally hungry for more. He wanted to experience more of Jesus, so he did whatever it took to encounter Jesus.

TEACHING

Luke 19:1–2: As Jesus passed through Jericho, He encountered a rich tax collector named Zacchaeus. Since he was a chief tax collector, he was a hated man. At that time, there were three places in Israel where taxes were collected: Jerusalem, Jericho, and Capernaum. Zacchaeus was hated by everybody. “Zacchaeus probably oversaw a large tax district and had other tax collectors working for him.”¹Not only was he robbing those from whom he collected taxes, but he also probably robbed those who worked for him. He likely came from one of the three big cities. MacArthur contrasted this encounter with the account of the rich young ruler, where Jesus said, “How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” (Luke 18:24). But Jesus also pointed out, “What is impossible with men is possible with God” (Luke 18:27). Even though Zacchaeus was rich, we have to allow God room to radically reach this guy.

Luke 19:3: Zacchaeus tried to see Jesus, but he was unable to because he was a short man and couldn’t see over the crowd. Why would he want to see Jesus? He was a wealthy tax collector. He’d probably heard about Jesus from Matthew, Jesus’ disciple who was once a tax collector.

Luke 19:4: Zacchaeus ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree. A sycamore is a sturdy tree with low spreading branches so any small person could climb it. It has a short trunk with low hanging wide branches. Climbing a tree was childlike and undignified, not something a tax collector would normally do. John Calvin said: “Curiosity and simplicity are a sort of preparation for faith.”²In Luke 18:13, Jesus described the prayers of a tax collector: “standing afar off . . . kept striking his chest . . . saying, ‘God, turn Your wrath from me—a sinner.’” Jesus went on to say, “Let the little children come to Me, and don’t stop them, because the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” The only people who play in trees today are kids. That’s why they build tree forts. But in this case, the head money guy climbed a tree because his heart was softening, and childlike faith was beginning . . . maybe because he had heard of Matthew’s faith.

Luke 19:5: Jesus looked up and invited Zacchaeus to come down so Jesus could stay with him. We don’t know if Jesus had any interaction with Zacchaeus before this moment. But Jesus called him by name. When God calls us by name, it’s an experience we never forget. Psalm 139:13–18 assures us that God knows every single little thing about us. Hebrews 1 says Jesus is the Creator. Since Jesus helped create Zacchaeus, He knew him by name. He knows way more than our names because He created us. Jesus told Zacchaeus, “Today, I must stay in your house.” Zacchaeus was searching and hungering for more. Now that Jesus found him, He wanted to spend time with him. Zacchaeus humbled himself, became poor in spirit, and hungered and thirsted for Jesus (Matthew 5:3–6). We can’t just tell people they need Jesus; they have to realize for themselves they need Jesus.

Luke 19:6: Zacchaeus came down quickly and welcomed Jesus joyfully. John 1:47–49 says Jesus saw Nathaniel under the fig tree and knew who he was. “Before Phillip called you . . . I saw you” (v. 48). Nathaniel recognized Jesus as the Son of God. When someone is hungry for Jesus, Jesus will find him or her.

Luke 19:7: “All who saw it began to complain, ‘He’s gone to lodge with a sinful man!’” They complained that Jesus hung out with the sinners. Let’s compare Zacchaeus with the Pharisees. On the outside, Zacchaeus was labeled a sinner. On the inside, based on him climbing a sycamore tree, he was hungry for the truth. On the outside, the Pharisees were religious and followed the letter of the law; they played that part really well. But on the inside, they were empty and had no hunger for Jesus; they rejected the truth. Zacchaeus welcomed Jesus, but the Pharisees criticized Jesus. Zacchaeus had been a mess for a while, but while the Pharisees looked good on the outside, they were empty inside. In Matthew 23, Jesus told the Pharisees they cleaned the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they were full of greed and self-indulgence. He told them, “Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup, so the outside of it may also be clean” (Matthew 23:25–26). Jesus condemned them for playing the game of religion. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs . . . you seem righteous to people, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness” (Matthew 23:27–28). Jesus wants to spend time with those who seek Him.

Luke 19:8: Zacchaeus said to Jesus, “Look, I’ll give half of my possessions to the poor . . . and pay back four times as much.” Tannehill described Zacchaeus’s reaction as “radical repentance.”³“The law required a penalty of one-fifth as restitution for money acquired by fraud . . . The law required fourfold restitution only when an animal was stolen and killed.”⁴Like the tax collector in Luke 16:13, Zacchaeus saw himself for who he was when he came into the presence of Christ––the almighty Creator who knew his name. Zacchaeus realized when he came down from the tree that he was letting go of the money, because he couldn’t be a slave to God and to the money. His response stands in stark contrast with the rich young ruler who, in Luke 18:18–23, refused to “sell all that you have and distribute it to the poor.” Zacchaeus overcame the financial strings around him and gave it all up for Jesus.

Luke 19:9: Jesus said, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham.” Galatians 3:7 explains that, “those who have faith are Abraham’s sons.” Because of Zacchaeus’s faith in Christ, he was labeled as a man of faith who was Abraham’s son. Romans 2:28 says, “For a person is not a Jew who is one outwardly, and true circumcision is not something visible in the flesh. On the contrary, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart - by the Spirit, not the letter.” This literally took place in Zacchaeus’s life. His heart was circumcised.

Luke 19:10: “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost.” Jesus came to earth to seek and save the lost––the sheep, the coin, the prodigal son, and Zacchaeus. Jesus came to fulfill the mission of the Messiah to bring freedom and save those who are lost, just as He announced in Luke 4:17–19.

CLOSING

Praise the Lord, Jesus is coming after us, and we can find hope in that.