Latest / HBCWestminster / 10.24.21 Luke 19:1-10 Pastor Nathan Anderson

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10.24.21 Luke 19:1-10 Pastor Nathan Anderson · HBCWestminster

• 0:00
  We come to a familiar passage today. We will be in Luke chapter 19, verses 1 through 10. A familiar passage for many of you, I'm sure. If you have grown up in the church, and perhaps even if you haven't grown up in the church, you may have heard of this wee little man, Zacchaeus. As we prepared for this message and this week, Sam and I joked that he was going to sing Father Abraham three times and we were going to close.
• 0:29
  with Wee Little Man Zacchaeus for the service today. I'm still a little disappointed that we didn't do that, but those songs were good as well. Though this passage be familiar, my prayer this morning is that as we approach this passage, we might do so with expectant hearts and minds for the Lord to press into our hearts the truth of his revealed word as the Holy Spirit illumines our minds. I pray.
• 0:59
  If this is familiar, you might remind yourselves, we might remind ourselves of the truth of Hebrews where it says that God's word is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, able to pierce the mind and the heart and the soul. And thus, as we enter into our study, be expectant to hear God speak to you directly from his holy word.
• 1:25
  If you are new to this recounting of Zacchaeus and are coming fresh, I pray that today the Lord might illuminate your heart and imprint on it the glorious promise made to this man, Zacchaeus. That is my hope, and with that as my hope and my prayer this morning, allow me to read our passage. If you would stand with me in honor of God's word, we will read verses 1 through 10 of Luke chapter 19. The word of the Lord says this.
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  So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him. For he was about to pass by that way.
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  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 was a sinner. And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, behold, Lord.
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  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 save the lost. Let's pray, church. And Lord,
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  We do come before you understanding that what we do now is study the very words, the breath speaked out, the truth speaked out by you. And God, because of that, it is powerful. It is important. It is meaningful to us even now as we study. God, I pray that you would imprint on us
• 3:44
  The incredible truth is revealed in your word. God, you have chosen these words for a reason and for a purpose, and they are a gift and a blessing to us to study now. We pray for a blessing over it. I pray for clarity in my speech that you might be honored and glorified in all we say and do now. I pray these things in your name. Amen. Amen, church. Well, at the moment of this text that we find ourselves, Christ is soon to enter into Jerusalem on the donkey.
• 4:15
  The event often understood as the triumphal entry and is mere weeks away from his betrayal and crucifixion. Luke has been stating throughout his gospel the truth that this gospel is for everyone. It is the gospel for those whom have had no gospel.
• 4:39
  Last week, Pastor Sam masterfully crafted an exposition on the two blindnesses seen at the end of Luke 18, showing us the spiritual blindness of the disciples and the physical blindness of the man, and that God has the power to meet both. In the previous weeks leading up to that, Pastor Danny took us through the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector.
• 5:03
  where God showed mercy on the sinful tax collector who acknowledged his sin and rebuked the Pharisee who assumed he had none. As we look back at these events and consider the teachings of Jesus there, as well as this event in this passage today, I believe we will see a deep connection of where we have been and where we are now. I hope as we study...
• 5:31
  how these passages relate to and expound on each other, we will see the incredible power and promise of the gospel. Our title for today is A Man Who Became a Child. And my points will be these. The characters, the conversation, and the conversion. With, I pray, our hearts now expectant for the truth to be impressed and imprinted on our lives, let's consider our first point, the characters. Let's meet our characters.
• 6:01
  In our passage, we will meet them in verses one through three. We first meet Christ. He entered Jericho and was passing through. The he we see later on is indeed Jesus. Our first character is Christ. Next, verse two, we meet the man named Zacchaeus, our second character in this study. And then finally in verse three, we see the crowd. The crowd, but on account of the crowd, he could not.
• 6:30
  Now why do these characters matter? Well, first they matter because they're in the word of God. Second, they matter because I think in them we will discover both the heart of our Savior as well as the heart of each of them. And in so doing, we will get a warning to us. In verse one, we see that Christ is passing through Jericho. It says he entered Jericho and was passing.
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  In this statement we see there is no intention given to actually stay in Jericho. It is a means to an end. He is headed towards Jerusalem. His triumphal entry on the donkey is soon to come. Christ has his mind and his actions pushed towards Jerusalem. He is passing through, heading towards his crucifixion. This event so on his mind that he is actually just
• 7:34
  Again, prophesied of his death to his disciples for the third time. Even though Christ is only passing through Jericho, though, his heart for the lost is displayed once more as he decides to pause his plans. He shows his disciples and us that he truly desires all people to be saved and come to a knowledge of him, as Paul says to Timothy in Timothy 2, verse 4.
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  As Christ makes time for Zacchaeus, he proves that he always has time for the sinner who is seeking him. Luke describes Zacchaeus as such a man who is seeking Christ. It says that he was, in verse 3, seeking to see who Jesus was. Our second character, I believe, was a curious man. However, his curiosity only pushed him far enough to desire to simply see Jesus.
• 8:30
  Not to actually meet him in person. That was not what it says of him. He didn't desire to meet him. He desired to see him. But his curiosity about Jesus did push him past what would have been culturally laughable. That is that he ran and climbed a tree. Actions we will explore more in our third point. But let's consider more about who our second character is revealed to be. Zacchaeus, scripture tells us, was small.
• 8:59
  If you know the song, he was a wee little man. Now it's estimated that people in that time, their average height was somewhere around 5'4 to 5'7. So shorter than those who we find ourselves with in America to today. So for Luke, though, to specify as a physician, to give this designation of this man as small in stature, was to say that Zacchaeus was of abnormal.
• 9:33
  He was not simply a bit smaller, but significantly smaller than the average. There is good reason then to consider that Zacchaeus was closer to four feet tall than to five feet tall. Why is that all significant? Well, not only did his profession make him somebody who was an outlier, one who was not liked in the culture of that day, but so did his stature. You see, people,
• 10:04
  who were considered physically abnormal would have been considered outcasts in that culture of the day. An abnormally short, corrupt chief tax collector was the least likely to be hung out with and was often culturally mocked. This was a man whom no one would have wanted to be seen with, both for his physical appearance as well as his character. In short, there was nothing lovely about him.
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  Our third character is the crowd. We see them in verse three, but on account of the crowd, he could not see Jesus. This crowd is not named. However, the crowd is most likely filled with many of those religious people who had been following Christ, if only to consistently show their disapproval for his actions. The crowd continues in their disapproving state as they see Zacchaeus received
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  By Christ, they grumble once more of Jesus' acceptance of those whom they have considered unworthy of their time and unworthy of God's. In verse seven, the word grumble is the same word used of the Pharisees and scribes found in Luke chapter 15, verses one to two, where they also negatively respond to Christ receiving sinners and tax collectors. So we have our cast of characters, the Savior, the sinner,
• 11:34
  and the grumblers. Each of these are important, especially as we consider this recounting of Luke is actually not recorded in any other gospel. This is the only recounting of the story of Zacchaeus. As Pastor Danny has pointed out many times as we have gone through the gospel of Luke, when we come to a portion in the gospels which is not recorded elsewhere, it is done so with a purpose. Done so to
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  Show the theme and reason that that author is writing, what God has impressed on their heart. So this is unique to Luke, and I believe it connects with the parables and persons talked about in Luke chapter 18, and will connect ultimately with Luke's purpose for writing his gospel. Please continue to hold these facts in your minds as we continue. We have our characters, the Savior, the sinners, and the grumblers.
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  Next we get our conversation. We must consider the contents, the conversation between those characters. Look at verse five of Luke 19 where it says, and when Jesus came to the place, the place where the tree was, where Zacchaeus had climbed, he looked up and said to him, Zacchaeus, hurry and come down for I must stay at your house today. And here we first, we have our first statement and we see that Zacchaeus had no hesitation.
• 13:03
  He responds to the call from Jesus right away. Next, we have a statement from the crowd as they see Christ offer to go and meet with this man, Zacchaeus. We see they grumbled and responded and said, he has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner. He's gone to be a guest in the house of a man who is a sinner. Now, church, if there is a more self-righteous statement in scripture,
• 13:36
  I don't know of one. That statement is just dripping with self-righteousness and unwillingness to understand the truth of Romans chapter three, verse 23, that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. The truth is, there's not a house that Christ could have gone to that wasn't the house of a sinner. So by them saying that, you see the fact that they thought they were worthy of Christ. He should have come to my house. We're the righteous ones, not this man who is a sinner.
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  You see the crowd stating this shows their unwillingness to understand they are also sinners. In fact, as I said, there is not one house that Jesus could have gone to that day which would not have been the house of a sinner. All have sinned. So the crowd reveals their self-righteousness as they call Zacchaeus a sinner, judging Christ for being a guest of a sinner, all the while thinking themselves the righteous ones. The next statement made comes from Zacchaeus.
• 14:41
  verse 8. He says, behold, and as I was studying for this one commentator noted that when we read the word behold, important things come afterwards. Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.
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  This may seem like kind of an arbitrary statement or response from Zacchaeus, perhaps maybe trying to simply just pay off his own sin. However, Zacchaeus' statement actually has its root in the Old Testament law and reveals his understanding of his sin and I believe shows true repentance. Let's consider why.
• 15:41
  In Exodus chapter 22, as Moses is giving the law to the people, to Israel, he's going through and giving them all of these scenarios, these examples of things that someone could do that would be sinful and what their response should be based on that sin. And in chapter 22, he's going through and laying out the sin of stealing. And if you've stolen this and done that, then you need to do this.
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  And he gives essentially two payments, two repayments that must be made for the sin of stealing. One is to pay back twofold, and the other is to pay back fourfold. Zacchaeus prescribes to himself the most severe payment, to pay back fourfold the amount stolen. And many commentators, and I would agree, this reflects a heart which was contrite and making no excuse.
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  for the sin that he had committed. Now, I named this point, the conversation, and I just quoted three statements, so you may be asking yourself, why is this named the conversation? Well, if we put these three statements together, we get the conversation which has taken place and a very vivid picture of each of our characters' hearts. We see an invitation from Christ. I must stay at your house today. We see the first response.
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  from the crowd, which is one of judgment and rejection, and then we see Zacchaeus' response, which was acceptance and repentance. We have our characters, the sinner, the savior, and the grumblers. We have the conversation, the invitation, the rejection, and the acceptance. And now, church, we come to the most amazing and beautiful truth of conversion.
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  The conversion. It is here that we begin to see the deep and powerful connections with the previous chapter as well as why Luke is recounting this story. Why this story is unique to Luke's gospel. Luke is writing again to give hope to those who have no hope. To show a gospel to those who thought there was no gospel. Luke is writing to express to those who thought themselves too lost.
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  That there is indeed good news in Christ Jesus for all the people. As he said in Luke chapter two, as the angel came to the shepherds and said, fear not, for I give you good news of great joy for what? All the people. Essentially, Luke's purpose statement. Good news for all the people.
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  Luke has been showing us this purpose over and over again as he writes his recounting of the Christ Jesus. But how does this story of Zacchaeus connect with Luke's primary purpose? First, let's consider Christ's response to Zacchaeus' statement and acknowledgement of his sinful actions. Verse nine says this. Christ's response to Zacchaeus' confession and acknowledgement of his sin is this. Today, salvation has come to this house.
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  Here we see Jesus proclaim the salvation of Zacchaeus based on his faith and repentance. We see the conversion of Zacchaeus. Allow me to unpack the significance of this as well as connect it with the previous chapter. In our previous studies of Luke chapter 18, we saw the parable Christ gives of the self-righteous Pharisee and the lowly tax collector. However, it was just a parable, just an example, just a picture of what could be.
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  From Christ. Next, we saw Christ call for the little children to come to him and he says, for such, the child, the helpless child, for such is who will inherit the kingdom of heaven. Then we met that rich ruler who loved his wealth more than salvation. The self-righteous ruler whom said to Christ after being told,
• 20:05
  to all the commandments that he must keep, he says, all these from my youth have I kept. And that might be the more self-righteous statement in the word there. All these from my youth have I kept. Now what is the connection in the conversion of Zacchaeus? Zacchaeus is a rich man who humbles himself like a child and in so doing shows the incredible power of the gospel.
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  We see in our passage that Zacchaeus ran ahead and climbed a tree. Now these two actions would have not only been considered undignified for a man of his position, but also, as I said, laughable and even childish. Only children ran in that time. Only children climbed trees. That part, that second part, might be true today, unless you are climbing it to get some toy for one of your kids.
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  Only children climbed trees and ran. In these two actions, I believe we begin to see the deconstruction of the prideful and sinful heart of Zacchaeus as he takes childlike actions just to gain a glimpse of Jesus. His childlike curiosity drove him to move beyond what society would have considered dignified and take undignified, childless actions. We're beginning to see the connection with the previous passage.
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  For such belongs the kingdom of heaven. Next we see in the conversion of Zacchaeus the real life illustration of the parable given in chapter 18. Christ tells the parable again of the self-righteous Pharisee and the lowly tax collector. And through Zacchaeus, through this recounting of this story by Luke, the parable is brought to real life in 3D. The Pharisees are there casting judgment.
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  And the tax collector is there receiving redemption. The final connection we see with this passage and the previous ones is this. And church, this is amazing. This is beautiful. This should cause our eyes and our hearts and our minds to step back in awe of the power of the gospel. We now see the gospel and its power on display, full display as Christ.
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  ended his interactions with that prideful rich ruler, one that we studied two weeks ago, who walked away unregenerate because he valued money over redemption. Christ made this statement to the crowd. It is easier for the camel to pass through the eye of the needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom. And guess what, church? The camel just passed through the eye of the needle.
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  It did so by the power of the gospel because this rich man, Zacchaeus, just got saved and inherited the eternal kingdom of heaven. Church, the power of the gospel is beyond our comprehension. Those who heard that statement from Christ to the rich ruler said in response, then who can be saved? If it's easier to pass through the eye of a needle, who can be saved?
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  What was Christ's response? What is impossible with man is possible with God. But brothers and sisters, Jesus didn't just make the statement, he proved it. He proves the reality of it. Church, what is impossible with man is possible with God. Namely, the conversion, the salvation of the most depraved sinner. What Christ expressed in a parable, he proved in a life.
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  Zacchaeus' life. And he desires to prove this in each of our lives today, this very day. Today is the day of our salvation, not tomorrow, but now. If you do not know Christ, he offers it to you right now. He also will prove this throughout eternity as he calls us to himself. And all this if we would but trust and take him at his word. Christ tells us,
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  Amen, church? Came to seek and save the lost. And there is none too lost for him. Jesus shows us here that he always had time for the sinner seeking him. Zacchaeus,
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  was indeed seeking to see Christ. We see also that Jesus has the power to save all, no matter the history, no matter the sin. There are none here today who are beyond the ability of Christ and the gospel to be saved. There are none in your lives that are too far gone for Christ. Even if you already know him, church, if you have walked away, Jesus calls you back to himself.
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  He is faithful to show himself to us over and over and over again. The only thing which keeps anyone from coming to the cross of salvation is a self-righteous heart. The Pharisees and many whom have seen and had seen Christ and rejected him, they did so because they did not want to accept him because accepting him meant accepting their own brokenness and their own need. Church,
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  The heart that is depicted and seen by the Pharisees in this, in the crowd, in this recounting from Luke, this heart attitude is one each one of us can fall into, and this is where we get the warning for each one of us. Looking in judgment on the lost and the struggling with contempt instead of the compassion and love of our Savior must never be true of us because, as Paul said to Timothy,
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  He desires all people to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. Church, allow me to, as we end, ask a few questions. Are you struggling with pride? Preach the gospel to yourself and allow God to make you soft, humble, and childlike once again. Are you struggling with anger over culture's rejection of the truth? Preach the gospel to yourself and to them.
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  We are all capable of going astray. Each of us go to our own way apart from the work of the Holy Spirit and the word in our lives. Are you struggling to love and lead your kids as they need? Preach the gospel to yourself and them. We are all in need of God's grace and God is ready to lead us and meet us if we would but seek him. Are you struggling with anger or resentment?
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  or confusion over the loss of a loved one over this past year. Church, preach the gospel to yourself. Preach the gospel to your family who are hurting because we must remember always that his grace is sufficient. And in him is the peace which surpasses all understanding. Why is this all true, church? Because...
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  What Christ said is true. What is impossible with man is possible with God. Namely, the conversion of our prideful and hard hearts to hearts of flesh, regenerated by the blood of the Lamb. Amen, church? Let me leave you with this statement. As Jesus was simply passing through a town, a man became like a child and found salvation.
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  As we are passing through this life, may we always remind ourselves of what a precious Savior we have, what a precious salvation we have, so that we prove and preach him to the lost, whom are the very reason, church, that Christ came to seek and save the lost sinner. Let's pray. Father in heaven,
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  In your word is life. In your word is truth. In your word is your heart. God, as you proved, your statement was not just a parable, not just a theory, but was reality. As you took a man lost, steeped in sin, prideful sin, taking advantage of his fellow man, and yet you converted his heart. You changed his heart. You brought redemption to his life.
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  God, I pray that you would impress in our hearts, imprint on our hearts this truth, this reality, that there is none too far gone for your gospel, that you truly came to seek and save the lost, and that means those whom are less desirable, those whom we might not want to talk with. As Sam said last week, those who are maybe undesirable, but God, for you all,
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  all our desire to come to salvation. You love and have loved greatly, and so may we do the same. God, give us eyes to see those who are seeking you. Give us the words to speak to them that they may come to know you. Thank you, Lord, that you call us to take part in your redemption story here on earth. We pray these things in your name. Amen.