The Collector
Luke 19:1-10
Jesus has been traveling and teaching. In our text for today He’ll have an encounter with someone in Jericho.
But before he gets there he was teaching via parables, and walking with many people. Including His disciples, people who just wanted healing, people who were looking for a way to catch Him or discredit Him.
If they only knew that they were encountering the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe. I wonder if their encounters would have been different.
Many of them just wanted something for themselves. They didn’t want Jesus, they just wanted what He could provide for them in the here and now.
He provided Healing, wisdom, food, teaching. There were 12 that were following Him that got it, or some would say 11 that got it. But we must be careful not to ascribe too much credit to them either, while they knew Him and loved Him, and would in fact give their lives for Him, some of them were short sighted.
Their encounters were repeatedly in the here and now, and without eternal perspective.
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Peter was one of my favorites, but he was often short sighted.
And if we’re really honest with ourselves, the same is true of us.
Sometimes even with the best of intentions, our pursuits even in Christ are for the here and now.
But Jesus has, and wants us to have a Kingdom perspective. He wants us to count the cost, and after having done so, even if the cost is high, we should still follow Him.
Jesus always has a Kingdom focus.
His actions are not haphazard, they are deliberate.
Just before our text today, Jesus taught about the Parable of the Prodigal son, the parable of the Dishonest manager, the parable of the persistent widow, and listen to this, in chapter 18 of Luke, just before where we are today, Jesus taught about the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector! The Tax Collector!
Luke 18:9-14:
9 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
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Luke 19:1-10 says:
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.”
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He was deliberate in all His actions. He was not coincidentally walking through Jericho.
Luke 9:51-58 says a lot about this journey:
51 When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. 52 And he sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of the Samaritans, to make preparations for him. 53 But the people did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. 54 And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” 55 But he turned and rebuked them. 56 And they went on to another village.
The Cost of Following Jesus
57 As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 58 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”
The history of Jericho in Joshua 6, as the Israelites marched, and how the Lord’s people would march around the outside Jericho’s mighty walls, and the victory would be theirs not because of their marching, but because of their faithful God.
It is interesting that here we are today and Jesus is walking through Jericho.
And in the midst of the city, as Jesus was passing through, He encounters a man.
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Zacchaeus was not just a tax collector, what does the word say about him?
2 And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich.
Zacchaeus was not just a tax collector, his office was over all the tax collectors.
Not only were the tax collectors exacting their overage on the people, but it is likely that Zacchaeus was contributing to the burdensome system by exacting his own on the payments the tax collectors brought.
The word says here that Zacchaeus was rich!
Verse 3 says:
2 And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small in stature.
Zacchaeus was a small man. The word doesn’t give us an indication of how small, just that he was small in stature.
He was not only a small man, but likely a man that people feared. Even though his stature was small, he would wield his authority like Goliath.
I would remind us here of 1 Samuel 16, where in the selection of a new King, the word says:
6 When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before him.” 7But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”
The word here says that he was seeking to see who Jesus was. Why was that? I wonder if word had gotten to him about the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector. I don’t know, but it is possible. Remember a great crowd followed Jesus, and would have gone ahead, just as Zacchaeus did. So it is possible that some in the crowd could have heard of Jesus parable, and arrived ahead of Him.
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In verse 4 the word says :
4 So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way.
One of our elders heard that I was preaching on Zacchaeus, and sent me some of these pictures.
Zacchaeus was seeking to see who Jesus was, as it is that Jesus “saw” Zacchaeus.
Not only did he see Zacchaeus, but He called him by name.
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Verse 5 says:
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.”
Jesus called Zacchaeus by name. Not only did He call him by name, look what He says,
I must stay at your house today!
This is again representative of Jesus’ deliberate actions, regardless of what the culture said.
In fact, we see today that Jesus was walking through Jericho. In some earlier passages, we see that Jesus was walking through Samaria. This is a land that the Israelites avoided, because of an intense dislike between them and the Samaritans. But Jesus didn’t care about the cultural norms. He was bold and deliberate in everything that He did.
He is bold and deliberate in everything that He does, because He IS GOD!
Have you considered the fact that Jesus “Must Stay in your House” today?
Have you received Him like Zacchaeus did?
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Zacchaeus’ response
Verse 6 says:
6 So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully.
Zacchaeus was eager to receive Jesus. This created some waves in the community though.
The religious crowd didn’t like some things about this encounter.
7 And when they saw it, they all grumbled, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.”
You remember, I said there were all manner of people in the crowd. Some wanted something from Jesus, some wanted to catch Jesus, and some genuinely wanted to be “WITH” Jesus.
Zacchaeus was of this latter group.
He demonstrates genuine repentance, and turns towards an eternal perspective.
He says:
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.”
So think of this. Here is Zacchaeus, a man charged with the collection of taxes and rich from it.
He looked around his wealthy surroundings and counted it all as rubbish. In fact, he makes some moves to more than pay for his wrongdoing.
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In fact the repayment for wrong doing is prescribed in the law.
Look at these verses:
Lev 5:16
He shall also make restitution for what he has done amiss in the holy thing and shall add a fifth to it and give it to the priest.
Num 5:7
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.
So under the law, what was Zacchaeus required to return?
He is to add a fifth to what he had kept wrongly.
What did he return?
He didn’t add 1/5th of the principal, he multiplied the principle by 4 and that he repaid.
This is a genuine repentance and remember…Jesus doesn’t look at the exterior, He sees the heart.
Jesus sees Zacchaeus’ genuine repentance, which is actually demonstrated by Zacchaeus’ actions.
And because of Zacchaeus’ repentance, Jesus says:
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 counted the cost, and realized the truth of Matthew 6:19-21.
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Where is your treasure?
Let me put it another way…
What you value eternal in nature or temporal?
Has Jesus come to your house?
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Discussion Questions:
Do you have a view of stature that aligns with God’s view of stature? (ie. see people and things how God sees people and things)
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Is there anything that you cling to, in spite of the cost of holding on to it? **
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**Is there anything that God is calling you to let go of in order that you can be fully engaged in His mission?
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One of the most iconic verses of Luke may be verse 10. Which side of that verse are you on? (Lost/Saved)
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