Luke's Gospel

Chapter 19, which is Page 10 53 in Church Bible from verse 1. Jesus entered Gerico and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zekaeus, He was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short, he could not see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore fig tree to see him since Jesus was coming that way.

When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, Sekius, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today. So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. All the people saw this and began to mutter, he was gone to be the guest of a sinner, But Zekiya stood up and said to the lord, look, lord, here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor And if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back 4 times the amount. Jesus said to him, today, salvation has come to this house because this man, too, is a son of Abraham.

For the son of man came to seek and save the lost. Ask to teach us tonight. So let's pray as we begin, and then we'll get stuck in. Father, we thank you so much for your words. We thank you for this just amazing account of Luke.

And so we pray now that as we look at this story that many of us may have heard before, that we may have all be familiar with. We pray father that actually you will teach us the truths that we need to hear. Father, you are gonna speak to us tonight, and so we pray that we will be ready and willing to hear. And to be transformed by the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so we pray this in Jesus' name, our men.

Now, I I I hope you would agree with me, and I I would hope you would you can see in our sort of culture that they're There seems to be a deep longing in people's lives. They're that people seem to be searching. They're always seeking for something. And, it's always There's always that phrase that comes about that you're we need to find ourselves. You need to find yourself.

And and we need to we need to keep looking to find what it is, and you get a bono scene, and I still haven't found. What I'm looking for, or you get various books that sort of say, Who in the world am I? This is Alison in Allison Wonderland. Wunderland. Who in the world am I?

Ah, that's a great puzzle. We don't we don't quite understand. We're trying to fit everything together to understand who we are. Or from the invisible man, when I discover who I am, I'll be free. I'll be free.

We're looking to to find ourselves to to be happy, to be free, to have rest. And this is this is all over our culture. 1 of my least favorite things is when I hear people go, while I'm gonna go traveling, I'm gonna go find myself. And it's always Thailand. As if in Thailand, that's where we all find ourselves.

Well, you find yourself in Thailand. That's about it. See, what I would want to say and what I think this passage reveals It's actually you won't find yourself in this world. And you won't find yourself by looking deep within by looking into your heart, by understanding a little bit more about who I am. Now actually, we're gonna see that to find yourself is to come to Jesus.

So we've been following Jesus, and and as he's been going, he's fixed his eyes upon Jerusalem. He is determined to go to Jerusalem, and you might notice if you look back in the passage in in chapter 18 verse 31, to 34. He's on the cusp. He's about to go in. You can read it there.

He says, We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the son of man will be fulfilled. He will be handed over to the gentiles. They will mock him, insult him, and spit on him. They will flog him, and kill him on the third day he will rise again. He's on the cusp.

He's about to go in. He's about to face his death. But despite that, despite the fact that he's about to die. Despite the fact that he's about to give himself over and let himself be killed by people. He's still interested in in individuals It's remarkable.

When something's pressing on my mind, I've got no time for anyone. Don't don't bother me. I'm a bit stressed. But Jesus No. Jesus is interested.

Jesus is invested. We saw it last week with the the blind beggar. He's willing to stop and call a blind man to him and give him his sight back. I'm gonna see this again tonight as he has his last interaction before he goes into Jerusalem. This is the last time, he will meet 1 to 1 with someone before he goes in to Jerusalem.

And what we're gonna see is that he's all about seeking and saving the lost. So look with me at this story. Firstly, I want you to see Zakius the seeker. Zakius, the seeker. In verse 1 to 4.

So you'll see, in verse 1, he enters this place called Jerico. And that the reason why he's going through Jerica, which is this incredibly wealthy, desirable place with lovely palms and beautifully censored it's a beautifully censored place, and you have loads and loads of different types of people. And the reason he's going through that place is because this is the last station on the way to Jerusalem. This is where you've got to go through to get to Jerusalem. In this place of jericho, what would often happen is there will be massive processions of people go through.

And when their procession of people went through Jerico, the people in the houses would all come out and meet them and say, oh, who's what's going on out here? It's always very interesting. And crowds would gather up. It's a bit like I am I grew up in a in a wonderful place called mold, Yes. I desirable like Gerico, molds.

When the the queen once came to mold, I think she must have been lost. She came to mold, and the street I actually didn't go, but I heard it. The the streets flocked, and they they lined up to sea. The queen. The queen's here.

In molds. Well, it's a bit like that in Jerica. When people come through, they flock. And and so, the word gets out that Jesus is coming through Jerico. Jesus, the miracle man, the carbon tube, does all the amazing things in teachers all the great things.

He's coming. And so you can imagine people flooding out into the streets and a great throng of people are around Jesus. And so in this scene, in Gerico, were introduced to our main sort of character apart from Jesus, Zakius. And now what sort of man is Zakius? Great name.

Zekius? Is he a great man? Well, looked down. With me at verse 2, a man was there by the name of Zekaeus. He was a chief tat collector and was wealthy.

What sort of man is he? Well, 1, he's a tax collector. He's a tax collector. And if you know anything about Jewish society, tax collectors are awful human beings. They're not the sort of people that you want to hang around with.

They're despised, and they're rejected people, they're they're social outcasts. And what's even worse was the key. It's not only is he a a tax collector, but he's a chief tax collector. He's the main the main guy. He's the 1 who who runs all the other tax collectors.

And the reason why no 1 like these people is because they betrayed They were seen as traitors to the Jewish people as they worked for the Romans. So we seize a chief tax collector. But we also see he's a wealthy man. He's a wealthy man. He's a filthy rich man.

And the reason he's probably rich is because he's a chief tax collector. As a chief tax collector, he would have benefited financially from taking money off his own people. In fact, you'll see in verse 8 that he says, if I have cheated anybody. Well, he did cheat people. That word cheated, it's a weird translation.

It means fig and former. But essentially, what it means is he would use he would gather a bit of inside information on people so then he could defraud them. He would he would take off the top of the money, For the Romans, he would take a little bit for himself and give the rest of the Romans. This this the Kiyas is basically like 1 of those mafia mob men. Right?

You know, the the people who go, we're gonna we'll give you protection for money. But I don't want protection where you're gonna need it from us. Oh, so I'm paying you not to attack me, brilliant. Okay? He's he's not a good bloke.

He's he's a bit he's someone who would use blackmail and extortion and use various schemes. To to get a little bit of gain, monetary gain. He's a corrupt man who would devise schemes to cheat people. To gain their money, he was clearly a greedy man. Now there's funny thing is, if you look at the name Zekaeus, it actually means pure.

Innocent, clean. Can you imagine it? Little baby little babies born. What should we call him? Let's call him the case for we want him to be pure.

We want him to be clean, and innocent, a real man for god. 80 however many light years down the line, what does their sick oh, little zacchaeus do now? What does little pure in the zacchaeus do? A tax collector. He's a chief tax collector.

The shame on our family. But I think what's going on here is actually you get a load of 2 themes that have been running throughout Luke coming into 1 story. Throughoutout Luke, you would have seen that there are tax collectors all over the place. Chapter 5, 1 of Jesus disciples, Levi, is a tax collector, and Jesus eats with them. If you go back to chapter 15, who is Jesus with, he's with tax collectors and sinners.

If you even just go back to chapter 18, there's the parable of the pharisee and the tax collector, so he says, have mercy on me a sinner? But not only do you have that going on in Luke, but you also have a whole load of rich people in Luke as well. They're parable of the rich fool. They're parable of the rich man and lazarus. The rich man in chapter 18 who who came to Jesus and asked, how do I inherit eternal life?

And now, in zacchaeus, we have both of those things. We have a tax collector, and we have a rich man. Now this 1 man, I think you would all agree, has no chance of being saved. 1, he's rich, If you look back at chapter 18, you will see that Jesus says in verse 24, how hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God. Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye for needle than for someone who was rich to enter the kingdom of God.

Well, And then it's like, well, how is this? How can this how can we do this? Well, he says it's impossible. I don't think I would I would I would love to see someone try. Get a camel through an eye of a needle.

Impossible. So he's a rich man. It's impossible for these guys to be saved. But not only that, he's a task collector, he's a filthy, horrible, dirty, disgusting, depraved, tax collector. He cheats.

He robs. He lies. This man is as far away from salvation as you could possibly imagine. But this man hears that Jesus is passing through. And he's clearly heard about Jesus.

He's clearly heard about him from Levi, who was a who was a fellow tax collector. Maybe he's just heard on the on the grapevine, the great stories of this this man who who's healed people. And so he he kind of is cure as he wants to see. Why is it that he's so keen to see who Jesus is? Well, maybe it's because he's fed up of the isolation.

The rejection, the the the the despising of him. I mean, when he's in the public, he gives as good as he gets. You try and take the mic out as a kiss, he probably gives it back. But when he's on his own, he feels the looks. He feels The comments.

Maybe he's realized that as he gains more and more money, and he holds it all in, and he gets more and more, and he searches for happiness in his riches, and he sees I'm so dissatisfied fied. I'm so discontent. Maybe he's heard about this Jesus who's a friend of Tux collectors, who accepts and loves tax collectors. And maybe that's similar for you. Maybe when before you became Christian, maybe you're here and you're not Christian, you're here.

And you've thought, I'm I'm searching for something, and I'm discontent, or I'm dissatisfied, or I've heard about this Jesus, as he seems so much different, and that's maybe why you've come here tonight. Zekius is curious, and so it says in verse 4, verse 3, sorry, he wanted to see who Jesus was. However, Zakius has a problem. Zekius is challenged in some ways vertically. Zekius Maybe the shortest man in the bible, although you may argue that Nehi Meyer was shorter, or maybe even Bild the shoe height.

Sorry. I've been debating whether to say that I had to do it. I do it with my youth all the time. This man is a short man. It's short of stature.

And as these crowds gather around Jesus, He can't see. I don't know if you've ever been in a concert, and that huge lummocks stands in front of you? Brilliant. This is gonna be a good gig or a sports game, and then why is everyone so tall? Some of you probably don't get this, but it's probably because you're the lummocks.

And if you can imagine, this man's not a popular man. So that no one's gonna do him any favors as he tries to squeeze through. Oh, sorry, did you hear? Sorry. I didn't see you there.

Brilliant. And I want more jokes up at my height. But he's determined. And so he runs ahead in in verse 4, and he finds his the sycamore tree, he thinks, well, this is a great thing. The sycamore trees, low branches, thick thick tree.

I'll hike up here. And then when I see him, I'll see him. So zacchaeus, the seek is the first thing we see. But secondly, We see Jesus, the seeker of the lost. Jesus, the seeker of the lost.

Now You can imagine as the key is getting up there, and he's sitting in that branch, he's thinking, oh, it's the key is you've done it again. What a guy. You know how to Find a good tree spot. Look at this, perfect angle. And no 1 will be the wiser.

And so as Jesus walks towards this sycamore tree, you can imagine this excitement growing in this curiosity groward as he as he makes up this man, come come closer. And as he gets closer and closer and closer, sir. He reaches the spot of the tree, but it doesn't go on. He stops. He stops Why does he stop?

The crowding, why have we stopped here? Why have we stopped here? Zacchaeus is probably thinking, why has he stopped? He starts to lean over. Just have a look down.

Why has he stopped? What's going on? I think this is a man in this moment, and then you see, verse 5, he looked up. He looked up. Now he looks up, and he looks at the key.

The key is must have had the biggest joel that he's ever had whoa, how did he know I was up here? How does he know? How does he know? How does he know? But then he goes on, he speaks.

He doesn't just say anything going, oh, what are you doing up that tree? Because he got very scouse. What are you doing? He probably did have a regional accent. No.

He doesn't say that. He says zacchaeus. What? Zacchaeus. How does he know my name?

I haven't met him before. How does he know where I am? How does he know my name? Because Jesus is the seeker. And so he says, come down immediately.

I must stay at your house the day. Now it's very interesting that Jesus never invites himself over to anyone's house apart from this time. I'm coming to your house today, zacchaeus. Get the oven on. Get the roast on.

I'm coming over. See what we've seen here is that all those Acchaeus thought he was seeking Jesus. It was Jesus all along. It was always Jesus seeking him. Jesus was taking the time from going to Jerusalem to that that mission that he so needed to go to.

And he said, I'm gonna stop her. I'm gonna call you the kiss. That's what Jesus is all about. Verse 10. The son of man came to seek and save the lost.

It's always the case. Jesus always takes the first steps to seek him. Jesus knows everything about you. Jesus knows where you are in your life right now. And Jesus knows your name.

He knows who you are. It's Jesus who initiates the seeking. I don't know what it is for you. Maybe maybe it's the those feelings of unrest. Maybe it's that feeling that as I search and search and search, I find nothing in terms of happiness and content and satisfaction in this world.

I find no rest. I find no peace. I can't find myself in this world. Maybe it's that conscience where I I'm struggling to work out what's right and wrong or what's truth and what's lies. Or maybe it says I've looked at a Christian living, and they seem so happy and together.

All of those things is Jesus prompting you and say, I'm seeking you. I'm seeking you. See, people don't seek God on their own volition. They don't do it by choice. People don't look for him.

They're seeking yes. They're searching yes, but they're searching the wrong places. And they never, ever naturally look for the answer in Jesus. That's what Romans 3 says: verse 10 to 11, There is no 1 right, just not even 1. There is no 1 who understands.

No 1 who seeks God. No 1 does it. It's Jesus who seeks us. Jesus seeks us every time. And so he says, hurry down here's the case.

It's the case. Scrambles down. He's he's never jumped down a tree so quickly. I mean, he nearly fell out of it when he says the key is, but now he's down. And in verse 6, It says he welcomed him gladly.

This is the moment that the case is saved. As he welcomes Jesus into his life, he accepts him into his home. As they eat together, that's a sign that they have relationship that he is accepted. He's been found. He's been found.

The Kiaus. And now the crowds, all of them can't believe it. You see that in verse 7? All the people saw this and began to mutter. He was going to be the guest of a sinner.

That word mutter is like this it's indignantly complaining. The actual it means like this is sort of the buzzing of bees, but when it's it's sort of intense. But you know when you I think that's what b sound like. They can't believe it. He's gone to eat with him.

He's gone to eat with him. The worst of the worst. That scumbag. He associates with people like that. And so there's utter disapproval of both these men.

The thing is I don't understand well, I don't really understand why, because if you read throughout Luke, he's always associated with people like this. This is what Verse's saying. He seeks and saves the lost, the people that have gone away. He's the in in chapter 5 verse 31 to 32, when when they're like, why are you eating with tax collectors and sinners? He says, listen.

The physicians here for the sick. I haven't come to call righteous people. I've come to call sinners to repentance. This is what I'm all about. I've come to seek and save lost people like Zakius.

Jesus comes to seek and save lost people like you, seek and save lost people like me See, the bible clearly says that we've all walked out on God. We've all lost his him and his relationship with him. We're all we're all in that that that that that sort of that sort of thinking that we need to search and look and desire something but we can't find it. We're all longing. We're all lost 6 sinners in need of a Savior.

But when you find the savior or actually, when the savior finds you, then you truly find yourself When you accept him, as the key is accepting, you find yourself. See, it's only Jesus that can do the impossible. It's only Jesus that can fit a camel through the eye of a needle. It's only Jesus who can take a rich man and save him. And that's great news for Christians and non Christians alike.

You might be here and you might not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, the good news is that no matter who you are, how good or how bad you are, how rich or how poor you are, What sort of gifts you have or what sort of gifts you don't have? Jesus can do the impossible and save you. And the good news for those Christians is this. I can tell people about this Jesus, And it's not down to me to save them.

Only Jesus does the impossible and saves the loss. So actually, Jesus is the seeker of the lost. Thirdly, back to Zakius. Zakius, once greedy, now generous. Zakius Once greedy, now generous.

Now how do you really know that Zakius has been saved? How do we know it's true? Like, it's a bit like, you know, when someone says something, how do we know if they really mean it? You know, someone says, I'm gonna go on a diet, How do we know? Well, they usually stop eating the foods they used to eat and start eating the foods they now need to eat.

If they say I'm gonna go on a diet and they continue to eat chips and burgers all the time, then we'd probably doubt it. It's a bit all when I'm in class. I'm a bit when I'm teaching, and I under I tell I tell a kid off. And they say, sorry, sir. And I said, well, we'll see if you're sorry, because you won't do it again.

It's a bit harsh, I know. So how do we know if the key is saved? Well, because of what happens next. Look down with me at verse 8. But Zekiya stood up and said to the Lord, look Lord, Here and now, I give half of my possessions to the poor.

And if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back 4 times the amount. See, Zigirse now resolves to use What was once his idol, was once the thing that he lived for, the once thing that he tried to gain all the time. And now he used takes that, he says, I'm gonna use it to serve Jesus. See, the result of salvation in someone's life is that they become a cheerful giver. That's why Paul says that God loves a cheerful giver.

And he says, look, Lord, I don't care about anyone else. I don't care about anything else or anyone I only care about you and living for you now. And so he says, I'll give half of my possessions to the poor. Half Half of them. The the law expected people to give a tenth of their their stuff.

Zakius? No. I love you Jesus. Have half. See, he can now do what the rich man refused to do in chapter 18 to see that in chapter 18.

When Jesus heard in verse 22, he said to him, you still lack 1 thing, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, then come and follow me. When the rich man heard this, he became very sad because he was very wealthy. The rich man wouldn't do it. Jesus wasn't the main thing in his life, but was the key as Jesus is. And so he liberally gives money to the poor.

And with the rest of those money, well, I've cheated people. So I'm gonna do what the law requires of me, and I'm gonna pay back fourfold of what I've cheated people. Do you see this? This is outrageous grace has been poured onto Keys. And so that means that he pours out outrageously.

He's now a generous willing person who wants to serve his savior and his master. And so that's why Jesus says to him verse 9. Today, salvation has come to this house, because this man is a son of Abraham. In other words, you've been saved the case not not by not by you giving away money, but you've been saved, and you giving them money, and giving back to what to those you've cheated, It's just a sign of what's happened to you. And he says, this man 2 is the son of Abraham.

He's a true son of Abraham. What does that mean? Well, it means that he's not just a physical descendant of Abraham, but actually, spiritually, he's a son of Abraham. Those who are true sons of Abraham are people of faith. That's why Galatians chapter 3 verse 7 says this.

Understand then that those who have faith are children of Abraham. See zacchaeus has put his faith in the Lord Jesus to save him. And Jesus has has has like such a grip on him. That the grace that has been poured upon zacchaeus, that that his heart is now transformed from 1 of greed to 1 of generosity. He now what his heart was once dominated by money.

The control center of his life was all about money. How do I get more money? But now look at him, he's controlled, he's dominated by the lord Jesus Christ. He's the center now. So this is what sought and saved people should be like.

No longer do they live for the things of this world? They live for Christ. They live for Jesus. They they give to Christ. They give to his work.

It's interesting I was reading spurgeon on this passage, And he said this. He was talking about a blokey remembered being converted. He says, I remember 1, who was converted in this place, and he at once gave 50 pounds to some good object. And I said to his brother, I think your brother, I converted. He answered, I hope he is, but he is a dreadful skin flint.

He doesn't like to part with money. But I replied, Only yesterday, he gave 50 pounder to such and such work. Ah, then, said the brother, I am sure he is converted. For nothing but the grace of God would make him do such a thing like that. So the grace of God, should radically transform our lives.

The grace of God should change our affections from 1 of wanting to live for the things of this world and settle for the things of this world, and to search for longing in the things of this world, and to have our affections on Christ. And use the things of this world to serve him. So what does that look like? Well, if you've got money Use your money for the service of the lord Jesus Christ. I was talking to my my dad, and he said, it wasn't trying to blow his own trumpet, but he was saying, when when we were growing up as teenagers, that they could have taken us off a nice expensive holidays to foreign places.

And that's there's nothing wrong with that. But actually, he said we weren't gonna have holidays. We we always had to go to Scotland to Ellen, which is nearly as bad as mold. He said, no. We're gonna spend the money on you going to contagious, and you going on camps, because that is gospel service.

That is a gospel investment. That's them using their money and saying, this is so much more important than than a lot of other things. Is it your time? Do I need to use my time to serve the lord Jesus? Can I give up my time to serve in church?

Can I give up my time to Tell me about the Lord Jesus Christ? Is it my home? Can I use my home and give my home up to have hospitality and bring people in? And serve them. Zakius gives generously.

See verse 10 shows us what Jesus is all about. Verse 10. For the son of man came to seek and to save the lost. That's what he's come to do. That's what that's why he's going that's why he gives up the riches of heaven That's why he leaves the father's side to come down and to find lost people.

That's why he's marching on to Jerusalem so that he can be slung up on a cross, and die, and find lost people like me and you. He's come to seek and save the loss. He dies to save. He dies to bring you who was lost from God back to God into relationship with him. That's what he's all about.

So let me ask you, where are you in this story. Are you in the crowd? Are you just in the crowd murmuring and disapproving of who Jesus has compassion on? How could Jesus love people like that? I don't want anything to do without Jesus.

Jesus not only has compassion on those people, but Jesus is willing to have compassion on you. Maybe you're off a tree, not literally. Maybe you're just trying to seek and think, who is this Jesus What does he have to offer? Does he fulfill those longings and those searchings that I'm looking for? Does he really mean that I can find myself?

Well, listen, and hear the voice of Jesus call your name. Isn't that amazing? This was kind of what we were hearing this morning. Jesus, no. He knows your name.

He knows where you are. The Bible says in Revelation 3 20, the Lord Jesus himself says, here I am. I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person and they with me. Listen to the knock.

Hear the knock. Hear his voice and welcoming him in. Welcome him in. Just like Zak Casey welcomes him in gladly. Except him.

See that the Lord Jesus alone is only is the only place where you can truly find yourself. You're not going to find yourself in Thailand. You'll only find yourself in Jesus. Except him. Find salvation, find meaning, find acceptance, find relationship.

Augustine said, thou has made us for thyself, o Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds rest in thee. He's the only 1 way you can find the answer to that longing and that searching. Come. Except him. Welcome him.

Christian, remember what Christ has done for you. Remember what he's done for you. He came to seek you. He called your name. You who were lost, who were abandoned you abandoned him, you walked out on him.

He came to seek and save you. He died on a cross for you. He shed his blood for you. Remember what he did We're gonna sing later on. Jesus saw me when a stranger wondering from the fold of God.

I was gone. I was going. But he, to rescue me from danger, interposed his precious blood What good news that is? That Christ looked at me. They looked at me wandering away from him, legging it out from him.

And he said, I will shed my blood for you, to rescue you, to find you. I think 1 man who who would have really understood this, you might have heard about John Newton, the slave trader, A man just like Zakius, totally depraved, totally sinful, totally filthy. And then he comes to know the Lord, Jesus Christ. And what is he seeing amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now I'm found.

Was blind, but now I see. That was us. If we trust in the lord Jesus. And so reflect on what Christ has done to seek and to save you. Understand what he has done for you.

And in the light of what he has done on that cross, Live for him. Give yourself for him. Give all that you are, all that you have in service of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's pray. Father, we we thank you for this amazing story of the Kia.

We thank you that in this story, we see that the Lord Jesus comes to seek and save lost people to save sinners, to save wretches like us. And so we pray father that we will understand the cross of the lord Jesus Christ more, that we will understand that the reason he was there was to bring us back into the fold of God. It was to to rescue us from danger. That is why he's shedding his blood on that cross. And so father, we pray that we will truly understand this in our lives, so that we may live for you so that we may give back out of all that we have in the service of you.

And so he prayed us in Jesus' name, our man.