(All Bible
verses are from NIV, if not otherwise mentioned)
Three Questions
Luke 19.11 - 27
11 While
they were listening to this, he went on to tell them a parable, because he was
near Jerusalem and the people thought that the kingdom of God was going to
appear at once.
12 He
said: “A man of noble birth went to a distant country to have himself appointed
king and then to return.
13 So
he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas. ‘Put this money to
work,’ he said, ‘until I come back.’
1. Who you are in relation to Jesus?
We are free-servants to Jesus.
2. What are you doing to here?
We are in His business.
The Master has entrusted us with His
valuable treasure, the Gospel of the Kingdom of God.
3. What kind of business are you doing?
We
are trading the Gospel.
All
profits go to the master.
We
are rewarded for our faithfulness.
The
size of the profit does not affect the reward.
Why tradesmen?
Because
tradesmen know that:
•
Only peace
can bring prosperity
Tradesmen conquer countries not by
war but by trade.
•
In history,
tradesmen have influenced countries.
What is the best market for your product?
Mark 2:17 When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but
they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to
repentance. (KJV)
A market of sinners is the best
market for trading gospel.
A country where no man wears shoes is
the best market to sell shoes.
A trader is overjoyed to see a good
market for his product.
Luke 10:2 Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly
is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest,
that he would send forth labourers into his harvest. (KJV)
John 4:35 Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then
cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the
fields; for they are white already to harvest.
(KJV)
Jesus and Zacchaeus
Luke 19:1-10
1 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing
through.
2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he
was a chief tax collector and was wealthy.
3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because
he was short he could not see over the crowd.
4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig
tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.
5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus,
come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.”
6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.
7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be
the guest of a sinner.”
8 But Zacchaeus 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 four times the amount.”
9 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to
this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham.
10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the
lost.”
Introduction
Many, no doubt, were converted to the
faith in Christ.
No account of all is kept in the
gospels.
But the conversion of some, whose change
had something in it extraordinary, is recorded.
The story of the conversion of Zacchaeus
is such a one.
The account
closely follows the story of the Rich Young Ruler (Luke 18:18-30), in which
Jesus declares that “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle
than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
The people following
him asked, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus’ reply was that “What is impossible
with men is possible with God” (Luke 18:25-27).
Jesus, then, for
the third time, foretells his own death–the specific reason for this journey to
Jerusalem.
Jesus, near the end of his
journey to Jerusalem, is passing through the border town of Jericho.
This city was build under a curse,
yet Christ honoured it with his presence, for the gospel takes away the curse.
Though it ought not to have been
built, yet it was not therefore a sin to live in it when it was built.
Christ was now going from the other
side of Jordan to Bethany near Jerusalem, to raise Lazarus to life.
On the way into
Jericho he once again identifies with a social outcast, this time a blind beggar,
and heals him because of his faith.
Once in Jericho he
encounters Zacchaeus.
Jesus was concluding his public ministry in Galilee and Judea.
The
Context
Israel was under
Roman occupation.
An unfair tax was
extracted by people like Zaccheus who worked for the oppressor.
They earned their
living by adding an extra surcharge for themselves.
Jews considered
these tax collectors from the Jewish community as traitors.
However, they were
still Jews, sons of the Covenant and children of Abraham, trying to make a
living.
Zaccheus was not
unlike some of us in our own day, separating “what we do” from “who we are”. These days we may argue, “After all we are
simply trying to make a living.”
There is nothing
like “Secular” and “Spiritual”, everything is “Spiritual”.
Zaccheus wanted to
see Jesus more than he wanted to maintain his economic comfort.
A meeting with
Jesus may bring about unpredictable changes in his life.
Still he wanted to
meet Jesus.
Jesus knew that.
He had come to
Jericho that day seeking to save the lost.
The “crowds”
around Zacchaeus may have deemed him unworthy for the encounter that was about
to occur but God did see him in a different way.
Jesus noticed the desire of Zacchaeus
Jesus
was in search of desirous hearts (eager and longing
for)
Luke 19:9, 10
9 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to
this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham.
10 For the Son of
Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
Zacchaeus was Jew, a son of Abraham, by flesh.
Jesus came not only for Jews, but for the Gentiles also.
John
10:16 I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too
will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.
Grace and Free Will
Grace of God always cooperates with
one's Free Will in order to bring an individual to salvation.
Man has Free Will.
He can choose good as well as evil.
Man must work together with divine
grace to be saved.
Cornelius and Peter - Acts 10:1-48
What
God does with Cornelius and Peter is a good example for how God deals with
everyone in an evangelistic situation.
Cornelius is
the receiver of salvation
Peter is the messenger
of salvation
God
prepares His messengers
(Christians) to communicate the gospel to prepared
receivers at a divinely prepared moment.
The Preparation of Cornelius (Acts 10:1‑8)
Cornelius
is the first Gentile to officially be introduced into the church.
He
didn't choose him against his will.
He
had a mind to know God - he had a seeking heart.
Acts 10:1, 2
1 At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what
was known as the Italian Regiment.
2 He and all his family were devout
and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly.
Cornelius
had lived up to the light that he had, so God moved to give him more light.
That is the balance of volition (will) and sovereignty (power).
God
responds to the willing, open heart.
Election
never violates volition (will); they always go together.
The Three Kinds of Gentiles are there for a Jew
1. A Gentile
A gentile who has no thought of the true God.
2. A God Fearer
A
Gentile who had become sick of his own religion - of its immoralities and
idolatries.
He
had come to the conclusion that the God of Israel is the true God.
He
was termed "a God fearer."
This
type of Gentiles prayed to God, and perhaps became involved in the worship at a
synagogue.
The God fearer believed in the ethics of the Old Testament, but
had never been circumcised.
He
was not a full proselyte.
3. A Proselyte
The
third level of Gentile was the proselyte who had come all the way to Judaism.
He
is a new convert to Judaism.
He
had actually gone through the act of circumcision and become fully identified
with Israel.
He
was considered a Jew in a spiritual sense.
Cornelius was a God Fearer
He
was not a full Jew, so he was considered a Gentile.
Cornelius
was sick of the immorality and emptiness of his own religion.
He had
attached himself to the Jewish religion.
He
probably didn't accept the ceremonial laws and circumcision, but there is no
doubt that he often attended worship.
He
believed in one God and in the ethics of the Old Testament.
Jesus stopped to perform an impossible
1.
Zacchaeus a rich man
Luke
19:2 A man was there by the name
of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy.
He
was rich.
Luke, more than any other
evangelist, is consistently concerned about matters of wealth and, the
treatment of the poor.
The inferior publicans were commonly
men of broken fortunes, and low in the world.
But he that was the chief of the
publicans had raised a good estate.
It is hard for rich
people to enter the Kingdom (Luke18:18-24)
Christ had lately shown how hard it
is for rich people to enter into the kingdom of God.
In the previous chapter (Luke 18) a rich man, when asked to give
away all he had, departs Jesus in sadness.
Jesus declared that it is nearly
impossible for the rich to enter the kingdom of God.
Luke 18:18-27
18 A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what
must I do to inherit eternal life?”
19 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus
answered. “No
one is good—except God alone.
20 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not
commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not give
false testimony, honor your father and mother.’”
21 “All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he
said.
22 When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still
lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will
have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
23 When he heard
this, he became very sad, because he was very wealthy.
24 Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it
is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!
25 Indeed, it is
easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is
rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
26 Those who heard this asked, “Who then can be
saved?”
27 Jesus replied, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”
Yet the rich Zacchaeus
is saved
Jesus presently produces an instance for
a rich man that had been lost, and was found.
In this story Zacchaeus, another
rich man receives Jesus with joy.
He gives (or promises to give)
half of his wealth to the poor and restores (or promises to restore) fourfold
any amount he may have defrauded.
Jesus announces that the impossible has now happened as
"salvation has come to this house"
Luke 19:8, 9
8 But Zacchaeus 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 four times the amount.”
9 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to
this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham.
Exodus 22:1
“Whoever
steals an ox or a sheep and slaughters it or sells it must pay back five head
of cattle for the ox and four sheep for the sheep.
2.
Zacchaeus was considered by his
contemporary Jews as a sinner
Luke 19:7 All the people saw this and began to mutter,
“He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”
Zacchaeus was not
only a religious outcast but also a social outcast since he represented the
oppression of the Roman government.
Jericho was an important trading
point for balsam (ointment/balm) and other things.
Zacchaeus was the head of the tax
collections in this region, a sort of commissioner of taxes.
He probably had other publicans
serving under him.
Zacchaeus was the chief among the
publicans.
He presided over other tax-gatherers,
or who received their collections and transmitted them to the Roman government
By meeting him, calling him,
staying with him, and blessing him, Jesus declares for all to hear that this
one, even this chief tax collector, is a child of Abraham...and child of God.
John 8:1-11
1 but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
2 At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the
people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them.
3 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman
caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group
4 and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of
adultery.
5 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you
say?”
6 They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis
for accusing him.
But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with
his finger.
7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to
them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at
her.”
8 Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
9 At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older
ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10 Jesus
straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned
you?”
11 “No one, sir,” she said. “Then
neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”
Two impossibilities with Zacchaeus
1. Zacchaeus was a rich man
2. He was the worst sinner in the
Jewish society of his time.
Impossible is opportunity
Impossibility is a mine of
opportunity.
A sinner is impossibility.
He is an opportunity.
A sinner is the apt man to
sell the Gospel.
A sinner enjoys sins.
But he dislikes the wages of
sin. (No sane man in this world desire the wages of sin)
Wages of sin
is Death.
Death of:
Peace
Family
Faithfulness
between spouses
Health
Prosperity
Hope
Obedient
children. etc.
And
finally: Death of the soul.
The only available remedy
Gospel of the Kingdom is the
only available remedy.
We are trading a unique
product
There is no substitute to this
product.
No improved item or a
different variant is available.
Result guaranteed: no one has
ever proved it to be false of ineffective.
Traded free of cost.
Terms and conditions remain
the same for more than 2000 years.
An additional item
is offered: Eternal life.
Stand against the crowd
1.
Christ
always searched for lost people, even while He is among a crowd of holy people.
2.
He
was careful and aggressive to use every possibility of an inclination towards
Him
3.
He did not care what the crowd around Him will
say. But He stopped for a sinner. Jesus stood
against the crowd.
4.
He
broke traditions. He, a Jewish rabbi, went into the house of a sinner. He was
sure of the successful outcome of the visit. Success can always change laws.
Jesus invited Himself to Zacchaeus house
Christ invited
himself to Zacchaeus’ house, not doubting of his hearty welcome
there.
Zacchaeus opens his heart, and
inclines to receive him.
Jesus was not invited by Zacchaeus.
Zacchaeus could not expect a Jewish
Rabbi to stay in the house of a sinner.
Jesus saw the inclination of the
sinner towards the gospel of salvation.
He took the gospel of salvation to
the life of Zacchaeus.
Luke 19:6 So he came down at once and
welcomed him gladly.
And he made haste, and came down, and
received him joyfully.
Zacchaeus was overjoyed to have such
an honour put upon his house.
He made haste, and came down, and
received him joyfully.
His receiving him into his house was
an indication and token of his receiving him into his heart.
Luke 19:8 But
Zacchaeus 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 four times the amount.”
Exodus 22:1
“Whoever
steals an ox or a sheep and slaughters it or sells it must pay back five head
of cattle for the ox and four sheep for the sheep.
Zacchaeus was restored into the
Kingdom of God.
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