Zacchaeus

Donald Holliday

Transformed by Grace • Sermon • Submitted 4 years ago

0 ratings

· 313 views

The greatest transformation is when sinful people recognize Jesus as Lord.

Notes

Transcript

Handout

Introduction

There are many stories that we hear growing up that become a part of our childhood experience and then they become a part of our adult experience. We pass down stories from one generation to another. Often we listen to stories but we don’t think about the deeper meaning behind them. Sometimes the moral of the story is clear, other times it is like a gem that you have to mine. It is easy to become accustomed to the simple themes of the story and miss the deeper meanings. I believe this happens with the Bible as well. When it comes to some of the accounts in the Bible, there are the greatest hits, not in terms of importance but in terms of how often we hear certain passages from the Bible. Many of these accounts are familiar to even non-church people. Adam and Eve. Noah and the Ark. Jonah. Jesus walking on the water. If you’ve been in church any length of time, you’ve at least heard some of these accounts mentioned. There is another way to know if a story is on the greatest hits… if there is a song. Songs, of course, are a part of the learning process and there are a plethora of children’s songs out there that help us remember Bible stories. Well, there is another Bible passage that ranks up there. Zacchaeus! Remember him. Remember the song, perhaps. Zacchaeus was a wee little man, a wee little man was he. He jumped into a sycamore tree, the Lord he wanted to see…. Here the thing though. I want us to see behind the song. Behind the story. Zacchaeus is more than a character in a story. He’s more than his size. He is more than a song. Zacchaeus was a man transformed by the grace of God.

Read Luke 19:1-10

We find ourselves in Luke 19, which is the very end of his earthly ministry. Contextually, Luke 18:35 – 19:27 fit together and can all be called the Jericho episode. What we find in this part of Jesus’ ministry is the return of Jesus back to Jerusalem for his death. This was his final return to Jerusalem. If you think about the geography of the land, Jesus had been in the north, near the sea of Galilee. Nazareth, his hometown was also up there. Jerusalem is to the south. As someone would travel southward, they would very likely follow the Jordan River for a good portion of it and then they would break west and they would soon find themselves in Jericho. Jericho was about 14 miles northeast from Jerusalem. It was an oasis in a very arid desolate place, known as the city of palms. It has a well-known spring, Elisha’s spring, which references back to an encounter that Elisha, the prophet of old, had in which this spring was notoriously bad and made people sick. Elisha takes a bowl of salt and throws it in the spring and in the power of the Lord, the spring is healed. This is the spring of Jericho that now water this beautiful place that Jesus is.

Not only did we have this spring but you would look around and see that it is a significant economic place as it was a roman administrative center and located on important trade routes. Around Jericho, you would see the influence of Herod the Great, who built extensively there. Palaces, gardens, and pools. It was a royal retreat in many ways. One of the pools was over 30,000 square feet! An Olympic sized pool is a little over 13,000 square foot.

Jericho was also an important place as it was the last stop before one would get to Jerusalem, coming from the North. This path was known as Jericho Road, which was likely the setting of the parable of the good Samaritan. It was a very rugged, difficult road that is quite the climb. It is around a 3,300-foot elevation difference. That is the setting of this passage. This is where Jesus is. Just before he enters Jericho he heals a blind man but then he enters the city, and this is where we find ourselves in this story.

When sinful people respond to the call of Christ, radical transformation takes place.

Sinful People

I was dive into the text, I want you to consider the main point: When sinful people respond to the call of Christ, radical transformation takes place. As we walk though the text, we will break down each part of this main point. We see that Jesus is passing through, not a long stop, more like a pit stop before reaching Jerusalem. There was a man named Zacchaeus. This is where we start to understand the first part of the main point: Sinful People. Here in this bustling town of Jericho, we find someone who is no ordinary guy and who doesn’t have an ordinary job. His name is Zacchaeus. Poor little Zacchaeus was given a name at birth that so far he hasn’t lived up to (Pure, blameless). Isn’t that something? The man whose name means pure, has a job that make him anything but. Not only is he a tax collector, but he is a chief tax collector. This is the only place in the New Testament that this terminology is used. We hear of tax collectors at least five different times in Luke. A chief tax collector was likely at the top of the pyramid. Generally, there would be someone who was the highest bidder, a tax farmer. The Romans would say, “Ok, we think that this area should collect X amount of money this year.” The tax farmer would front the money to the Romans then would employ the tax collectors. You can see they this could become a crooked thing. It is a system ripe for extortion and injustice. If the tax collectors were the bad guys, the tax farmers were the BAD, bad guys. The early rabbis considered you unclean to even step in a tax farmer's house.

Zacchaeus was rich in wealth, but not rich in height. He must have been really short. He was tiny and he is wanting to see Jesus; desperately wanting to see Jesus. He hasn’t made a lot of friends and he is trying to get a glimpse of Jesus, yet no one is parting ways for him. I can imagine this little guy jumping up and down behind an unfriendly crowd. So Zacchaeus runs ahead and he climbs up a sycamore tee. The sycamore tree was a great climbing tree with low branches. Great for short guys. He is not easily daunted, which points out that Zacchaeus' motives seem to be more than just curiosity. To be a rich man and find yourself shoved out of the way. To have all sorts of material possessions and to stoop to climbing a tree. Who would suffer that shame? Not just the curious person. I think we see a man who is ripe for the Gospel. I think Zacchaeus needed to see Jesus. We see here a sinful man, an outcast, seeking Jesus. This speaks to the heart of the Gospel, the Holy Spirit can stir in the hearts of anyone.

The Call of Christ

When Jesus comes to the place that Zacchaeus is, he calls out to Him, to tell him to come down. This is where things get interesting and honestly, where the kids' stories don’t touch on. We see hear the call of Christ on Zacchaeus. At first glance, we see that Jesus is just asking Zacchaeus for a place to stay, right? Wrong. Jesus didn’t need a place to stay. Remember when Jesus said, “Fox have dens and birds have nests but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” He doesn’t have to stay there. Something else is happening.

The clue to this puzzle is in the phrase “I must.” In the original language, it is made up of a single word dei and scholars call it the divine dei. In Luke’s Gospel, he uses this word to refer to things that must happen in order to fulfill God’s plan.

Luke 9:22 “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”

Luke 21:9 “And when you hear of wars and tumults, do not be terrified, for these things must first take place, but the end will not be at once.”

Luke 24:7 “That the son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.”

Make no mistake, this isn’t the case that Jesus is just really worn out. This is a divine necessity. On His tumultuous path down to Jerusalem to die a horrific death, Jesus said it was necessary to stay at Zacchaeus House? Why? Because Jesus wasn’t simply bringing friendliness to an outcast; He was bringing salvation. How do I know? Jump ahead to verse 10. Jesus was on a mission to save Zacchaeus. His call was of salvation.

In verse 6 it says that he hurried down and receives Jesus joyfully Zacchaeus responds to Jesus. Bringing him into his house with joy. Not to read too much into it, but this little formation of the word rejoicing is used in several other places that reference salvation. Here’s a guy who is universally hated, an outcast and now he is rejoicing. I cannot help but think of this as the response of a broken, overwhelmed sinner that meets the savior. Zacchaeus had heard enough about Jesus to know that he was preaching a radically different message than the people of Jericho.

And when they saw it, they all grumbled, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” The response that we see in the Gospel accounts to Jesus’ willingness to be with sinners. The people couldn’t believe that Jesus would associate with such a bad man. In this little section, we see the call of Christ and the response of Zacchaeus, we see the heart of man being softened to the Gospel because of Jesus Christ.

I love what Adrian Rogers said, “You are not saved by the plan of salvation; you are saved by the man of salvation—and His name is Jesus.” [1]

Radical Transformation

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.”

Now, When we think of radical transformation, our first response is to say, “Sure the radical transformation is that Zacchaeus went from being a swindler to being radically generous.” I would say no, that’s not the radical transformation that took place. The radical transformation is what took place in the heart of Zacchaeus that led him to be completely generous. The radical transformation is what took place when Zacchaeus called Jesus, “Lord.” That is what is completely radical, that Zacchaeus was dead and now he is alive. He was a prisoner, but he is now set free. He was old and now he is new. That’s radical. The transformation is that he went from believing he is Lord, to believing Christ is Lord.

Because of his transformation, Zacchaeus is now a radical giver. This is important because it is not his giving that saved Zacchaeus, it was his salvation that led him to give.. It seems that this is the opposite of the people referred to in Luke 6:46, “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,” and not do what I tell you? Zacchaeus doesn’t have an empty “Lord” His Lord is sincere. In his transformed state, Zacchaeus becomes radically generous! Compare him to the rich ruler just a few verses before, who was unwilling to part with his possessions to follow Christ because he was rich. Yet, Zacchaeus gives up half of his possessions… That’s quite a bit. Then he vows to restore everything he has defrauded fourfold. This is fascinating. The typical response in the Old Testament for defrauding was to pay back what was owed and add 20%. Or for more severe cases, you pay back double. But He paid back four times… why? Under the law, in the most extreme of cases, when someone stole from someone with violence, you paid back fourfold. Zacchaeus, then, with a changed heart went to the max to restore what he stole. Simply put, Zacchaeus was putting teeth on what he had proclaimed with his lips. This wasn’t empty.

Jesus sums it up by telling us that salvation has come to this house because he is a son of Abraham. I hear the echoes of Galatians of 3:7, “Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham.” We know that it was Zacchaeus' salvation was in view the entire time, because Jesus says the Son of man came to seek and to save the Lost. Zacchaeus was lost.

Take-Away

What is the main takeaway here? The transformation that took place was that inner transformation, in which Zacchaeus took himself off the throne of his life and to live for Christ as Lord.

Transformed people live transformed lives with the desire to see the transforming power of the Gospel in others.

I know that is a tongue-twister but that is the heart of the Gospel. We are transformed and saved to simply just keep living the way that we used to, we are transformed and we live under the Lordship of Christ. He is now the ruler of our lives. He determines what we do and how we do it. He gives us the marching orders. We live for him! This was Zacchaeus, he responds to Christ and lives for him immediately. Being a Christian is far more than some cultural label that we assign ourselves, but it is the mark of transformed people. When people begin to live for Christ, rather than themselves, that is radical. Do you know one important implication of being radically transformed? We no longer see people the way that they saw Zacchaeus. We begin to see people in desperate need of the Gospel. We begin to see people, not on the outward but seeing them as Jesus sees them. This means that all the barriers that we put up are torn down. We have people all around us who are in need and there is a cure in Christ. We must have a heart for the lost. Listen, I don’t want these words to ring hollow. I am speaking to me because I realize in my own life I have not done everything possible to reach the least of these. We must follow our Lord and our Lord Jesus will lead us to people who need Him, even if they are different.

Here is the other take-away, no one is too bad for Jesus. I’ve said this a lot lately, but it is true. Jesus can save anyone. Maybe you are down and out, downtrodden, rock-bottom, lost… no hope in this life. Or perhaps you realize that you are lost without Christ. If someone were to ask, “Where would you spend eternity if you died today?” You wouldn’t have a good answer. The is the beauty of the Zacchaeus story. Jesus can save you.

Here is the message, you and I are sinful people. We have transgressed against a Holy God. We deserve his wrath and punishment, we do. Yet, Jesus came, God in the flesh, and died on a cross, taking our place and our sin and our punishment on himself. Jesus bore the penalty for our sin. He died and rose again and God the Father accepted the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on our behalf. Because of Christ, we can now be reconciled to God, our relationship restored with Him, we can know that we will live eternally with Him. We are no longer lost but found! This is available but we must respond to the call of Christ today. Through His Word this morning, Jesus is calling you to salvation. He is calling you to turn from your sins and trust in Him as your savior. He is calling for you to follow Him as Lord. There is nothing you can do to fix yourself, Jesus has already done the work. Will you respond to His call this morning?

[1] Adrian Rogers, “You Are Very Important to God,” in Adrian Rogers Sermon Archive (Signal Hill, CA: Rogers Family Trust, 2017), Lk 19:1–10.

Related Media

Related Sermons