Luke 19:1-10 ~ so he ran on ahead and climbed

Luke 19:1-10

English Standard Version, David Cochran Audio

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.”

Luke, the beloved Greco-Syrian physician. He is in Paul's Epistle to Philemon Chapter 1, verse 24. He is also mentioned in Colossians 4:14 and 2 Timothy 4:11. He would have been a precise Christ follower. He stayed with Paul in Rome until the end. Luke lived to be, according to Church history, 84 years old. Luke's Tomb was located in Thebes (Greece)and his relics transferred to Constantinople in 357 A.D.

(And I have to say here, I love the Scriptures. Each day I look these things up and compile this to understand what I am teaching. It is not coming out of me like a PhD professor! Thank you, Father God, for spell check. Amen.)

Luke makes it clear Jesus' genealogy goes back to Adam and as a physician, makes sure we understand Jesus was bodily, not just spiritually, resurrected.  Luke tells us of 20 miracles, the place of women as important in Jesus' ministry and tells us of 4 miracles unique to Luke's gospel. Luke, like Paul, tells us the New Covenant Communion is an event we are to continue today.

A Bishop I like on Facebook was quoting - as disciples of Jesus Christ we are the message. And I thought; Absolutely not. Jesus Is. And that is true. Yet we should not proclaim Jesus Christ and forget to live our lives as lights. Believing God wants us to honor Him and rely upon Him for grace.

Zacchaeus is a Gospel passage which is important to me.

Jesus has been doing His ministry for a while. Zacchaeus has his place in the Roman Empire, Syrian suburb of Judea firmly in place. Zacchaeus is upwardly mobile.  But Zacchaeus is doing something important with his fledgling or inquisitive faith. He is willing to put himself out there and up there and do some work. To climb a tree, in a crowd, you will be noticed.

And Zacchaeus has his heart's desire. Something Christians hope for always. Jesus! Notice me! Let me know You see me!

Jesus lets Zacchaeus know, He responds, He Loves! And says He wants to be part of Zacchaeus' life. Zacchaeus is given a Word to do. To be obedient. Zacchaeus must come down from the height of the tree and be on the same footing as the crowd. And the same footing as Jesus. Who chose to walk this life.

And the minute Zacchaeus joins the crowd.... they are unhappy. They grumble. And Zacchaeus hears them criticize Jesus for spending time with him. How does Zacchaeus react? He is willing to put forth effort, making them not criticize Jesus for giving Zacchaeus love.


Christians love the prodigal son parable. Who are you, they say,  - today - in the prodigal son. Well, we all change places, don't we.

Zacchaeus has several messages for us. Not to stay in the trees above one another. Not to stay hidden in the crowd. Not to play it safe. To give God our heart's desire. To do what He says to Honor and LOVE Him.  To prepare our hearts in prayer to receive HIM.  To be grateful. Not to be a grumbler at the blessings of others.

LORD! I want to be Zacchaeus! Luke is the only one to record Zacchaeus, but Luke stayed to the end. What an important and heartfelt statement. Luke acted as the disciple John to Paul. And the LORD honored Luke as well. Telling us of a changed heart, one that prepared a place for JESUS and did want to Honor and LOVE Him.

Psalm 14 says none of us are pure. We are corrupt, self-centered. We cannot be the message. Yet the LORD is our refuge. Father God, forgive us when we don't do our best for YOU.

Psalm 14:7
Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!

When the Lord restores the fortunes of his people,

let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.

Father God, let us remember to be grateful for others.  Only in the Grace of JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD can we be glad and see salvation come to the house of the ones we love. Amen.

(Today would be one of the times ~ where Father Bierschenienk would say - I'm just preaching to myself.)





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