If you have your Bibles, I'd love for you to join me in Luke chapter 19, where we encounter the man Zacchaeus. Now I must warn you right now, there's a bad pastor joke incoming. You can either choose to laugh mercifully at the end, or stay mute and think that I care. Charles Spurgeon, the Victorian era preacher, was nicknamed the Prince of Preachers. He would preach the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London most Sundays to a standing room only crowd of some 5,000 people. As part of his extensive ministry, he began something that was called the Pastor's College. It was to train men for ministry, specifically to be pastors. A famous feature of the pastor's college was a time on Friday where they would go down to the question oak. The question oak was a large tree on Spurgeon's estate where if the weather was permitting on Friday afternoon, the students would go down and they could ask questions of Mr. Spurgeon, and he would answer them on a practical level, and then the students, with him present, would preach extemporaneously. One Friday, weather was good enough, they were down at the question oak, they were asking questions at the end of that. Spurgeon looked at one young man who was training for ministry and he said, you, stand up and preach a sermon on Zacchaeus. Now you can't imagine unless you have been in seminary how much pressure that would be. The young man stood up by the question oak and he said this, Zacchaeus was of little stature, so am I. He said, Zacchaeus was up a tree, so am I. He said, Zacchaeus came down, and so will I. And with that, he was seated to a round of raucous applause, because after all, who doesn't like a really short sermon? That was a mercy laugh. That's kind of what I expected. Zacchaeus' story certainly allows for some element of humor to enter into it. If we know just as I am, as an invitation, Him, if you grew up in a typical church like I did, perhaps you, back when you were a child, sang that song about Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus was a And a wee little man was he. He climbed up in a sycamore tree for the Lord, does anyone know the motions he wanted to see? And when the Savior passed that way, he looked up in the tree and he said, Zacchaeus, you come down. Now that's not very biblical. For I'm coming to your house today and I'm gonna abide there. We know that song and in all honesty, really that's what Zacchaeus is relegated to in our minds and in our hearts. We know that he was a wee little man. We know that he climbed a sycamore tree and we know that Jesus went to his house. But maybe what we overlook is that this moment in time is precious real estate in the earthly ministry of Jesus. That every interaction is conveying an incredible truth to us and this none less. Luke is the only gospel writer that even includes this account for us. And really though this must have taken some period of time, he boils it down to just a few moments as we read it. Jesus, as we arrive here in Luke 19, is heading towards Jerusalem. It's just days now before His arrest and the cross. It was common to travel through Jericho to go down to Jerusalem. That's what Jesus is doing in this very moment. Very recently, Lazarus has been raised from the dead at Bethany, and so fame has spread abroad of Jesus. As he is entering Jericho right now, his fame is heightened. He arrives, no doubt, surrounded by a crowd. Certainly, his disciples are near him. It's evident from within Luke's account that when he gets to Jericho, a mass of people are there to greet him, pressing in on his Every move. Jesus now is going to do something with Zacchaeus as he nears the cross that tells us an incredible truth about his heart. It's exactly what we've been studying since Luke 15. It is here that we find the theme verse for the whole gospel of Luke. The theme verse for the whole mission of Jesus, the reason for the incarnation and the cross. Let's let the Bible tell us this story. And Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. Behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich. And he sought to see Jesus, who he was. and could not for the press because he was little of stature. And he ran before and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and saw him and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must abide at thy house. And he made haste and came down and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying that he was gone to be guessed with a man that is a sinner. And Zacchaeus stood and said unto the Lord, Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor, and if I have taken anything from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold. And Jesus said unto him, this day is salvation come to this house for so much as he also is a son of Abraham. Here's the key. For the son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. Jesus equals salvation. There is no other name under heaven whereby any human being can be saved other than Jesus. As we have worked through this series, Lost and Found, we have centered our study in Luke chapter 15, but we have connected the theme verse here to this moment. For the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. In one verse, we grasp why He came, why He went to the cross. This passage, I think, is clearly linked together with Luke chapter 15, in that we find a lost individual, and Jesus, the seeking Savior. We recognize that wrapped up in this passage of Scripture, the same they that was there in Luke 15, one and two, assaulting Jesus for embracing the publicans and sinners, are still present here as he goes into the home of Zacchaeus. They, again, cannot fathom that he would go into the home of a sinner. We cannot escape it. Jesus is the Seeker. He is the Savior of those who are lost. And this story sums up this entire study. Really, it's a pretty short story. We just read it together. It's not all that layered, it's pretty simple to understand. I think we can break it down to four vignettes and within it we can learn a lot again about the Father's heart. The first vignette is Jesus in Jericho. Jericho is one of those cities that if you're any level of student of the Bible, you've heard of. In fact, it was the city in the Old Testament whose walls came crumbling down because Joshua and the children of Israel marched around it and blew those trumpets and shouted that shout and God miraculously gave them victory over Jericho. A couple stories come out of Jericho, in fact. Even lineage into the line of Christ attached to the city of Jericho. When Jericho fell, God pronounced a curse upon anyone that would rebuild the city of Jericho, and rebuild it they did, right in the midst of the rebellious reign of King Ahab, the most rotten king in history. Now Jericho at this moment in time has been somewhat revitalized. It was actually a garden spot in the world. King Herod, yes that King Herod, had built a palace in Jericho. And so if you were an individual of affluence or you desired political connection, you would certainly make your way up to Jericho. In fact, history tells us that wealthy people built vacation homes up there to stay. Edersheim, who's a historian of the Bible, said this of Jericho. It was characterized by groves of feathery palms, rising in stately beauty, stretched gardens of roses, and sweet-scented balsam plantations. the largest, behind the royal gardens of which the perfume is carried by the wind almost out to the sea, and which may have been given to the city, and may have actually given the city its name, Jericho, which means perfumed. Another historian said it was the Eden of Palestine. It was the fairy tale land of the old world. I'm lingering on this for just a moment because in this first vignette, we have to understand Jesus is in Jericho. The seeking Savior of the lost and ruined has arrived in a garden spot in the world. If you lived in Jericho, you lived well. You lived in Jericho, you had made it to a place that other people desired to get to. And verse 2 told us this about Zacchaeus, and he was rich. He was in a comfortable place of affluence, and he was quite affluent. In fact, the word rich, as it is used there, was used just a couple of paragraphs earlier in chapter 18. Same exact word, it's communicated there, literally in this way. It is extremely rich. Very, very incredibly rich. We might use the term filthy rich. Though there is nothing inherently filthy about being rich. For Zacchaeus, his riches were ill-gotten gain and were thereby filthy. What I want you to understand in this first vignette is this. If anybody had made it in life to a place of comfort, if anybody had attained a lifestyle that others were pursuing with reckless abandon, if there was a desire to be politically connected, comfortably living, and affluent, it is Zacchaeus, he has attained all of that. There's pressure on him, no doubt, but Zacchaeus has, as far as the world is concerned, everything working in his favor. He's even called one of the chiefs of the publicans. That means he was a high-ranking official. There weren't many at any given time that were chief among the publicans. He had made it. And Jesus, just a few verses earlier, has told us by speaking to His disciples that it's really hard for a rich man to make it into the Kingdom of Heaven because they so innately trust in their riches. And in just a few verses we meet a dirty, rotten scoundrel named Zacchaeus. who's living in a beautiful affluent city, a city of perfume, and he was rich, and he was politically connected, and oh, by the way, he was desperately in need of Jesus. Recognize this. Your life of comfort and your life of affluence is no indication of forgiveness of your sins. Your life of comfort and your life of affluence can hide the reality that you desperately need to encounter Jesus. And oftentimes we're motivated by the stories of the down and outers and we are ignorant of the reality that even people like you and like me and like those within our community desperately need Jesus too. Jesus was in Jericho and there was need. The second vignette is Zacchaeus in the sycamore tree. As I've already established, Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem when he arrives in Jericho. A crowd of people are everywhere. This was the everyday reality of Jesus. There is some curiosity that has been piqued within the heart of Zacchaeus, chief among the publicans. One wrote this of Zacchaeus, by now Zacchaeus was middle-aged, calloused, hardened by crime, opulent but empty. To add to the irony, Here's the fact. Zacchaeus is a Jewish name derived from a Hebrew word that means innocent. It means pure. Sure, his name means innocent or pure, but the life that Zacchaeus has led is anything but. For we know that he's a publican, and we've already established how the religious and the self-righteous of the day would have viewed the publican. He was, undeniably, in fact, by his own admission within this passage, an outright thief. Though his name means innocent and pure, he was aware of that emptiness within him. He grasped and understood on a level that we cannot grasp from merely reading the words that his life was pointless. His efforts were futile. Maybe he had begun to wonder about life after death. Certainly he had heard of Jesus and he's curious about seeing him. I think it is of note that Jesus saw the man after Luke tells us so much about him. The Bible wants us to know Jesus saw the individual in the tree, not the rich chief of publicans. Stop for just a moment and meditate on this reality. As we already established in Luke chapter 15, men of nobility and that culture did not run Zacchaeus' running. Much less would a man of nobility and status such as Zacchaeus climb into a sycamore tree, but he really wanted to see Jesus. He had set aside the custom of the day to pursue seeing Jesus. Now, I have no way to establish this, but my mind wonders as I get into the story. Jesus, the Bible tells us, had six different encounters with publicans, tax gatherers for Rome, traitorous to the nation of Israel, hated within their religious society. Six different times Jesus encounters publicans. All six of them are favorable. In fact, probably the one that we know most is his encounter with Matthew. the gospel writer Matthew, whose name is Levi. He was also the publican seated outside the synagogue in the town of Capernaum. Levi also happens to be a specifically chosen name. It's representative of the tribe that God sanctified to be the priests. So no doubt, Levi the publican, or Matthew as we know him, dishonored his family by choosing to side with Rome. Couldn't enter into the synagogue because he was too dirty to go in. Ceremonially unclean, deemed unrighteous, and now we meet Zacchaeus, a man whose Hebrew family had given him the name innocent or pure, and no doubt he's isolated. Dishonored his family by choosing to side with Rome against his native land. I wonder, I just wonder. if Matthew the publican had not told Zacchaeus, who was chief among the publicans, about what Jesus did for him. I wonder if as Jesus taught the disciples to pray, He didn't pray for Zacchaeus to encounter Jesus, to understand the truth of the Messiah that is Jesus Christ. I wonder if He hasn't tried to bring this man Zacchaeus to Jesus, just like Andrew did his brother Simon Peter. I have no way to know that, but I'm curious. Because we are agents of reconciliation. As believers, it is our driving force. It's the impetus behind what we do to bring people to Jesus. With all that he had going for him in Jericho, Zacchaeus was just a man in a tree. The third vignette. Jesus goes to the house of Zacchaeus. In fact, Jesus came directly to the place, verse 5 says, where Zacchaeus was. He looked up and saw him and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must abide at thy house. Now we know that Zacchaeus came quickly down out of the tree. We know that he receives Jesus joyfully and then strangely for some reason we're left out of the conversation. Maybe Luke didn't go into the house and the Holy Spirit clearly did not inspire him to tell us of the conversation that went on in there, but it's like the curtains are drawn and the door is closed. We don't know what is said in the house. We know what happens in the house because Zacchaeus comes out a changed man, but we don't know what is said in there. But get this, the Pharisees and the scribes maligned Jesus for embracing the publicans and sinners. And now they malign Jesus for abiding in the house of Zacchaeus. And that word that Jesus uses is, I need to stay at your house. I need to take up lodging where you are. Jesus was ministering to Zacchaeus with proximity and presence. And that really aggravated the Pharisees and the scribes. But it points us to this truth yet again. That theme verse. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. It's the theme verse for the Gospel of Luke. We're nearing Christmas, it's the reason for the incarnation. Here in Luke 19, we're nearing the cross, it's the reason for the cross. Jesus Christ is a seeking Savior. One wrote this, Jesus is like a heat-seeking missile. He's left heaven, come to planet earth to seek and to save the lost. The word for save can be understood rescued. The word for lost can be understood ruined. Jesus came to rescue ruined lives. And sometimes what we see going on is what we see happening in this story. In the heart of Zacchaeus, he knew he was lost, knew he was living a ruined life, and knew that he needed to be rescued. Jesus intentionally stopped at the tree where Zacchaeus was, and He saw him. Jesus is running out of time. Jesus doesn't have many more days left. He's telling us to be compelled by the things which compel Him. Jesus went into the house of Zacchaeus when he only had a few days left. Probably the only time anyone clean or pure or noble ever went into the house of Zacchaeus. And it bothered the Pharisees and the scribes. They hate Jesus. They hate Jesus so much, that in just a few short days, they're going to gather in the Hall of Hewn Stones, it's called. Where the Sanhedrin, the 70, the supreme court of the religious in Israel would gather. And they're going to begin to concoct plans and schemes, to kill Jesus. I cannot help but think that some that were hearing the parables in Luke 15 are also present here in Luke 19 and will also be in that hall of hewn stones. They're gonna be witnesses as Jesus moves down through Bethany and very shortly rides on that colt into the city of Jerusalem to the triumphal entry. They're going to be witnesses as Jesus cleanses the temple authoritatively one last time. They're going to see Jesus down those steps into the Garden of Gethsemane where He will be arrested and make no mistake about it, He will willingly allow them to chain Him and lead Him into the house of Annas to be questioned in front of Caiaphas and Annas, the dueling high priests of the day. For Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane is attacked, as it were, by Roman legion, and Jesus merely says that He is Jesus, and He knocks everyone to the ground. They should have understood why Jesus was here. They couldn't take Him. They can smack Him around, and they do. They can spit on Him, and they will. They can nail Him to a cross, drag Him through the city, put Him on a hill. This is why Jesus came, to rescue ruined lives. And sometimes ruined lives look like we'd expect them to look. And other times, ruined lives look like people living in a really beautiful place, making a whole lot of money. Jesus is for the rich man, Jesus is for the poor man. Jesus is after the self-righteous, and Jesus is after the unrighteous. Jesus is like a heat-seeking missile for lost sinners, and the murmurers are there. Do you share His heart? Sometimes, as I said last week, we're like the older brother. We may be in the house, but we're not on the team. We may even be out in the field, working, but we don't share His heart. Jesus was in Jericho, a garden spot, dealing with Zacchaeus in a sycamore tree, now at his house. And the fourth and last vignette is Zacchaeus standing with Jesus. It is here that he gives us his proof of life, his proof of change, the fruit. Verse 8, Zacchaeus stood and said unto the Lord, Behold, Lord, The half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have taken anything from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold." Everything's different. Zacchaeus was a miserly thief. Zacchaeus was extravagantly wealthy. Zacchaeus had a lot of ill-gotten gain, and he's now standing with Jesus, and everything has changed. He said, I'm gonna give half of everything I have to the poor, which far exceeded the law of Moses. He should have only given 20% to appease the law. He gives half of it away. With the other half, he says, if there's anybody out there that I have falsely taken from, I will give them fourfold, and literally within the language, he's not saying if, like there may be somebody, he's saying I recognize I've stolen from a lot of people, and I'm gonna give that money back. If you do quick math, he's largely left with nothing. He's given it all away. Now again, because it's separated by chapter barriers to us, just a few paragraphs earlier, I referenced that Luke used the word rich. And here's the account, the moment that Luke uses the word rich. It happens just a few paragraphs earlier. Listen in to chapter 18 and verse 22. Now when Jesus heard these things, a rich young ruler has come to Jesus and asked about gaining eternal life. He said unto him, yet lackest thou one thing. Sure you've followed all the rules, you've obeyed all the commands, but here's what you've not yet done. Sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor. Thou shalt have treasure in heaven. And come, follow me. And when he, this rich young ruler, heard that which Jesus said, he was very sorrowful, for he was very rich. And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he says now to his disciples, how hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God. For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. To which one wrote, Zacchaeus was walking through the eye of a needle and living to tell about it. I think it is so intriguing. I think it is so all-encompassing that Jesus says to his disciples just a moment earlier, it's very hard for rich people to make it into heaven because innately they trust in their riches. It's really hard for rich people to be saved, Jesus says. But in a moment's time, Jesus says to his disciples through the life of Zacchaeus, but it can be done. Jesus literally can reach rich people and poor people, powerful people and weak people. The gospel is for everybody. What we are so guilty of is wanting to have a club. a social group, a hangout, where we all have and share the same ideals. We have flip-turned the church upside down. This is to be a gospel-centric launchpad, where we as informal missionaries go to reach all the lost that are in this world, whether they look like us, think like us, act like us, smell like us, drive like us, whatever like us. Jesus and the gospel is for everybody. Now listen, Zacchaeus wasn't saved because he gave money to the poor, or because he paid back his debts, or even because he merely admitted his wrongdoings. Zacchaeus was saved. Jesus makes it clear this day salvation has come to this house. He believed in Jesus. He recognized that Jesus was the Messiah, that he was the Christ. He placed his faith in him for salvation. He was saved and all of this was evidence of that decision. Why? Because when we are saved, When we confess, true righteousness always has fruit. There's always evidence to it. True righteousness results in unselfishness. True righteousness results in self-denial. True righteousness results in the abandonment of all that is tainted, all that this world offers us. See, that's why Jesus came. Let me just say, listen, just like the story of the woman looking for the lost coin, Jesus sweeps his light one more time. He drags the broom one more time, looking for that dusty, dirty coin. One more time, Jesus has passed under your tree, he's looking up at you, and he's inviting you to receive him. Today is the day of salvation. Look, even if you're in a good place, Even if you have affluence and education and sense some comfort, you're still lost without Jesus. To every believer, it's one more plead. It's one more beseeching. It's one more begging you to understand you are an agent of reconciliation. Put yourself out of the comfort zone and have the Father's heart. Would you please bow your heads with me? Close your eyes just for one moment. Thanks for listening this week to the Graceway Baptist Church Podcast. For more information about our church and our ministries, head on over to our website at gracewaycharlotte.org. We are a church located in South Charlotte. We are growing and our ministries are doing big things for Christ. If you're looking for a way to get plugged into what we're doing, email us at info at gracewaycharlotte.org. Also, stay in the loop with everything happening by following us on Facebook and Instagram. Our handle is GracewayCharlotte. Thanks again for listening to the Graceway Charlotte podcast. We'll see you next week.