Luke 19

CHAPTER 19THEME: Jesus enters Jericho and home of Zacchaeus; the conversion of Zacchaeus; parable of ten pounds; Jesus enters Jerusalem; Jesus weeps over the city; Jesus cleanses the temple

Luke 19:1

JESUS ENTERS JERICHO AND HOME OF ZACCHAEUSRemember that at the time of this incident, the Lord Jesus Christ is on His way to Jerusalem to die on the cross. On His way, He goes through Jericho. Luke tells us that Jesus had been over in Samaritan country. When He left Samaria, He headed toward Jerusalem. He seems to be off the beaten pathbut is He? He goes to Jericho because there is a sinner there. In fact, there are two or three sinners in Jericho. The Lord is going after them. If you miss the movement here, you will miss the entire message of this passage. Jericho was the city that God had given into the hand of Joshua. A curse was placed on whoever would rebuild it. The man who rebuilt it in the days of Ahab reaped the curse in all its fullness. In Jesus’ day it was like a resort area, the Las Vegas of that time. Many people spent their vacations there. Here the publicans lived. The publicans were like the modern Mafia. They were tax gatherers and were despised. We are told that Jesus “entered and passed through Jericho.” He also entered and passed through this world. He did not come to earth to stay but to die. I entered this world to live, and I would like to live a long time. But Jesus’ only purpose in coming to earth was to die for the sins of the world. This tremendous movement is mirrored in the fact that He entered and passed through Jericho. Do not miss that.

Luke 19:2

THE CONVERSION OF ZACCHAEUSThree things are said about this man in verse two. The Spirit of God has a waywith one flourish of the penof telling us all we need to know about a person. The first thing we learn about this man is that his name is Zacchaeus. When I found out that his name meant “pure,” I began to laugh, and my wife came into my study to find out what was so funny. Imagine a publican who was pure! He was given that name as a baby. His father and mother looked down at him and thought he was the most precious little fellow in the world. When he grew up, I think there was a lot of fun in Jericho when he was called by his name. They would say, “Hello, Pure.” What a name for a tax gatherer! Zacchaeus was a chief among publicans. His parents never dreamed he would turn out this way. One dark night he had to decide whether or not he would sell out to Rome. As a publican he would have to pay Rome a stated amount for a certain territory in which he would gather taxes. Then, of course, he would gather more taxes than he paid Rome, which made him rich. Zacchaeus was the leader among the publicans. He had given up his religion. He had no more access to the temple. He was probably the publican who stood afar off, and smote his breast, as he said, “God be merciful to me a sinner” (Luk_18:13). Zacchaeus wanted a mercy seat to which he could come as a poor sinner. He wanted to come back to God. Zacchaeus was rich. He made his profession pay. He did not conduct his business halfheartedly. If he went to collect taxes from a widow who would not pay, he would put her out of the house. If a man could not pay enough, he would take out a mortgage on the place. He had robbed many people. Although he had once made a decision to become a publican, he found out that all the wealth in the world would not satisfy his heart. He wished he could go back and start over. He had gone down a one-way street and he knew of no way to get back to the mercy seat. He wanted mercy, and our Lord knew that. The Lord went to Jericho for the purpose of helping this man. He wanted to take Zacchaeus with Him, not to Jerusalem, but to the cross for salvation.

Luke 19:3

A friend of mine who is a seminary professor is puzzled about whether there was one blind man or two blind men in Jericho. (His problem is that Matthew tells of two blind men who were healed in Jericho, while Luke speaks of only one.) I kiddingly told him once that there were two blind men and I could prove it from the Bible. The second blind man was Zacchaeus because the Bible says, “He could not see for the press.” He was a small man. He had eyes but they were too close to the ground. He did what I used to do every New Year’s day at the Rose Parade. I would climb up a ladder and look over the heads of everyone in front of me at the parade. Zacchaeus was not able to find a ladder, so he climbed up into a sycamore tree.

Luke 19:4

When I was in Jericho, I took a good look at a sycamore tree. It has a slick bark, and it is always a long way to the first limb. This is a difficult tree to climb, and I think this little man had a hard time climbing a tree like this. Zacchaeus sweated it out but finally got up the tree and settled down on a limb among the leaves. He thought he was secluded there, and he had a private box for the parade. He waited. Sure enough, Jesus came by. Our Lord knew he was there. Jesus was passing through Jericho to reach him.

Luke 19:5

When our Lord looked up into that sycamore tree and saw Zacchaeus, I think He laughed. It is true that the text does not say that He did, but it is difficult to read this account without seeing the humor in it. The Lord looked into that tree as if to say, “Well, Zacchaeus, you wanted to see Me. You really worked hard to get up into that tree. Now make haste and come down.” Make haste? This poor fellow had spent half a day getting up into the tree! But it did not take long for him to get down. It is always easier to come down than to go up. Our Lord said to him, “I must abide at thy house.” Our Lord did not stop at the home of a Pharisee; He did not stop at the home of any prominent person. He was going home with a publican!

Luke 19:6

Zacchaeus was having fun now. For him it was a joyful occasion, but “they” murmured. Who are “they”? They are the gossiping crowd. They were saying, “Can you imagine that He is going to dinner at the house of a man who is a sinner?” There was a lapse of timehow much, we are not told. Jesus had dinner with Zacchaeus, but He did not stay all night. They shut the door and the crowd milled around outside and gossiped, but no one knew what went on inside. Finally the door opened, and there stood Zacchaeus.

Luke 19:8

Something had happened to this man! He admitted that he had been robbing the poor and promised to give half of his goods to the poor and to restore fourfold to those whom he had falsely taxed. He was acting according to the Mosaic Law (see Exod. 22). Something had happened inside Zacchaeus, and he was a new man. We are not given an account of the conversation between Zacchaeus and our Lord. For some reason the Holy Spirit did not give us an account of what transpired between these two men. However, when our Lord talked to men He usually spoke of two things: (1) man’s need and (2) God’s ability to meet that need. He did not have to tell Zacchaeus that he was a sinner. Zacchaeus knew he was a sinner, and so did everyone else. The Lord told him there was a remedy for sin. He said, “I am going to Jerusalem to die on the cross so that there will be a mercy seat for you, Zacchaeus.”

Luke 19:9

Zacchaeus was shut out from the mercy seat in the temple when he became a publican. That mercy seat pointed to the Lord Jesus Christ and to His blood that He shed for us on the cross. The Lord wanted this hated man to know that He was going to Jerusalem to die, and His death would provide for him a mercy seat. This publican made a decision for Christ and became a new man.

Luke 19:10

Note that Zacchaeus did not come to the door and say, “I want to give my testimony: Jesus saves and keeps and satisfies.” Rather he said, “Half my goods I will give to the poor, and I will make right the things that have been wrong.” By this I know he has been converted. And, friend, this is the only way the world will know that you are converted. They do not know it by testimony; they know it only by what they see in your life. If it were not for his changed life, I would never know that this old publican got converted. The experience of Zacchaeus is a good illustration of what James says: “Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works” (Jas_2:18). Zacchaeus showed his faith by his works. He did not talk about his faith; he demonstrated it. The world is not listening for something today; it is looking for something. Zacchaeus had what the world is looking for. Jesus had dinner with him and his life changed. Jesus is still entering and passing through your town wherever it is, and He wants to have dinner with those who do not know Him. He wants to talk about your soul and salvation. What about it? Has He passed through your home? Has He knocked on your heart’s door? Have you let Him in?

Luke 19:11

PARABLE OF TEN POUNDSJesus now is approaching Jerusalem. Many of His followers, including His apostles, think that He was about to set up His Kingdom on earth. But He is coming to Jerusalem to die. He is showing them that the Kingdom is going to be postponed.

Luke 19:12

The “certain nobleman” represents the Lord Jesus Christ. He will receive the Kingdom from His Fathernot from us. He is not asking anyone to vote for Him the next time He comes. People will either receive Him or they will be destroyed. He came the first time as a Savior. Next time He will come as King.

Luke 19:13

This is the message the world has for the Lord Jesus Christ today. This, however, will not keep God from sending His Son back to earth. They rebelled against God and His Messiah. They did not want Him to rule over them; so they nailed Him to a cross.

Luke 19:15

While He is away, friend, He has given you a pound. He has given every one of His servants an opportunity, and that opportunity is the pound. You are to be faithful to that over which He has made you steward. Your pound may be an entire city, a handful of people, or a home. Whatever it is, you are to be faithful. Some may gain five pounds and some may gain ten pounds while the Lord is away but when He comes again, He will reward you according to your faithfulness.

Luke 19:18

When He returns, He will reward them according to their faithfulness, you see. The important thing is faithfulness.

Luke 19:28

He continues on His way to Jerusalem to deliver Himself up into the hands of His enemies.

Luke 19:29

JESUS ENTERS JERUSALEMThe Gospels present a composite picture of the so-called triumphal entry. By piecing the Gospels together, the conclusion is obvious that He entered Jerusalem three times, once a day on three separate days: FirstSaturday (the Sabbath day). There were no money changers on that day, and He looked around and left, “And Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and into the temple: and when he had looked round about upon all things, and now the eventide was come, he went out unto Bethany with the twelve” (Mar_11:11). He entered as Priest. SecondSunday (first day of week). The money changers were there and He cleansed the temple (see Mat_21:12-13). He entered as King. ThirdMonday (second day of week). He wept over Jerusalem and entered the temple and taught and healed (see vv. Luk_19:41-44, Luk_19:47-48). He entered as Prophet. I see no point in reading a miracle into this incident, although many people do so. I believe this is a normal, natural situation. Probably when our Lord was in Jerusalem previously He made arrangements with some friends to use these animals the next time He came to the city. His friends agreed to let Him use the animals at the time of the Passover Feast. The owners of these animals were expecting the Lord and had them tied outside for Him. He told His disciples what to say in case anyone asked, so that they would know the Lord had sent them on this errand. The important thing in this passage is that Jesus asserts His authority, “The Lord hath need of him.”

Luke 19:35

The crowd did not know the full significance of this action. A few days later the crowd cried, “Crucify Him!” Even the disciples did not know the significance until later: “These things understood not his disciples at the first: but when Jesus was glorified, then remembered they that these things were written of him, and that they had done these things unto him” (Joh_12:16).

Luke 19:39

This episode of coming into Jerusalem as the Lord Jesus Christ did was bound to incite the Roman ruler to act because of two things that He did. First, He accepted the reverence and loyalty of these followers. In the second place, He did not silence them. The Lord Jesus Christ recognized that eternal and significant issues were at stake and that to rebuke His followers would force the silent stones to cry out. In fact, they were crying out, for when Nehemiah had rebuilt the walls and gates of the city, there was a message in the stones. Those very stones and walls were proclaiming the gospel message, and the gates were fairly shouting, “Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in” (Psa_24:7). (For amplification of this, see the author’s booklet, The Gospel in the Gates of Jerusalem.) It should be remembered that the so-called triumphal entry ended at the cross. Christ will come the second time in triumph. Heb_9:28 says, “So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.” The second time the Lord will come to this earth, His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives (see Zec_14:4). Then the Lord will enter Jerusalem. His true Triumphal Entry will be at His second coming. His first entry into Jerusalem took Him to the cross to die for our sins. By His death and resurrection, salvation is offered unto us.

Luke 19:41

JESUS WEEPS OVER THE CITYAnd, friend, they are still hidden from their eyes. I saw a picture of a convention they were having in Jerusalem some time ago. Stretched across the auditorium was a huge motto which read: “Science Will Give Us Peace In Our Day.” Well, science has not brought them peace. It has produced sophisticated weapons and the atom bomb, but it has not brought peace.

Luke 19:43

The fulfillment of this prophecy is written in history. In A.D. 70, Titus the Roman leveled Jerusalem and slaughtered the inhabitants without mercy.

Luke 19:45

JESUS CLEANSES THE TEMPLEOur Lord uses very strong language as He cleans up the temple for the second time. This action of Jesus officially closes His ministry to the nation.