Jesus and Zacchaeus
19
📚And Jesus entered and passed through Jericho.19:1 See Luke 18:35. This was the new Jericho.⚜
2 📚And a man named Zacchaeus was there, a chief tax collector 📖. And he was rich. 3 📚And he tried to see who Jesus was, and could not because of the crowd, for he was short of stature. 4 📚And he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, since he was coming that way.
19:4 Many would think this was no proper and dignified behavior for a rich man, but it shows how anxious he was to see the Lord Jesus and how little He cared for the opinion of those who might laugh or sneer at him.⚜
5 📚And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and saw him, and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house”.
19:5 The Lord had never met Zacchaeus but He knew where he was and everything about him. (Compare John 1:48-50; 2:24-25.) He knew that Zacchaeus was lost in sin but open to the truth, and He knew what His own ministry was (v 10). Jesus had an inner compulsion to go to his house. It was the compulsion of divine love. See John 4:4. Compare 2 Cor 5:14.⚜
6 📚And he hurried and came down, and received him joyfully.
19:6 This is something the religious leaders of Israel and most of the people would not do (John 1:11).⚜
7 📚And when they saw this, they all grumbled, saying, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinful man”.
8 📚And Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, half of my goods I am going to give to the poor. And if I have taken anything from anyone by fraud, I am going to give him back four times as much 📖”.
19:8 Zacchaeus chose a new master that day and called Him “Lord”. Up until then, his master had been money (Luke 16:13). He is one of the few rich men who enter God’s kingdom (Luke 18:24-25), and he is in great contrast to the rich fool in Luke 12:16, the rich man in Luke 16:19, and the rich young ruler of Luke 18:23. But he did not get into God’s kingdom simply by saying Lord to Jesus (Matt 7:21). He revealed that he had a true faith in Him by what he did. Zacchaeus was willing to do what many were not willing to do (Luke 16:14; Matt 19:21-24). This showed the work of God in his heart.⚜
9 📚And Jesus said to him, “This day salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham.
19:9 Observe that a great change in a person, bringing him from a state of sin to salvation and from death to life, happens very suddenly (John 5:24). Notes on salvation at Acts 4:12; Rom 1:16. By saying Zacchaeus was a “son of Abraham” Jesus meant Zacchaeus was not merely descended of Abraham, but a true son of Abraham who is the “father” of all who believe in Christ (Gen 15:6; Rom 4:11, 16). And Zacchaeus, by the results of repentance that appeared in his life, proved that he had believed. We may well question whether anyone has believed in Christ if these results are lacking.⚜
10 📚For the Son of man 📖 has come to seek and to save that which was lost”. 📖
The parable of the servants and the money
11 📚And while they were listening to these things, he went on and told a parable, because he was near Jerusalem and because they thought that the kingdom of God 📖 would immediately appear.
12 📚Therefore he said, “A certain nobleman went to a far country to receive a kingdom for himself and to return.
19:12 The Lord Jesus had noble birth indeed! See Luke 1:35; Matt 1:1. The way the man was appointed king was the manner of things in Judea in those times. The Herods went to Rome and received their authority there. The authority of the Lord Jesus did not come from Rome but from heaven (Matt 28:18; John 17:2; Acts 2:33-36; Phil 2:9-11; 1 Pet 3:22). He is yet to return, but will do so at the proper time (Matt 16:27; Acts 1:22).⚜
13 📚And he called his ten servants, 📖 and gave them ten pounds, and said to them, ‘Do business 📖 until I return.’
14 📚“But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to reign over us.’
19:14 This had actually happened thirty years before in the case of a man named Archelaus. But the parable refers to the Lord Jesus – the Jews declared to the Romans that they did not want Him to be their King (John 19:13-16), and they did not (for the most part) change their minds afterward (1 Thess 2:14-16).⚜
15 📚“And it happened that when he returned, after receiving the kingdom, he ordered that those servants, to whom he had given the money, be called to him, that he might know how much each man had earned through his business activity.
19:15 The Lord Jesus will openly be declared King, and He will return in glory, and no power in the universe will prevent it (Rev 11:15; 19:11-16). Then Christ will judge His servants – 1 Cor 3:12-15; 2 Cor 5:10; Rev 11:18.⚜
16 📚“Then the first came, saying, ‘Lord, your pound has earned ten pounds.’
19:16 He humbly attributed his success to the “pound” and not to himself. Compare Luke 17:10.⚜
17 📚“And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant! Because you have been faithful in a very little thing, have authority over ten cities.’
19:17 See Luke 16:10. He had proved himself in a very small matter. The reward he received is out of all proportion to the small matter he dealt with. When God rewards His faithful servants they will receive great rewards indeed, even for seemingly small works (compare Matt 10:42). “Cities” suggests the reward will be a place of honor and authority in God’s kingdom when it is manifested on earth. Compare Luke 22:30; Matt 19:28; Rev 3:21; 20:6.⚜
18 📚“And the second came, saying, ‘Lord, your pound has earned five pounds.’
19:18 Each servant received the same amount, which suggests that in the matter they were being tested about everything was equal. Why then the difference between the results achieved by this man and the first servant? It is very likely the first simply worked harder - Compare 1 Cor 15:10; Col 1:29; 3:23; 4:13. See the list of believers in Rom 16:3-12 – some worked, some worked hard, some worked very hard.⚜
19 📚“And he said to him in the same way, ‘Be over five cities.’
19:19 His efforts and accomplishments were not as great as the first servant’s, so his reward was not so great (see Rev 22:12). Still it was a very great reward for such a small work.⚜
20 📚“And another came, saying, ‘Lord, look, here is your pound, which I have kept laid away in a napkin. 21 📚For I was afraid of you, because you are a harsh man. You take up what you did not lay down, and reap what you did not sow.’
22 📚“And he said to him, ‘I will judge you out of your own mouth, you wicked servant. Did you know that I was a harsh man, taking up what I did not lay down, and reaping what I did not sow?
19:22 Matt 25:26 says that the servant there was lazy as well as wicked, and the same is probably true here. This servant was either lazy, and so disobeyed the one command his master gave him (v 13), or else he was willing to work but only for himself. God has called all believers to serve Him. But there are many called Christians who do all their work for themselves and none for the Lord Jesus (Phil 2:21). Lazy indifference to the Lord’s commands, and giving oneself entirely to one’s own affairs – both are disobedience. And disobedience is wickedness (1 Sam 15:22-23). Notice that this man was judged not merely for what he did but for what he did not do. Compare Matt 25:41-46.⚜
23 📚Then why did you not put my money in the bank, so that when I came I might have collected it with interest?’
24 📚“And he said to those who stood by, ‘Take the pound from him and give it to the one who has ten pounds.’
25 📚“And they said to him, ‘Lord, he has ten pounds!’
26 📚“And he said, ‘For I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given; and from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. 27 📚But bring here those enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, and execute them in front of me.’ ”
19:11-27 This parable is similar in some ways to the one in Matt 25:14-30, but different in other ways. They were spoken at different times and places.⚜
19:27 These men showed they were his enemies by rejecting him as king. So it is now. By rejecting the Lord Jesus as Saviour and King of their lives men reveal their hostility toward Him (John 1:11; 3:19-20; 15:18; Rom 8:7). It will not go well with such people in the day of judgment, as the closing words of this verse indicate. Compare 2 Thess 1:7-10; Rev 19:11-16.⚜
Jesus rides to Jerusalem on a donkey and weeps over it
28 📚And when he had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29 📚And it came about when he had come near Bethphage and Bethany that at the mount that is called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, 30 📚saying, “Go to the village opposite. When you enter it you will find there a colt tied up, on which no one has yet sat. Untie it and bring it here. 31 📚And if anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ tell him this: ‘Because the Lord needs it.’ ”
32 📚And those who were sent went off and found it just as he had told them. 33 And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34 📚And they said, “The Lord needs it”.
35 📚And they brought it to Jesus, and they threw their cloaks on the colt, and they put Jesus on it. 36 📚And while he was going, they spread their cloaks in the way.
37 📚And now, as he was approaching the descent from the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, 38 📚saying, “Blessed be the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
39 📚And some of the Pharisees out of the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples”.
19:39 Compare Matt 21:15-16.⚜
40 📚And he answered and said to them, “I tell you that if these were to keep quiet the stones would immediately cry out”.
19:40 The occasion was so great that God would see to it that joyful sounds of praise would come from some source.⚜
41 📚And when he came near the city, he looked at it, and wept over it,
19:41 Crucifixion and suffering awaited Him there, but He did not weep for Himself. He was called a “Man of sorrows” (Isa 53:3), but His sorrows were for the sad condition of others.⚜
42 📚saying, “If you had known, even you, especially in this day of yours, the things that would give you peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.
19:42 Peace would have come by repentance and receiving Jesus as their Messiah and Saviour, but God was punishing them for their wickedness, and part of the punishment was to let them remain in ignorance. Compare Matt 11:25; 13:11-16; John 9:41.⚜
43 📚For the days will come upon you in which your enemies will build an embankment around you, and surround you, and hem you in on every side. 44 📚And they will level you, and your children in you, to the ground. And they will not leave in you one stone on another, because you did not know the time of your visitation”.
45 📚And he went into the temple, and began to drive out those buying and selling in it, 46 📚saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house is a house of prayer’, but you have made it a den of thieves”.
47 📚And he taught daily in the temple. But the chief priests and the scribes and the leaders of the people looked for a way to destroy him, 48 📚but did not see what they could do, for all the people were hanging on his words, listening to him.