The Church: Being A City Set On A Hill - Week 5 (Luke 19:1-10)
Luke 19:1-10
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Joyfully Obedient
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Luke 19:1-10 〰️ Joyfully Obedient 〰️
We're now in week five of our series The Church. We've spent the last four weeks looking at Gospel examples of who we desire to be in following Jesus. To recap, the last three weeks have focused on:
1. How The Gospel Amazes Us
2. How we are to Treasure God's Word
3. How we're Aware of our Dependence
And this week, we're honing in on what it means to be Joyfully Obedient. For this, we're looking at the interactions between Jesus and Zacchaeus, the chief tax collector. In Luke 19:1-10, we see little conversation between Jesus and Zacchaeus, leading us to believe that he already knew who Jesus was, who He claimed to be, and what He had done up to this point.
Again, we see this note of God's Will acted out in v5: "Zacchaeus, hurry and come down because today it is necessary for me to stay at your house." We saw this a few weeks ago as the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil (4:1). This, along with all of Jesus's ministry, was God's Will being acted out as He planned. Salvation and redemption were the plan all along, and we see the entirety of the gospels played out as our Lord willed it. So Jesus tells Zacchaeus that it "is necessary" to stay at his house; we are again reminded of the divine plan of our Lord in redeeming the lost, and our God's desire for us to joyfully respond in obedience. So when Jesus asks Zacchaeus to come down from the tree, others around them complained that Jesus "has gone to stay with a sinful man." (v7). But Zacchaeus responds by saying he would give up everything to follow Jesus: "Look, I'll give half of my possessions to the poor, Lord. And if I have extorted anything from anyone, I'll pay back four times as much." (v8). Zacchaeus "publicly wanted the people to know that his time with Jesus had changed his life."¹
Something important to note regarding Jesus's response in v9: "Today salvation has come to this house..." "did not imply that the act of giving to the poor had saved Zacchaeus, but that his change in lifestyle evidenced his right relationship before God."² Here, in response to Zacchaeus giving away his possessions, Jesus is essentially saying, "Look at what this man has done! This is evidence of a changed heart!" This passage is particularly interesting when compared to the rich young ruler in Luke 18:18-23. The rich young ruler sought his comfort and peace in his possessions, as we read that "he became extremely sad" (v23) when Jesus told him to sell all that he had and distribute it to the poor.
What we can glean from these two stories is this: Our Lord is after our hearts. Wealth is not inherently evil, but with increased wealth comes increased exposure to idolatry. We experience this in the West more than any other generation or culture before us. As we study, work, and save for retirement, vacations, larger homes, and nicer cars, we make money and, more subtly, the security it provides our god. In Luke 18, Jesus calls the rich young ruler to give away all his earthly possessions and to trust in Jesus instead, much to his dismay. In Luke 19, Zacchaeus knows what he must do to follow Jesus: give away all his earthly possessions and trust in Jesus instead.
So as we enter discussion together, we collectively must consider what is keeping us from joyful obedience to Jesus? What is that one idol, big or small, that prevents us from fully surrendering to God? Sitting in this question sparks another: Is Jesus your Lord, or is He just your Savior? For clarity, He is and always will be both, but accepting Christ as our Savior, but not your Lord, denies Him the glory He rightfully deserves and greatly diminishes the authority you've granted Him in your life.
Discussion Questions
What stood out to you from the passage?
Does anything in this passage remind you of another part of Scripture?
Do you have any questions?
How does Zacchaeus respond to Jesus's request in v5? What does this reveal about how Zacchaeus viewed Jesus?
Why would a brief encounter with Jesus lead Zacchaeus to give half of his possessions to the poor and repay fourfold what he took from others?
Read Luke 18:18-23. How does Zacchaeus contrast the rich young ruler?
In what ways might you relate to the rich young ruler in your responses to Jesus? How might you relate more to Zacchaeus?
What would it look like to follow Jesus and live a "joyfully obedient" life? What would be the same? What would be different?
1. John A. Martin, The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 252.