2014 5-4 ‘Salvation and the Seeker’ Luke 19 1-10

“SALVATION AND THE SEEKER”
LUKE 19:1-10

I. Introduction
Every passage of Scripture has a key verse, the most important verse, the one upon which the passage, or the whole chapter, or maybe even the entire book itself depends. The initial challenge for a student of the Bible is to find it. And it can be a real challenge. There are times when finding that verse is harder than you may think. But that’s one of every pastor’s primary tasks as he studies and prepares to open God’s Word and teach it.

In this morning’s passage that task is about as easy as it gets. The key verse is that last one.
Luke 19:10
10 “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

Luke 19:10 is not only the key verse in this morning’s passage; it is the key verse of Luke’s entire gospel. Jesus delivers the same truth in at least two other passages as well.
*Luke 5:30-32
30 And the Pharisees and their scribes began grumbling at His disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax-gathers and sinners?”
31 And Jesus answered and said to them, “It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick.
32 “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

In this the Lord Jesus declares that He is the one who initiates the calling of the lost. It is not, contrary to popular opinion, the other way around.
*Luke 15:4-6
4 “What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?
5 “And when he has found it, he lays in on his shoulders, rejoicing.
6 “And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’”

Jesus goes out and finds the sheep. The sheep do not go out and find Him. These truths – God doing the calling and Jesus doing the seeking – are affirmed in basic biblical doctrine.
Jesus Christ must be the one who seeks the lost because, while the lost may well be seeking after personal pleasure, personal gain, or even some form of religious experience, the lost are not seeking Him. Paul makes that crystal clear when he says, “There is none righteous, not even one; there is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God (Romans 3:10-11).”

The bottom line is that if God doesn’t call you, and if Jesus doesn’t seek you (and find you), you won’t be found. You won’t be justified, and you’ll never be glorified with Him.
Romans 8:29-30
29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren;
30 and whom He predestined, these He also called; and whom He called, these He also justified (saved); and whom He justified, these He also glorified.

Thus we have a seeking Savior. And so Jesus can say of His coming to earth, “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” With this truth firmly fixed in our minds the reason for the salvation of both Bartimaeus – the poor blind beggar we met last week, and Zaccheus, the rich tax-gatherer we’re going to meet this week – comes into sharper focus.

At first glance it appears that both men made a decision to seek out Jesus. That’s what we think we do. And that, no doubt, is what they thought they did. But we’ll see that God had already made His decision to seek them. As such, He had prepared their hearts to respond to Jesus when He called them on a road in Jericho.
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II. Review
Jesus’ final journey to Jerusalem began in Luke 9:51 where we’re told that He “…resolutely set His face to go to Jerusalem.” Luke 17:11 says that, “…while He was on the way to Jerusalem… He was passing through Samaria and Galilee.” Along the way He continued His teaching and healing ministries. In Luke 18:9-27 He taught the characteristics of a true Christian, those personal traits that would open the gates to the kingdom of God.
• In the parable of the Pharisee and the tax-gatherer, we learned that humility before God was a character trait of all true believers.
• In the narrative of the babies and little children who were brought to Him, we learned that simple childlike faith and trust were also character traits of all true believers.
• In the unbelief of the rich young ruler, we learned that unless one is willing to leave this world and its treasures behind, they will never enter into God’s kingdom.

Last week, in Luke 18:35-43, as Jesus was passing through Jericho on the last leg of His journey to Jerusalem, we saw His encounter with the blind beggar named Bartimaeus. The whole thing may be summed up in just a few short verses. Bartimaeus cried out…
*Luke 18:38b, 41-43a
38b “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
41 “What do you want Me to do for you?” And he said, “Lord, I want to regain my sight!”
42 And Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has made you well.”
43a And immediately he regained his sight…

Jesus looked into the heart of poor blind Bartimaeus and saw the faith that the grace of God had placed there.
Ephesians 2:8
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God…

Poor Bartimeaus who was blind, and rich Zaccheus who could see perfectly well, could not have been much different. The former was unknown. He had no authority, no power, and no money. The latter was quite well-known. He had authority, power, and money. But both men had one thing in common. Before Jesus called them they were both lost. They had no hope. But Jesus, the seeking Savior, called Bartimaeus to Himself and saved Him. Today we will see our Lord do the same for Zaccheus.
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III. Text
Before we go to the text I want to take a moment to speak of God’s nature as a seeker of those who are lost. That is to say, seeking the lost is what God just naturally does. Do you remember what happened immediately after Adam and Eve had committed the first sin?
Genesis 3:8-9
8 And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.
9 Then the LORD God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?”

And so it began. We are sinners by nature. Therefore, we commit sin, and then we try to hide from the consequences of that sin. That’s what Adam and Eve did, and it’s what you and I do. We don’t go looking for God. We don’t seek Him. We try to hide from Him and justify ourselves. So God seeks after us. He calls out and says what He said for the first time back in Genesis 3:9, “Where are you?”

In Ezekiel 34 God describes Himself as a shepherd. Listen to just a little of what He says about Himself.
Ezekiel 34:11, 16a
11 For thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out.”
16a “I will seek the lost, bring back the scattered, bind up the broken, and strengthen the sick…”

And that brings us to today’s text in Luke.
*Luke 19:1-10 (Please stand with me in honor of reading God’s Word.)
1 And He (Jesus) entered and was passing through Jericho.
2 And behold, there was a man called by the name of Zaccheus; and he was a chief tax-gatherer, and he was rich.
3 And he was trying to see who Jesus was, and he was unable because of the crowd, for he was small in stature.
4 And he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree in order to see Him, for He was about to pass through that way.
5 And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, “Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.”
6 And he hurried and came down, and received Him (Jesus) gladly.
7 And when they saw it, they all began to grumble, saying, “He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.”
8 And Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, half of my posses-sions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much.”
9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham.
10 “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

So Jesus does the seeking and Jesus does the saving. And God is very specific about it. It is not a random thing. It is not something left to chance. If you are a Christian, it is solely because God made the decision that you would become one of His. “He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4a).” And, “…God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation…and it was for this He called you (2 Thessalonians 2:13-14).”

He called you, He sought you out, and He saved your soul. Our salvation is solely the work of a sovereign and seeking Savior. Zaccheus is a classic illustration of this very truth.
*Luke 19:1-2
1 And He (Jesus) entered and was passing through Jericho.
2 And behold, there was a man called by the name of Zaccheus; and he was a chief tax-gatherer, and he was rich.

Jesus was in Jericho on His way to Jerusalem for the last time. While passing through He has already had His encounter with blind Bartimaeus. The Lord called him, and through faith, the blind man received not only his eyesight, but the salvation of his eternal soul. In Luke 18:43 we’re told that Bartimaeus began following Jesus. Since very little time elapsed between 18:43 and 19:1, I think we can safely assume that Bartimaeus is still there when Zaccheus tries to get close enough to see the Lord.

In v. 2 we find out who Zaccheus is. He is a “chief tax-gatherer.” That means he isn’t just one of the local “IRS agents.” Think of him as head of the regional office. In the Roman system under which he operates he has access to great wealth. Clearly, Zaccheus has taken full advantage of his position. “…he was rich.”

He was also despised. Why wouldn’t he be? Although he was a Jew, He collected taxes for the Roman occupiers. But the tax-gatherers lined their own pockets by demanding more from the citizenry than Rome required. They robbed their own people.
And they were hated for it. There is an interesting parallel to this in more recent history, and it’s even worse than what the Jewish tax-gatherers did in the first century. In the 1930’s and 40’s some Jews chose to work for the Third Reich against their own people. In order to save their own necks, they willingly betrayed other Jews by helping the Nazis to round them up and transport them to the concentration camps, the gas chambers, and the ovens.

But in first century Israel the tax-gatherers were seen as the worst kind of sinners and were actually forbidden to enter the synagogues. But here is a great irony. “Zaccheus” means “clean, innocent, pure, and righteous.” His parents must have had great hopes for him. But he has grown-up to be unclean, guilty, impure, and unrighteous. Yet there is a greater irony to come. Jesus is going to restore this tax-gatherer’s name.

That’s good because one day he’s going to need his good name. According to Clement of Alexandria (c. 150-c. 215), Zaccheus became a prominent leader in the church. He tells us Zaccheus became pastor of the church in Caesarea. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
*Luke 19:3-4
3 And he (Zaccheus) was trying to see who Jesus was, and he was unable because of the crowd, for he was small in stature.
4 And he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree in order to see Him, for He was about to pass through that way.

He really wants to see Jesus. What’s motivating this man? Certainly there is normal human curiosity. But there’s more than that. One of Jesus’ disciples is Levi, a.k.a. Matthew, a tax-gatherer from Capernaum. Maybe Zaccheus wants to know why Levi is following Jesus. Maybe he’s heard that Jesus regularly associates with “sinners and tax-gatherers.” Maybe, and this seems more likely, maybe his conscience is bothering him. After all, just as the Holy Spirit had prepared the heart of Bartimaeus for that moment when Jesus called him, so too is He preparing the heart of Zaccheus for the moment when Jesus will call him.

Whatever it is that’s driving this man, He has to see Jesus. And Zaccheus does what we all think we do when God is preparing us for the moment of our justification. He “seeks” the Lord. He does so completely oblivious to the fact that Jesus has already sought him. And now Jesus is about to find him. Yet Zaccheus thinks he’s going to go and find Jesus. But since the crowds are so thick, he can’t see Jesus through them. And since he’s so short of stature he can’t see over them either.

Don’t you think Zaccheus looked a little less than dignified, maybe a little unsophisticated, running ahead of the crowds and climbing a tree so he could see Jesus? I’m sure he did, but it’s clear he doesn’t care. He’s not worried about that. All he knows is that He must see Jesus! You can see how this man is being drawn to Christ by God. Listen to John…
John 6:44a (Jesus speaking)
44a “No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draws him…”
And look at what happens. Both the time and the place have been ordained by God from eternity past. At precisely the right moment and at precisely the right place, the Lord Jesus calls Zaccheus to Himself. Zaccheus is seeking Jesus, but he has no idea that Jesus is really seeking him.
*Luke 19:5-6
5 And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, “Zaccheus,
hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.”
6 And he hurried and came down, and received Him (Jesus) gladly.

Throughout the gospels Jesus accepted the hospitality of others, but this is the only time He invites Himself into someone’s home. This is a beautiful illustration of Jesus’ personal call to salvation. Contrary to popular opinion Jesus doesn’t call the mass of humanity to Him-self. If a sovereign God did so wouldn’t everyone be saved?

That is essentially what Universalists teach. They say that since Jesus died for all, all will be saved. Their human logic then leads them to deny the existence of eternal judgment for sin and punishment in an eternal hell. That leads them to deny the very existence of hell. And so it goes until, one by one, the great doctrinal truths of the faith fall by the wayside.

Those who hold to Arminian theology also believe that Jesus calls to Himself everyone who hears the gospel. Since they believe that Jesus’ death has made salvation possible for everyone, they hope that somehow, somewhere, someone will respond and come to Jesus. But most people do not respond and come to Him. Does that mean that the call of the sove-reign God of the universe is more often than not ineffectual? No! The call to salvation is always effectual. Those whom Jesus seeks, Jesus saves. No exceptions! The biblical reality is that Jesus’ death has guaranteed salvation for those whom His Father has given Him.
John 6:37-39 (Jesus speaking)
37 “All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.
38 “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.
39 “And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day.”

Listen carefully please. When you hear the Word of God and you feel a tug at your heart, it isn’t the preacher. It is the Holy Spirit drawing you to Christ. He is giving you, the one whom He seeks, divine permission (yes – permission) to come to Him.
John 6:65b (Jesus speaking)
65b “…no one can come to Me, unless it is granted him from the Father.”

In Luke 19:5 the Lord Jesus said, “Zaccheus, hurry…come here…” And he did. Uschi, Kelly, Greg, there was a moment when Jesus called you.
He had been seeking you and when the time and place was right, He called you, and you responded. That’s how you were saved. That’s how I was saved. That’s how every single one of us who is saved was saved. That’s how God does it. And that’s why He gets the glory – all of it!

So Jesus tells Zaccheus to hurry. And why not? Isn’t our need for salvation urgent? Who among us knows when we will pass from this life. Paul reminds us of this urgency when he says, “…now is the acceptable time…now is the day of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2b).”

What did Zaccheus do? He hurried. In v. 6 we’re told that he came down from the tree and received Jesus gladly. “Gladly” is not the best or most descriptive word for how Zaccheus is feeling here. The Greek word is “chairō.” It speaks of the joy that comes from God’s grace. So Zaccheus is far more than glad. He’s overflowing with joy and exultation. He knows he’s been given faith and he knows he’s a recipient of God’s matchless grace. So he is thrilled. But how do those watching feel about it? Are they awed by Jesus and God’s grace? Are they happy for the tax-gatherer? No!
*Luke 19:7
7 And when they saw it, they all began to grumble, saying, “He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.”

They have no use for the tax-gatherer and they ridicule the Savior. It’s the same old com-plaint. They believe that going to the home of a sinner means that you are a partaker of his sins. That’s one of the reasons they hate Jesus. He hangs around with sinners. Well, who did He come to save? “…Jesus came into the world to save sinners (1 Timothy 1:15b).” I can’t help but be reminded of Jesus’ words in John’s gospel.
John 15:18-19
18 “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you.
19 “If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”

And that’s what has happened to Zaccheus. Jesus chose him out of this world and now he knows it. What does he do?
*Luke 19:8
8 And Zaccheus stopped (he “took a stand”) and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much.”

This tax-gatherer has had a change of heart. That’s as obvious as it can be. This is Romans 10:10 “in action.” “…with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.” Therefore, in the very next verse Jesus pro-claims Zaccheus’ salvation.
Remember the rich young ruler; how he clung so tenaciously to his stuff, to his wealth? He would give none of it away. So he departed from Jesus just as lost as when he approached Him. But Zaccheus doesn’t have that problem.
*Luke 19:9
9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham.

Jesus does not mean that Zaccheus’ wife and children have been saved because their father has been saved. Salvation is always individual and personal. What He means is that when the head of a household believes, the entire home comes under the influence of the gospel. And that sets the entire home apart from the unbelieving world.

When Jesus says Zaccheus is now a son of Abraham, He is speaking in the spiritual sense. Zaccheus was born a Jew, a physical descendant of Abraham, but now he has become a spiritual descendant of Abraham too. “…it is (all) those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham (Galatians 3:7).” It is in that sense that you and I are sons of Abraham as well.
*Luke 19:10
10 “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

Earlier I said that this is the key verse in this morning’s text. But it’s more than that. It’s the key verse of Luke’s gospel. And it could be argued that it is the key verse around which the entire written Word of God revolves. Think of it! In this one verse, Luke 19:10, we see who Jesus is and why He came to earth. And we see what He did when He came, what He still does today, and what He will continue to do right up until the Second Coming. He is the seeking Savior without whom none of us would be saved or have any hope for the future.

But someone says, “Yes, but doesn’t the Bible command us to seek Him?” Yes it does.
Consider the following. They’re just a few of the biblical commands for us to seek God.
Isaiah 55:6
6 Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near.
Jeremiah 29:13
13 “And you will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.”
Matthew 6:33
33 “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.”

These are not contradictions. They are confirmations. They’re directed at those whom God has already sought. When you seek God it proves that God has been seeking you. You were a lost sheep. Jesus, God’s own shepherd, sought you and found you. And that is why you found Him. That’s what Zaccheus found out in this morning’s text.
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IV. Conclusion
Luke 19:10 destroys the arguments of unbelievers and liberal theologians who like to say that Jesus wasn’t God; he was just a good man. And it destroys the argument that, since people are basically good, we don’t need to be saved from God’s judgment and the wrath to come. Rather, it tells us who He is – He is God – and what He does – He seeks and saves the lost. And it tells us how much we desperately need Jesus and the salvation that He alone can offer.

Listen please. Jesus did not come into this world to be a good teacher. He did not come to be a moral leader or to teach religious ideals. He did not come to raise human consciousness or improve the culture and society. Jesus did not even come into this world to show us what a perfect life looks like, although He did do that. Jesus Christ came into this world to save sinners. That’s it!

When all is said and done, that’s the only message I have for you. And it’s the only message you have for anyone else. Everything else, everything, is rooted and grounded in that.

Is there anyone here today who may be thinking, “All right, Jesus came to seek and to save lost sinners. But how do I know if He came to save me?” Let me answer that question with three other questions.
1. Do you see yourself as a lost sinner?
2. Do you know and believe that apart from God’s grace you will spend eternity in hell?
3. Do you understand that if God did not seek you, you would never seek Him?

If you can say, “Yes” in answer to those questions you can be saved because you know that you are a “lost sinner,” exactly the kind of person whom Jesus came to save. That’s the good news of the gospel for you this morning. Receive Him today, because “…now is the acceptable time, behold, now is the day of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2b).”

But should you say, “Oh yeah, well, I’m only human. I may not be perfect, but I don’t need someone who lived two thousand years ago to save me. And if you say, “I’m not a sinner and I’m not lost,” then you aren’t one of those whom Jesus came to seek and to save. You aren’t because Luke 19:10 says “…the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

Is God tugging at your heart? Is the Savior seeking you this morning? I can only beg you to respond like Zaccheus and run to meet Jesus.

~ Pray ~