Luke 19:1-10 comments: that which was lost

19:1 ¶  And Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. 2  And, behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich. 3  And he sought to see Jesus who he was; and could not for the press, because he was little of stature. 4  And he ran before, and climbed up into a sycomore tree to see him: for he was to pass that way. 5  And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at thy house. 6  And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully. 7  And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, That he was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner. 8  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 any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold. 9  And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham. 10  For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.

In Luke 3 John the Baptist admonished the publicans, the tax-collectors, not to demand more money than they were supposed to get. It was common then for the tax-collector to extort money out of the powerless people he was charged with collecting taxes from compounding the thinking that they were Jewish turncoats working for the Romans with corruption on top of that. They were not well-liked and, typically, were lumped in with prostitutes as being hated sinners.

Zacchaeus admits his past extortions, repents of his sin, and pays restitution all the while acknowledging Christ as Lord. Here is the classic example of coming to Christ. Repent of your sins, make restitution when possible, and acknowledge and believe in Christ. Jesus again makes the declaration that He is come to save them that are lost, an implication that salvation can only be for those who admit they are lost, humbling themselves before God. I am reminded of the publican in chapter 18.

13  And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. 14  I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

Here is a Christian principle that all employees of government and even private business should be conscious of. Do not use your position for personal gain other than what is appointed to you. I used to work for a mobile home sales lot where the manager, part owner, would sell wheels and axles from homes he had set on customer’s property, wheels and axles that were to remain with the dealership and were not property of the customer. However, he did not tell his partner about the money he was pocketing. Oddly, he thought nothing of it until he was caught in an audit. Although, he was part owner, what he did was dishonest and was basically stealing from his partner. It ended his part in the business as the law backed up his partner.

I have heard anecdotal stories about building inspectors in this area making it clear that if a contractor were to give them a little side money a permit process would go easier for them. Recently, also there was a scandal nationally where wealthy parents paid an agent to help their children get into elite colleges fraudulently. Christians must not engage in such dishonesty and should be above board and transparent in all of their dealings.

Zacchaeus repented of his wickedness, everyday corruption, and turned to Christ. And notice, Christ was going to abide with him, grace the man’s house with Christ’s own presence. Think of the analogy.

John 14:23  Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

Note here that Christ knew He would be welcome at Zacchaeus’ house and invited Himself there. God’s foreknowledge knew that we would believe Him before the world was founded. We were chosen, in Him, that is by virtue of His foreknowledge of our willingness to receive His offer of grace, before the earth was created.

Ephesians 1:4  According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

1Peter 1:2a  Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father…

For those of us who belong to Christ there was a time when He said to us, “for to day I must abide at thy house.” The wonderful thing about Christ’s indwelling is that He never leaves us.

He told Paul, as reported in Hebrews 13:5, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. This is a sentiment similarly, in different contexts, expressed by God throughout the Old Testament; in Deuteronomy 31, Joshua 1, 1Samuel 12, 1Chronicles 28, and Psalm 37.

God, who created us, and makes all things happen by the word of His power, has come to live in our earthly house, our body, with us. I cannot imagine anything more incredible.

Finally, verse 10 shows us that Jesus came to straighten out the Jews first, the lost sheep of the house of Israel who strayed from the path God set them on and invented their own path of hypocrisy and false doctrine.

Matthew 10:5 ¶  These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: 6  But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Matthew 15:24  But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Then, His offer of salvation is extended to all mankind who from the days of Noah had also walked in their own perverted way.

Psalm 22:27  All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.

Matthew 8:11  And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 12:21  And in his name shall the Gentiles trust.

John 10:16  And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.

Acts 1:8  But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.