Sunday
Morning Bible Study
December
4, 2016
Introduction
Do people see Jesus? Is the gospel
preached? Does it address the person who is: Empty, lonely, guilty, or afraid
to die? Does it speak to the broken
hearted? Does it build up the church? Milk – Meat – Manna Preach for a decision
Is the church loved? Regular: 2900
words Communion: 2500 words Video=75wpm
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Luke was a doctor and a traveling
companion of the apostle Paul.
He wrote this book while Paul was
in prison.
In writing this book about Jesus,
Luke made use of other older documents like the Gospel of Mark, as well as
extensive eyewitness accounts.
Jesus’ ministry is well under way, and the people have been amazed not just
at the things He’s been teaching, but the things He’s been doing.
19:1-10 Zacchaeus
:1 Then Jesus entered and passed through Jericho.
:1 passed through Jericho
entered – eiserchomai
– to go out or come in: to enter. Aorist participle.
passed through – dierchomai
– to go through, pass through; to go, walk, journey, pass through a place.
Imperfect tense – He “was passing through”
Last week we mentioned that in Jesus’ day there were two Jerichos. There
was the ancient Jericho and there was the newer Roman Jericho. The blind man
Bartimaeus was on the portion of road between the two Jerichos. Jesus is now
entering into and passing through the second, Roman Jericho.
While the older Jericho was populated by the poorer folks, the newer Roman
Jericho was the home of the wealthy people.
It’s this wealthy part of Jericho that Jesus has just passed through.
The area of Jericho is an oasis, kind of like Palm Springs.
Winters can get cold in Jerusalem and they will even have occasional snow.
But because Jericho is 1000 feet below sea level, it can still be in the
70’s and 80’s.
There are also quite a few springs in Jericho, providing lots of water, and
making it a place for farming year-round.
Today you will see acres and acres of date palms and fruit trees growing
around the area of Jericho.
Note: Jerusalem
is just 15 miles up the hill from Jericho.
When you’re on the tour bus, it’s
about a forty-five minute drive up to Jerusalem.
:2 Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax
collector, and he was rich.
named – literally, “called by the name of”
:2 Zacchaeus – Zakchaios
– “pure”
His name has a Hebrew root to it –
zakak – to be pure, be
bright, be clean, be bright, clean
:2 who was a chief tax collector
chief tax collector – architelones
(“ruler” + “tax collector”) – a chief of tax collectors
Zacchaeus would be a Jewish, “mid-level” manager. He would report to a boss who lived in Rome,
but he had lower level Jewish men actually doing the tax-collecting who would
work for him.
In the Roman system of collecting
taxes (teloi), there were three
levels of officials.
The highest ranking tax collector
was a publicanus.
This official would pay a certain
sum of money to Rome to cover the taxes for an entire province, and then
collect that money and more from the citizens of that province.
This would be something similar to
the head of the IRS. This guy lived in
Rome.
The next level was the submagistri.
This was a Jew living in the actual
province with men working for him who collected the actual taxes.
This would be Zacchaeus.
The bottom level was the portitores.
These were the Jews who actually
manned the tax offices, the guys who actually collected the taxes from the
people.
One of the disciples, Matthew (or,
Levi) was one of these officials.
:2 he was rich
rich – plousios
– wealthy, abounding in material resources
If your tax bill for Rome was $100, the tax collectors were allowed to
collect $200 or more from you, and keep the extra for themselves.
This is how the tax guys became both wealthy, as well as hated by the common
Jewish folks.
:3 And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd,
for he was of short stature.
he sought – zeteo
– to seek in order to find. Imperfect tense: he “was seeking”.
Imperfect active indicative
to see – eido
– to see; to perceive with the eyes; to perceive, notice, discern,
discover; to know
Aorist active infinitive
could – dunamai
– to be able, have power whether by virtue of one’s own ability and
resources, or of a state of mind, or through favorable circumstances, or by
permission of law or custom; to be able to do something; to be capable, strong
and powerful
Imperfect passive deponent
indicative
crowd – ochlos
– a crowd; a casual collection of people; a throng; a multitude
stature – helikia
– age, time of life; stature, i.e in height and comeliness of stature
short – mikros
– small, little; of size: hence of stature, of length
:3 he was of short stature
As the children’s song goes, “Zacchaeus was a wee little man…”
Because Zacchaeus was such a short fellow, he couldn’t see over the crowd
to get a glimpse of Jesus.
Yet he certainly wanted to see Jesus.
He was trying and trying to see Jesus, but he just was not able to see
over the crowd.
:4 So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He
was going to pass that way.
:4 he ran ahead
ran – protrecho
– to run before, to outrun
Aorist active participle
ahead – emprosthen
– in front, before; before, in the presence of, i.e. opposite to, over
against one; before, in the sight of
Here’s this important government official gathering up his expensive robes
around his waist and running as fast as he can to find a place to catch a
glimpse of Jesus.
:4 climbed up into a sycamore tree
climbed up – anabaino
– ascend; to go up; to rise, mount, be borne up, spring up
Aorist active indicative
sycamore tree – sukomoraia
This is the sycamore fig tree, also known as the fig-mulberry tree (ficus sycomorus)
As you can see in the picture, the sycamore had broad, low hanging
branches, making it the perfect tree for Zach to climb up.
This was also a fruit tree that needed the warm climate of Jericho to grow
in.
The prophet Amos was a “tender of
sycamore fruit” (Amos 7:14).
(Amos 7:14 NKJV) —14 Then Amos
answered, and said to Amaziah: “I was
no prophet, Nor was I a son
of a prophet, But I was a
sheepbreeder And a tender of
sycamore fruit.
A study in 2015
came to the conclusion that the sycamore tree was brought to Israel by the
Philistines, around the time of King David.
was going – mello
– to be about
to pass – dierchomai
– to go through, pass through
:5 And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to
him, “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your
house.”
:5 He looked up and saw him
He looked up – anablepo
– to look up; to recover (lost) sight
A strange thing for Zacchaeus. He
was used to people looking “down” at him, both physically and socially.
And here’s Jesus looking “up” at him.
saw – oida
– to see; to know
Do you really “see” the people
around you?
Zacchaeus – How did Jesus know this guy’s name? He knows everything.
:5 make haste and come down
make
haste – speudo
– to haste, make haste; to desire earnestly.
Zacchaeus had already run to the
tree to climb it. Now Jesus says, “Hurry
up, Zack, I want to spend time with you!!!”
come down – katabaino
– to go down, come down, descend; the place from which one has come down
from
I find it interesting that
Zacchaeus didn’t invite Jesus to his house.
Jesus invited Himself.
:5 today I must stay at your house
today – semeron
– this (very) day); what has happened today
house – oikos
– a house; an inhabited house, home
must – dei – it is necessary, there is need of
stay – meno
– to remain, abide; to continue to be present; to wait for
Lesson
At home
Back in 1954, Robert Boyd Munger wrote a little booklet, “My Heart,
Christ’s Home”. Mr. Munger paints a picture of how Jesus comes into
our lives and be “at home” in our hearts. Here’s some of that booklet:
Illustration
The Living Room
From the dining room we walked into the living room. This room was intimate
and comfortable. I liked it. It had a fireplace, overstuffed chairs, a sofa,
and a quiet atmosphere. He said, “This is indeed a delightful room. Let us come
here often. It is secluded and quiet, and we can fellowship together.” Well, as
a young Christian I was thrilled. I couldn’t think of anything I would rather
do than have a few minutes with Christ in close companionship. He promised, “I
will be here early every morning. Meet me here, and we will start the day
together.” So morning after morning, I would come downstairs to the living
room. He would take a book of the Bible from the case. We would open it and
read together. He would unfold to me the wonder of God’s saving truths. My
heart sang as He shared the love and the grace He had toward me. These were
wonderful times. However, little by little, under the pressure of many
responsibilities, this time began to be shortened. Why, I’m not sure. I thought
I was too busy to spend regular time with Christ. This was not intentional, you
understand. It just happened that way. Finally, not only was the time
shortened, but I began to miss days now and then. Urgent matters would crowd
out the quiet times of conversation with Jesus. I remember one morning rushing
downstairs, eager to be on my way. I passed the living room and noticed that
the door was open. Looking in, I saw a fire in the fireplace and Jesus was sitting
there. Suddenly in dismay I thought to myself, “He is my guest. I invited Him
into my heart! He has come as my Savior and Friend, and yet I am neglecting
Him.” I stopped, turned and hesitantly went in. With downcast glance, I said,
“Master, forgive me. Have You been here all these mornings?” “Yes,” He said, “I
told you I would be here every morning to meet with you. Remember, I love you.
I have redeemed you at great cost. I value your fellowship. Even if you cannot
keep the quiet time for your own sake, do it for mine.” The truth that Christ
desires my companionship, that He wants me to be with Him and waits for me,
has done more to transform my quiet time with God than any other single fact.
Don’t let Christ wait alone in the living room of your heart, but every day
find time when, with your Bible and in prayer, you may be together with Him.
My Heart Christ's Home © 1954 Robert Boyd Munger.
To purchase a copy of Mr.
Munger’s book from Amazon.com, click here.
It is necessary that Jesus be at home in
your heart.
:6 So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully.
he made haste – speudo
– to haste, make haste; to desire earnestly
came down – katabaino
– to go down, come down, descend; the place from which one has come down
from
received – hupodechomai – to
receive as a guest
joyfully – chairo
– to rejoice, be glad; to rejoice exceedingly
Zacchaeus was more than happy to
have Jesus come and visit him at his house.
:7 But when they saw it, they all complained, saying, “He has gone
to be a guest with a man who is a sinner.”
:7 a guest with a man who is a sinner
sinner – hamartolos
– devoted to sin, a sinner; not free from sin; pre-eminently sinful,
especially wicked
has gone – eiserchomai
– to go out or come in: to enter
to be a guest – kataluo (“down
from” + “to loosen”) – of travelers, to halt on a journey, to put up, lodge
It’s an expression that originates from the notion that when a traveler
arrives at his destination, he will loosen the straps of his horse or camel, he
will loosen his own garments.
It’s like “letting down your hair”, or “loosening your tie”.
:7 they all complained
they saw – eido
– to see; to perceive with the eyes; to perceive by any of the senses; to
perceive, notice, discern, discover; to know
all – hapas
– quite, all, the whole, all together, all
complained – diagogguzo –
to murmur; either of a whole crowd, or among one another; always used of many
indignantly complaining.
This is an intensive form of gogguzo,
which simply means to “murmur” or “complain”.
The simpler form (gogguzo)
was used in:
(Luke 5:30 NKJV) And their scribes and
the Pharisees complained against His disciples, saying, “Why do You eat and
drink with tax collectors and sinners?”
Back in chapter 5,
they were “slightly” complaining.
We saw this word used back in:
The more intense form (diagogguzo)
was used one other place:
(Luke 15:2 NKJV) And the
Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, “This Man receives sinners and eats
with them.”
Here, it’s not just the scribes and Pharisees, but ALL are murmuring
over this.
As Jesus’ ministry is progressing, so is the complaining and grumbling.
Perhaps in the beginning some of the people were thinking,
“Well, give Him some time, He’ll see what a bad move that is …” But now, when
Jesus reaches out to Zacchaeus, the whole crowd is complaining.
And after all, why not?
As a chief tax-collector, everyone hates Zacchaeus.
Jesus is a person that the people have come to love and
admire, and it just doesn’t make sense that He would want to go to Zacchaeus’
house.
In this recent election season, both parties worked hard to make the other
candidate out to be the worst sinner ever.
For those of you who do not like Mr. Trump, how would you
react if Jesus invited Himself to Trump Tower for lunch?
For those of you who do not like Mrs. Clinton, how would
you react if Jesus invited Himself over to Mrs. Clinton’s house?
Do you understand why they complained?
And don’t think
that He’s done it to sit her down and rebuke her. He’s gone to be …
Lesson
Complaint Department
After the nation of Israel was brought out of Egypt by Moses, they wandered
in the wilderness for forty years before coming into the Promised Land.
One of the chief characteristics of their time in the wilderness was their
“complaining”. Paul tells us about this
time in history when he writes,
(1 Corinthians
10:6–13 NLT) —6 These things happened as a warning to us, so that we would not
crave evil things as they did, 7 or worship idols as some of them did. As the Scriptures say, “The
people celebrated with feasting and drinking, and they indulged in pagan
revelry.”
Here Paul is describing the incident where Aaron made a golden calf and the
people descended into idolatry.
It happened when the people were complaining because Moses was taking so
long up on the mountain getting the commandments of God (Ex. 32).
8 And we must
not engage in sexual immorality as some of them did, causing 23,000 of them to
die in one day. 9
Nor
should we put Christ to the test, as some of them did and then died from
snakebites.
When the “fiery serpents” started biting people, the incident happened because
the people were complaining about the food (Numbers 21:5-6)
10 And don’t
grumble as some of them did, and then were destroyed by the angel of death.
Over and over the people complained in the wilderness.
11 These things
happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us who live
at the end of the age. 12 If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall.
We too can fall into the trap of complaining. It’s a very easy thing to
start.
13 The temptations
in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful.
He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are
tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.
temptations – peirasmos – an enticement to sin,
temptation; adversity, affliction, trouble sent by God to test or prove one’s
character
The word is used to describe both enticement to sin, as
well as the difficult trials of life.
We often look at this verse as a reminder that God will provide a way out
of a temptation to sin.
Yet in context it seems to speak more to how God will not allow you to go
through a difficult time without showing you a way to endure it.
When we are faced with difficult times, will we learn to
trust God, or will we respond the normal way, by complaining?
Paul also wrote,
(Philippians 2:14–15
NLT) —14 Do everything without complaining and arguing, 15 so that no
one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining
like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people.
We live in a world filled with wickedness.
One of the ways that we shine as a light in this dark world is by learning
to trust God instead of complain.
Don’t like what’s happening around you?
Take it to God and ask for His help.
When we learn to trust God instead of complain, we will shine as lights in
a dark world.
When we trust God rather than complain, we will find more positive things
coming out of our mouths. We might just
find more people paying attention to what we say.
I wonder if the problem with our witness is that too often the things
people hear coming out of our mouths are complaints rather than demonstrating
our trust in God and our love for others.
:8 Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I give half of
my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false
accusation, I restore fourfold.”
stood – histemi
– to cause or make to stand, to place, put, set; to stand
half – hemisu
– half
goods – huparchonta
– possessions, goods, wealth, property
poor – ptochos
– reduced to beggary, begging, asking alms; destitute of wealth, influence,
position, honor
I give – didomi
– to give
Present active indicative
Not “I will give”, but “I am
giving”
restore – apodidomi
(“back” + “to give”) – to deliver, to give away for one’s own profit what
is one’s own, to sell; to pay off, discharge what is due; to give back, restore
Present active indicative
fourfold – tetraploos
– quadruple, fourfold
:8 I give half of my goods
When Jesus confronted the rich
young ruler over his greed, he asked him to give up all his goods. When Zach offers to give up half, that was
good enough for Jesus.
It’s not the amount that counts,
but the heart behind it.
:8 if I have taken
This is what’s called in the Greek, a “condition of the first class”. It makes the assumption that the statement is
true. This means that the grammar
carries the idea of, “If I have taken any thing, and I have …”.
:8 by false accusation
– sukophanteo (“fig” + “shine”) –
to accuse wrongfully; to exact money wrongfully; to extort from
In ancient Greece, it was frowned upon to ship figs out of the
country. There were a group of men who
were given the job of exposing people who were wrongfully exporting figs.
These men were called “fig-shiners” because they were to expose the figs.
They also ended up being guys who took bribes to look the other way and
became rich rather than exposing the illegal fig business.
Our word “sycophant” means a person who extorts or influences others
through flattery.
It’s ironic that Zacchaeus, the sycophant, gets shined upon by Jesus
as he’s sitting up in a sycamore tree.
:8 I restore fourfold
This follows what the Law of Moses said about restitution:
(Exodus 22:1 NKJV) “If a man
steals an ox or a sheep, and slaughters it or sells it, he shall restore five
oxen for an ox and four sheep for a sheep.
Lesson
Changed Lives
We are watching Zacchaeus’ life change before our eyes.
Illustration
I remember hearing Pastor Chuck talk about an incident when he was teaching
on a Monday night at Costa Mesa. A young
lady had walked into the church and had sat down in the front row. She was not exactly dressed very
modestly. Her blouse was unbuttoned a
little too much. Chuck was rather upset
and was considering changing his message and talking about how women ought to
dress modestly. But he felt that the
Lord was telling him to back off and so he simply gave the message he was
planning on giving. At the end of the
message, when he gave an altar call, the young lady came forward to accept the
Lord. And her blouse was buttoned.
The very thing that you might be upset at an unbeliever could very well be
one of the things that would change if they just knew the Lord.
Jesus didn’t need to tell Zach what he needed to do. He just needed to have a relationship with
Zach.
Sometimes we overdo it in trying to fix everyone around us.
Perhaps we’d be better off helping them to get closer to Jesus.
:9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because
he also is a son of Abraham;
:9 Today salvation has come to this house
salvation – soteria
– deliverance, preservation, safety, salvation
house – oikos
– a house; an inhabited house, home; the inmates of a house, all the
persons forming one family, a household
Jesus is declaring that Zacchaeus has been saved.
:9 he also is a son of Abraham
Abraham is the epitome of a person who is right with God.
The key to Abraham being right with God was his faith.
(Genesis 15:6 NKJV)
And
he believed in the Lord, and He
accounted it to him for righteousness.
Zacchaeus was demonstrating his faith in Jesus by his acts of repentance,
making things right with others.
The Jews thought that simply being
biological descendants of Abraham was enough, but it wasn’t.
(John 8:39 NKJV) They answered and said
to Him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said
to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham.
The Jews might also say they were
sons of Abraham because they were circumcised like Abraham was circumcised.
Yet Paul tells us that circumcision
was only a proof of the real Abrahamic connection to God, his faith.
(Romans 4:11–12 NLT) —11 Circumcision
was a sign that Abraham already had faith and that God had already accepted him
and declared him to be righteous—even before he was circumcised. So Abraham is
the spiritual father of those who have faith but have not been circumcised.
They are counted as righteous because of their faith. 12 And Abraham is also the spiritual father of those who have been
circumcised, but only if they have the same kind of faith Abraham had before he
was circumcised.
Moses wrote about what actually
made Abraham right with God. It was his
faith.
(Genesis 15:6 NKJV) And he
believed in the Lord, and He
accounted it to him for righteousness.
Over and over again in the New
Testament, the apostles quote this to remind us that it was the faith of
Abraham that made Him right with God, not any works.
(Romans 4:3 NKJV) —3 For what
does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to
him for righteousness.”
(Romans 4:9 NKJV) —9 Does this
blessedness then come upon the circumcised only, or upon the
uncircumcised also? For we say that faith was accounted to Abraham for
righteousness.
(Romans 4:22 NKJV) —22 And
therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness.”
(Galatians 3:6 NKJV) —6 just as
Abraham “believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”
(James 2:21–24 NKJV) —21 Was not
Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the
altar? 22 Do you see that faith
was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? 23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed
God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the
friend of God. 24 You see then that a
man is justified by works, and not by faith only.
To be a true son of Abraham, you
need to believe in God like Abraham believed.
:10 for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
:10 to seek and to save that which was lost
to seek – zeteo
– to seek in order to find
to save – sozo
– to save, keep safe and sound, to rescue from danger or destruction
lost – apollumi
– to destroy; to put out of the way entirely, abolish, put an end to ruin;
metaph. to devote or give over to eternal misery in hell; to perish, to be
lost, ruined, destroyed
Second Perfect Active Participle
Lesson
What Jesus is all about
This is the essence of why Jesus came.
You might call this the “key verse” to the entire book.
Jesus came to save lost people.
He wants to have a living relationship with us, being involved in our
lives, being “at home” in us.
When Jesus died on the cross, it wasn’t because of some tragic
misunderstanding between Jesus and the Jewish leaders.
Jesus died on the cross on purpose, to pay the price of forgiveness for
sinners.
Perhaps you have yet to turn your life over to Jesus.
You are not here by accident this morning.
Jesus is standing at the bottom of the sycamore tree looking up at you, and
He wants to come to your house today.
He wants you to get to know Him. He
says,
(Revelation 3:20
NKJV) Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and
opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.
Perhaps you think that you could never become a Christian because you have
done terrible things in your life.
I would remind you that you are exactly the kind of person Jesus is looking
for.
He came to save lost people.