[0:00] Amen. Thanks, brother, sister, sister, sister.!
[0:12] Take out your Bibles with me, please, and turn to the Gospel of Luke. Chapter 8. We're actually looking at the final verses of chapter 18, the beginning verses of chapter 19.
[0:30] We have two parallel stories happening as Jesus approaches Jericho and as Jesus passes through Jericho.
[0:41] We have a story in Luke 18, beginning in verse 35, of the blind beggar, and in chapter 19, 1 to 10, of Zacchaeus.
[0:53] So, if you have that, please stand as I read from Luke chapter 18, beginning at verse 35.
[1:06] Luke 18, verse 35. Verse 35. As he drew near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging.
[1:20] And hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what this meant. They told him, Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.
[1:30] And he cried out, Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. And those who were in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent.
[1:45] But he cried out all the more, son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus stopped. And commanded him to be brought to him.
[1:57] And when he came near, he asked him, what do you want me to do for you? He said, Lord, let me recover my sight.
[2:12] And Jesus said to him, recover your sight. Your faith has saved you. And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him, glorifying God.
[2:30] And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God. He entered Jericho and was passing through. And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus.
[2:46] He was a chief tax collector and was rich. And he was seeking to see who Jesus is.
[2:57] But on account of the crowd, he could not because he was small in stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him.
[3:10] For he was about to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up. And he said to him, Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.
[3:27] So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all grumbled. He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.
[3:43] And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, Behold, Lord, half of my goods I give to the poor. And since I have defrauded some, I restore it fourfold.
[3:59] Jesus said to him, Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham.
[4:12] For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. So it reads, let us pray. Father, show us Jesus.
[4:27] Show us faith. Show us pictures of salvation. That both encourage us and urge us. You sent your son, oh Father, to seek and save the lost.
[4:45] Show us the lost. Seek and save today. We pray in Christ's name. Amen. Please be seated.
[5:01] Now Zacchaeus, the name Zacchaeus, maybe stirs in our memories a children's song. I don't know about you, but I grew up in a church where we had children's stories.
[5:17] And we were such a big church, we even had a children's church. And we sang a song about Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus was a wee little man.
[5:31] A wee little man was he. He climbed up in a sycamore tree. The Lord he wanted to see. So, I don't remember anything else about Zacchaeus as a kid, but he climbed up in a tree and he was really short.
[5:54] So, who is this Zacchaeus? Who is he? Well, Jesus says at the end that salvation has reached this house. He is a son of Abraham and that he came to seek and save the lost, which means Zacchaeus was lost.
[6:12] What's lost? What's lost? I got curious about that. What's lost? So, I looked up some synonyms and some descriptions of lost.
[6:26] Lost means to be disoriented, to be off course, aimless, to have strayed. Lost can mean perplexed, preoccupied.
[6:43] It certainly can mean hopeless. It can even mean those who have been defeated and beat down, lost.
[6:56] Is that you? Is that you? It was. And on our Christian journey, we have ups and downs.
[7:08] There can be times where we get lost again. Not in the sense of not saved, but in the sense of strayed, disoriented, beat down. Huh?
[7:21] So, we have here two stories and I believe they're parallels. As you look at the two, you have the blind beggar in chapter 18, who a blind beggar in the first, you know, in our society, a blind person might still be able to do things.
[7:41] It might just have a handicap of sight, but still be able to do things. But in the first century, that was not so. If you were blind, you were reduced to begging. You were absolutely dependent on others' charity.
[7:52] It also meant if you're a blind beggar, you're excluded. Here's a man sitting outside the city, hoping for charity as people walk by.
[8:06] And in the Jewish culture, he could not enter the temple being blind. Zacchaeus is a different kind of outsider.
[8:18] Zacchaeus, as we're told, is not just a tax collector, but a chief tax collector. And he was rich. He's rich because he's a tax collector.
[8:30] And tax collectors, and Jesus affirms that he was a son of Abraham, so he's Jewish, which means that as a tax collector, he's working for the enemy. He's working for Rome, which means to the Jews, he's a traitor.
[8:45] Add to that, he's a tax collector who are notoriously dishonest and defrauding people, which he admits in his confession. So, outsider.
[9:00] Imagine that, being a Jew, but not being able to mingle with the Jews because you're despised and hated. So, both outsiders, different perspectives. One's absolutely poor.
[9:13] One's very rich. But they have some things in common. Both are seeking to see Christ. Both are hindered by the crowd. Both are determined to overcome that hindrance.
[9:26] And both are changed when they meet Christ. Both are declared by Jesus saved. The poor man, Jesus says, your faith has saved you.
[9:45] That's the correct translation, by the way. He didn't say healed you, has saved you. It's done more than brought you new sight.
[9:55] It has saved you. And then to Zacchaeus, he says, salvation has come to this house today. Both receive salvation. So, we can learn something about salvation.
[10:07] We have not just two stories of outsiders. We have two pictures of salvation. By salvation, I mean deliverance from sin.
[10:18] Forgiveness. Rescue of being lost. From that state of straying.
[10:30] Or preoccupation. Or whatever synonym of lost fits. So, how do these stories show us aspects of salvation?
[10:45] There's two viewpoints here. One about faith. And one about the seeking Savior. So, we have the blind man who has faith that saves him. And we have on the other side, we have Zacchaeus who is being sought out by the Savior.
[11:03] So, it shows us the two sides of the coin of salvation. It's by grace alone, right? God causes it. But it's through faith. We receive it through faith.
[11:15] And in Christ alone is where the faith goes. So, picture one. We have a blind beggar's faith. That is instrumental in receiving salvation.
[11:29] So, I want you to notice. So, Jesus says in verse 42, Your faith has saved you. So, the story, as we walk back through the story, let's look at his faith. How did he display faith?
[11:40] Well, first, there's a confession of faith. When he hears, verse 35, says Jesus is coming into or drawing near to Jericho, which, by the way, Jericho.
[11:53] Where have we heard about Jericho before? Old Testament. Joshua. That was the first city that was destroyed. There were the walls of Jericho. The walls came falling down. Not because of any physical activity other than marching around the city so many times.
[12:10] And in the first century, that is not the Jericho we're talking about. That Jericho's ruins were still there. So, there was a rebuilt Jericho about a mile and a half away from that.
[12:25] That's where Jesus is entering. And Jericho also, by the way, remember Jesus has, since Luke chapter 9, set his face toward Jerusalem. And so, he's kind of taken this meandering path for several months down to Jerusalem.
[12:42] Jericho means he's on the last leg. Because Jericho is down the hill from Jerusalem, about 18 miles. And I watched a video about the trip from Jericho to Jerusalem.
[12:58] Fascinating. We think it's a road. It's not a road. It's like a little path. And it's through rugged terrain. It's desert. And you find water once in a while.
[13:10] But you better bring water. 18 miles typically is a one-day trip. But probably more of a two-day trip because of its ruggedness. And it curves all the way around. You know, as a crow flies, it's a shorter distance.
[13:24] But by the time you're walking, it's 18 miles, 3,300 feet up. It's the last leg. It's the last leg.
[13:34] And we'll see in the next part of Luke 19, Jesus is entering Jerusalem. So, this is the last stop before Jerusalem. So, he enters Jerusalem.
[13:45] And here's this blind beggar. He hears that it's Jesus. Notice this. Look at that. Verse 38. Excuse me. Verse 36.
[13:56] He hears a crowd going by. He inquires. They told him, verse 37, it's Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus of Nazareth. To be distinguished from Jesus of any other place.
[14:09] Jesus of Nazareth. Immediately, look what he says in verse 38. He cried out, Jesus. Jesus. It does not say Jesus of Nazareth. He says Jesus what?
[14:20] Son of David. That's the first reference to the son of David in Luke. In fact, it's a very rare description of Jesus.
[14:35] By somebody saying that. Usually, they cried out, Lord, Rabbi, Teacher, Jesus. But to cry out, Son of David, meant this blind man saw something hardly anyone else saw.
[14:52] He was physically blind but spiritually awake. He made a connection between Jesus of Nazareth and Son of David.
[15:06] Isn't that interesting? He sees who Jesus really is. Which is interesting in comparison to Zacchaeus. Because Zacchaeus seeks to see who Jesus is.
[15:19] So Zacchaeus, who can see, doesn't see, wants to see. The blind man already sees. Spiritually, who Jesus is. So then there's a problem, right?
[15:30] He cries out, verse 38, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me. And those, verse 39, who were in front, rebuked him, telling him to be silent. He's got an obstacle. There's a barrier.
[15:42] It's the crowd. They try to hinder him. Why would they try to hinder him? What's the deal? Oh, you're insignificant. It's the only thing I can think of.
[15:55] Hush, hush. Jesus is passing by. Let him pass by. What does he do? Verse 39, he cried out all the more. We're talking about faith here.
[16:09] There's a confession of faith. Now there's a determination of faith. The barriers, the hushing, the quiet. Ah, this is Jesus and I want to see Jesus.
[16:20] I want to see Jesus. He keeps crying out much louder. In fact, the word changes from the first cried out to the second cried out, becomes more of a shriek.
[16:32] I couldn't even do it. More of a shriek. He's determined that Jesus hear him. There's an insistence.
[16:44] There's a faith that has a tenacity to go through barriers. Are you seeking Jesus? Is there something hindering you?
[16:56] Maybe there's people. Maybe there's even people that are quote unquote believers telling you, no, no, no. Jesus doesn't do that.
[17:08] Jesus doesn't heal that. Jesus doesn't answer that kind of prayer. Let me tell you today, keep talking to Jesus. Yell louder to Jesus.
[17:20] Well, you don't have to yell louder to Jesus. But be more determined. Don't let others, even the church, hinder you from going to Jesus. Because you know how the church is.
[17:36] We can mess it up sometimes. That doesn't mean we stop going to church, by the way. All right? The disciples were the same way.
[17:50] All the letters to the New Testament churches were the same way. Church isn't the problem. The church is our brother and sister who we love and bear with and encourage and help and sometimes ignore to seek Jesus.
[18:16] You okay with that? I mean, that's real life stuff. So then we have, so he keeps coming. And so what happens?
[18:27] Huh? Verse 40. Jesus hears and Jesus stops. Now watch the reversal here. Remember the crowd silencing him, the crowd shushing him.
[18:41] Jesus stopped and commanded him to be brought to him. So all you shushers, bring him here. Right? He's overriding the crowd.
[18:54] He orders those to bring him to him. He can't see. He must be brought. Bring him to him. And when he came to him, Jesus asked him.
[19:07] Here's the question, huh? What if Jesus asked you this question? What would you say? What do you desire for me to do for you?
[19:21] Wow. What do you desire for me to do to you? Or for you? Or to you?
[19:32] Wow. Wow. This man wanted one thing. He already had spiritual sight. He wanted physical sight. Now some of the commentators I read were like, boy, what an opportunity.
[19:48] That's all you ask for is physical sight? Well, keep reading. Because after he gets physical sight, what does he do? He follows Jesus. Now he can follow Jesus.
[20:00] Now he can serve Jesus. Remember, first century, you're either a beggar, now he can do. Now he can serve. And immediately what he does is follow.
[20:13] And I think the real thing, what does he want Jesus to do for him? Make it so he could follow him. That's what he did. I think. But what a question.
[20:26] That's something to ponder, huh? And Jesus encourages us to come and essentially he's saying that to you. What do you desire for me to do for you?
[20:42] So he's healed by a word. Notice Jesus said, recover your sight. Just the word. Recover your sight. Your faith has saved you and immediately he recovered his sight and followed him glorifying God and all the people who were shushing him before now see what happens and give praise to God.
[21:05] There's a confirmation of faith. Your faith has saved you. Your faith is instrumental in you being saved.
[21:17] Your faith is the means by which you're saved. Your faith is the means by which you are recovered from being lost. Your faith is the means by which you come back to Jesus if you've strayed.
[21:31] Your faith is the means by which you find Jesus again if you've been preoccupied in other things. Hmm? If you've been lost.
[21:43] So what did this blind beggar know about Jesus? He hears Jesus of Nazareth.
[21:55] He cries out, Jesus, son of David. Where did he get that? How did he connect Nazareth with son of David?
[22:08] What did he know? I'll show you what he knew. Isaiah chapter 11. One of the messianic passages.
[22:19] Isaiah 11. There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse. Who's Jesse? Jesse? David's dad.
[22:33] David's dad. So David is the son of Jesse. Jesse. There shall come forth a shoot from the stump, from the roots, from the lineage of Jesse.
[22:50] A branch from his roots shall bear fruit. The word branch. Guess what that means in Hebrew? Guess how that's pronounced in Hebrew? Nazar.
[23:04] Nazar. Nazareth. Nazareth. Nazareth. Nazareth. Nazareth. Nazareth. A Nazarene, in other words, from the roots of Jesse.
[23:24] A descendant of Jesse, which means he's a descendant of David. And what will happen? How will he bear fruit? And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him.
[23:36] The spirit of wisdom and understanding. The spirit of counsel and might. The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear.
[23:53] But with righteousness he shall judge the poor. And decide with equity for the meek of the earth.
[24:05] And he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth. And when the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist. And faithfulness the belt of his loins.
[24:17] This is the Messiah who is to come. The spirit of the Lord is upon him. Sound familiar? What was the first message Jesus preached in Nazareth?
[24:30] He takes out the scroll of Isaiah. Turns to what we call Isaiah 61. And he reads, The spirit of the Lord is upon me.
[24:42] Because he has anointed me. He has messiahed me. To proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives. And recovering of sight to the blind.
[24:56] The very words the blind man asked of Jesus. I want to recover my sight. Messiah. Jesus, son of David.
[25:07] I want you to do what you're anointed to do. This man could see. This man could see.
[25:19] And just verses earlier. Remember what we read? About when Jesus said he's going to Jerusalem. Going to be killed. And then verse 34 said. The disciples understood none of these things.
[25:34] They've been following Jesus for three and a half years. They understood none of it. And here's a blind man sitting outside Jericho. And he understands. Who Jesus is.
[25:48] What did the blind man see? He had spiritual sight to see. That Jesus was the promised one. That he is the branch of Jesse. He is the son of David. He is the one who has the spirit of the Lord.
[25:59] The one who understands. He has a spirit of understanding. He has might of the spirit. He is the power of God.
[26:12] He sees the poor and he helps the meek. This is a Messiah we want. It's the faith of a blind beggar.
[26:23] That is instrumental in salvation. From life of blind hopelessness. So that's one picture. Second picture we see is Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus chapter 19.
[26:37] But here's the other side. So one side we see the faith. That has. That is instrumental salvation. Now we see Jesus says. It's the seeking savior.
[26:49] It's the son of man who came to seek and save the lost. So it's not all on us. Not all. It's about you getting to believe right. It's. There's a cause behind the whole thing.
[27:02] Yes our faith is instrumental in receiving salvation. But we're saved. Bottom line. By grace.
[27:13] It is God who seeks the savior. It is the father who loves the world so much that he sends the son. Into a lost.
[27:25] Sinful. Rebellious. Unappreciative. Ungrateful. World. A world that hates him. God loves.
[27:36] So it's the seeking savior. Here's the second picture. The seeking savior is the cause of true repentance from sin.
[27:47] That's what we see in Zacchaeus. So notice what Jesus does here. He is the seeker. He's the one in the first verses. He's seeking the lost. Then he's finding the lost.
[27:59] And then verse six and following. He's saving the lost. So he seeks the lost. Well who's the lost one he's seeking? Who is the one whose life is truly in ruins? Though he's rich.
[28:10] He's in ruins. Who is the one who has strayed from his Jewish beginnings. To now seek riches by being a traitor to his own people.
[28:24] Compromising. Who is this man? Well we're told Jesus now has entered Jericho and is passing through. Why is he passing through Jericho?
[28:37] Well he's got an appointment. He meets. He's going there to meet Zechariah. He's the lost one. He's lost because he's a tax collector. He's lost because he's rich.
[28:50] He's lost because he's gained his riches through dishonesty and defrauding others. Cheating others. He's lost because that's where he thought there was security.
[29:01] That's where he thought was treasure. That's where he thought life would find satisfaction. What he's found is he's been excluded. And now he's hated and detested by his own people.
[29:16] Now he's chosen that. But he seeks. Verse three we see. He was seeking to see who Jesus was.
[29:29] Literally what Luke wrote is he was seeking to gain insight into who Jesus is. Who Jesus is.
[29:44] He was not just curious to see Jesus. Luke didn't use the word for just to see. He uses the word to see with insight. To see beyond the physical.
[29:56] To see with perception. He uses that word. He likes to use that word a lot. Zacchaeus wanted to see.
[30:07] Which means he must have heard something about this Jesus. He's heard this Jesus is coming. He wants to go see. Is he really a friend of sinners? Does he really have a tax collector among his disciples?
[30:25] Yeah. But Zacchaeus is wondering. Is that real? I've heard it but I don't know. What's he want to see? He wants to see.
[30:37] What he's heard. Is it real? What does he. Okay. What does he look like? But what is his manner? Does he look snobbish?
[30:49] Does he look standoffish? What is. What could I see by watching this man? Just interesting. What's to see?
[31:01] But here again we have a hindrance. Here again the crowd is a hindrance. Passively. And they're only hindrance because he can't see over the crowd. He's a wee little man.
[31:12] Wee little man was he. So he ran ahead and climbed up a sycamore tree. The Lord he wanted to see. The song was right about that.
[31:25] So he's determined. Right. He's determined. He's going to go see. He knows which way he's coming. So he runs ahead. Climbs up the sycamore tree. Sycamore trees apparently are kind of like oak trees. Right.
[31:36] They have low branches. So not hard for a short person to climb I guess. And he's able to climb up high enough to see over the crowd and see Jesus. Also had big leaves so maybe he's hiding a little bit.
[31:48] So I want you to notice how Jesus finds the lost one.
[31:58] Verse 5. It's interesting that this whole passage is about the seeking Savior. And yet it so far in the first four verses it's been about Zacchaeus seeking Jesus.
[32:10] You see when Zacchaeus is seeking Jesus that's also part of Jesus seeking him. Because what moved Zacchaeus to want to see him? Other than grace.
[32:24] So what happens? Verse 5. When Jesus came to the place he looked up. How did he know to look up? How did he know? He looked up and said to him Zacchaeus.
[32:41] How did he know his name was Zacchaeus? Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus. Hurry and come down for I must stay at your house today. I must stay.
[32:53] He's not talking about lunch. He's talking about staying. Because he's not ready to climb that hill yet. 18 miles through the wilderness and all that.
[33:05] Let's have an overnight maybe. I don't know how long he stayed but he lodged at least a night with Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus being rich had plenty of room by the way.
[33:18] For Jesus and the 12 plus their wives and kids. Because they're on the way to Passover. Remember? Large crowds. Nobody wants to stay with Zacchaeus except Jesus.
[33:34] That confirms something for Zacchaeus. The rabbi willing to enter his house. Not just enter but stay. We see what the crowd thought about that in verse 7.
[33:49] They saw it. They all grumbled. He's gone to be a guest. He's gone to lodge with a man who is a sinner. Everyone knows this man is a sinner.
[34:00] So Jesus finds him. He knows where he is. He knows who he is. Do you think he knows that about you?
[34:15] Do you think he knows where you are and who you are? Do you think he knows when you're seeking him? Do you think he knows when you're lost? Do you think he knows when you're struggling and when you're straying?
[34:30] Do you think he's seeking you? Are you listening to the enemy's voice that says he doesn't care?
[34:47] Just give it up? You're lost. You're too far gone. You've been gone too long. You've been gone too long.
[35:00] Oh, Jesus is disappointed in you. Do you remember about that word? Is it possible for God to be disappointed? No.
[35:14] No. He can grieve. He's not going to be disappointed. So Jesus says something significant.
[35:25] Look at what he says again in verse 5. Zacchaeus, hurry, come down. For I, what? Must. Must. We've seen that word before in Luke.
[35:37] Must. It means something that is absolutely necessary. It's the same word he uses back in chapter 9 when he first told the disciples, I must go to Jerusalem and suffer and be killed and rise again.
[35:52] I must. It's absolutely necessary. He uses the same word with Zacchaeus. I must stay in your house. It's absolutely necessary that I come to your house and stay. I must.
[36:04] Wow. In other words, it's a divine appointment. Just like when Jesus, remember they were out by Samaria and the disciples go to find some food and Jesus stays behind and meets this woman.
[36:25] Lord, what are you doing? I must talk to her. And a whole village is saved as a result later. Come and see the man that told me everything about myself.
[36:38] He knew her too, didn't he? So then, what happens? What's Zacchaeus' response? Right? Again, the crowd is grumbling, but he doesn't care.
[36:51] Zacchaeus stood. And I imagine this is when they come to the house now because Jesus is talking about, we'll confirm it's this house. Today, salvation has come to this house.
[37:02] So, verse 8, they're in the house now. And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, Behold, look, Lord, half of my goods I give to the poor, half.
[37:16] Now, in that society, 20% was considered extremely generous. 50% half I give to the poor.
[37:31] And the poor is the same word Jesus used of the rich ruler, remember? Sell your goods and give to the poor. Remember, that rich man couldn't do it. This rich man can.
[37:44] Well, you say, well, how come he only gave half? Well, hang on. Watch what he says next. He needed another half to take care of all the people he defrauded.
[37:57] And if I have defrauded, now in the Greek, it's the if of the first class condition. You want to write that down, first class condition? Which means it's true. It's not if maybe, it's if since.
[38:12] Since I have defrauded. I will give back four times. And again, it's extremely above what the law demanded.
[38:24] The law demanded 20%. He's giving four times back. Which means he will probably no longer be rich.
[38:38] He will have given it all away. So what does Jesus say, verse 9? Today. Remember back in verse 5?
[38:51] Today I must stay in your house. Now he says, today. In this house. Salvation has come. Salvation has come to this house today.
[39:03] Woohoo! Woohoo! Let's go get him baptized. Salvation has come. Which means what? What has he been saved from?
[39:16] His sins. You shall call his name Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins. From their failings.
[39:26] From their straying. From their wandering from God. From their preoccupation with other things. With trusting in other gods. From who knows what.
[39:39] You fill in the blank of your own sinful life. We all have fallen short. We all have gone astray. Each in his own way.
[39:53] He has now found salvation. And then he says, Jesus says, salvation has come to this house since he also is a son of Abraham.
[40:05] What does that mean? Because he's Jewish, he means he gets to be saved. What's the son of Abraham? Who's Abraham? Oh, Abraham's the father, right?
[40:16] Right? He's the father. Jewish line comes through Abraham. So does the Arab line. Who's Abraham? What was known about Abraham?
[40:34] Abraham believed God. And it was reckoned to him as righteousness. Paul writes a whole book of Romans based on that.
[40:50] Grace. Through faith. He believed God. A believer. He's a son of Abraham because he's a believer.
[41:02] Read Romans chapter 4. Paul exegetes how Abraham was the father of faith. Abraham had a lot of failures. We know about that. But he believed God.
[41:15] Never once built on the promised land. Why? Because he believed God. Yeah, this is the promised land.
[41:27] Just a picture. Not the real thing. No, I'm looking for the city of God. I'm looking for the eternal home. I mean, Abraham.
[41:40] Before the book was written, Abraham believed God. Can you imagine how amazing that faith is? How huge that faith is? And now Zacchaeus comes forward and shows Jesus a little bit of Abraham.
[41:57] He's the son of Abraham because he's acting like Abraham. Because he has believed Jesus. He just wanted to see who he really was.
[42:09] He meets Jesus and everything changes. Change of heart. I'm going to give away all I got. I'm going to give. Okay, how can I do this?
[42:19] Okay, I can give half. No, can I give all? No, I'll give half. And then how many have I defrauded? Okay, I got. He's quickly calculated. No, he's probably really good with numbers.
[42:32] And he's got it figured out. I'm giving everything for Jesus. It's like the man who found treasure in the field. Went away, sold everything he had to buy that field so he had treasure.
[42:45] That's Zacchaeus. He's selling everything out for Jesus. It's only one. Jesus is the seeking Savior. He is the son of man who has come to seek and to save the lost.
[43:01] Where did Jesus get that idea? He got it from the Father. He got it from before. He said it through Ezekiel. Ezekiel 34 says, For thus says the Lord God, Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out.
[43:21] As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so I will seek out my sheep and I will rescue them from all the places where they've been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness.
[43:35] I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries. And I will bring them into their own land. And I will feed them on the mountains of Israel by the ravines and in all the inhabited places of the country.
[43:49] I will feed them with good pasture. And on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land. There they shall lie down. When do sheep lie down?
[44:02] After they've been fed. Then they'll lie down on good grazing land and on the rich pasture. They shall feed on the mountains of Israel. I myself, listen to God speaking.
[44:15] The Lord God, Jesus speaking. I myself will be their shepherd of my sheep. I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord God. I will seek the lost.
[44:29] And I will bring back the strayed. And I will bind up the injured. And I will strengthen the weak. And the fat and the strong I will destroy.
[44:41] I will feed them with justice. God himself will seek the lost. And by what he meant is I'm sending my own son to do that.
[44:55] Are you lost? Feeling lost today? Have you strayed off course? Are you disoriented?
[45:07] Aimless? Beaten down? Defeated? Preoccupied with other things? Are you lost? Are you lost and they don't know?
[45:21] Is Jesus seeking you? Jesus knows where you are. He knows who you are.
[45:32] He knows what you need. What if he asked you today? What do you desire? That I give to you.
[45:46] Is he calling you today? Is he calling you? Is he calling you back? Is he whispering to you?
[45:57] Is he thundering to you in your life? You like Zacchaeus and receive him joyfully.
[46:08] Ask him to give you eyes to see the truth. Let him change your heart as you meet him. He is the seeking savior who rescues the lost.
[46:24] Let us pray. Father, we thank you for these stories. We can be the blind beggar or we could be the rich, dishonest man.
[46:40] We could be something in between that. But every one of us, Father, in here, in this room, understands some aspect of lostness.
[46:51] We have either been lost or we are lost. And for some, Lord, we've been found and then gone astray again.
[47:08] Some, Lord, maybe have never even come to you and been found. So, Father, we pray that you would be that seeking savior today.
[47:19] Seek us out, each in our own place. Find us and save us. Rescue us.
[47:30] Gather us back again. This we pray in Christ's name. Amen.