40 Days of Jesus ~ Day 35 (Luke 19)

Welcome to the last five days of the reading challenge! I don’t know about you, but I’ve found this to be a wonderful month-plus of dwelling on and in God’s word and preparing my heart for Resurrection Day.

Luke 19

Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. 3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.

5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.
7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”
8 But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”
9 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

 I’ve always loved this story–and not just because I’m short. 😉 Zacchaeus was obviously ready to be changed. His heart was contrite and seeking. Meeting Jesus was the only missing piece, and his belief was swift and full.

It’s also worth noting that with belief came not just the desire to change, but to make right anything he’d done wrong before.

The Parable of the Ten Minas

11 While
they were listening to this, he went on to tell them a parable, because
he was near Jerusalem and the people thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear at once. 12 He said: “A man of noble birth went to a distant country to have himself appointed king and then to return. 13 So he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas.[a] ‘Put this money to work,’ he said, ‘until I come back.’
14 “But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, ‘We don’t want this man to be our king.’
15 “He
was made king, however, and returned home. Then he sent for the
servants to whom he had given the money, in order to find out what they
had gained with it.
16 “The first one came and said, ‘Sir, your mina has earned ten more.’
17 “‘Well done, my good servant!’ his master replied. ‘Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.’
18 “The second came and said, ‘Sir, your mina has earned five more.’
19 “His master answered, ‘You take charge of five cities.’
20 “Then another servant came and said, ‘Sir, here is your mina; I have kept it laid away in a piece of cloth. 21 I was afraid of you, because you are a hard man. You take out what you did not put in and reap what you did not sow.’
22 “His master replied, ‘I will judge you by your own words, you wicked servant! You knew, did you, that I am a hard man, taking out what I did not put in, and reaping what I did not sow? 23 Why then didn’t you put my money on deposit, so that when I came back, I could have collected it with interest?’
24 “Then he said to those standing by, ‘Take his mina away from him and give it to the one who has ten minas.’
25 “‘Sir,’ they said, ‘he already has ten!’
26 “He
replied, ‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but
as for the one who has nothing, even what they have will be taken away. 27 But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them—bring them here and kill them in front of me.’”

I don’t think I ever noticed that in this version, the master is a king. The novelist in me immediately asks, “Why was he hated? Why does Jesus bother mentioning that he was hated?” And why is this in answer to them thinking the kingdom of God was going to instantly appear?

To the last, I suppose the answer is that because we don’t know when Jesus will appear, but because we do know what he expects of us, we need to be working. We need to be always diligent. We need to remember that no matter what the world things of our King, he is the king. And he’ll ask for an account of what we’ve done with that with which he’s entrusted us.

Jesus Comes to Jerusalem as King

28 After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29 As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, 30 “Go
to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt
tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it.’”
32 Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. 33 As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?”
34 They replied, “The Lord needs it.”
35 They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. 36 As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road.
37 When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:

38 “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”[b]

“Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”

40 “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”
41 As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it 42 and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. 43 The
days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment
against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. 44 They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”

I have always loved the part about the colt. I have always prayed that I’m like the colt’s owner–that all it would take is knowing it’s for the Lord for me to gladly give up my possession.

So here we are at Palm Sunday. As my dad preached on this weekend, from here we can watch the tide quickly turn against Jesus, from this fever-pitch of approval to, five short days later, crying out, “Crucify Him.” Given that we’re reading it this week, let’s try to pay attention to the shift.

Jesus at the Temple

45 When Jesus entered the temple courts, he began to drive out those who were selling. 46 “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be a house of prayer’[c]; but you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’[d]”
47 Every day he was teaching at the temple. But the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the leaders among the people were trying to kill him. 48 Yet they could not find any way to do it, because all the people hung on his words.

Interesting to note that He was just teaching in the temple, not performing miracles. And of course, he riled up the religious leaders by causing a ruckus in the temple, which we’ve talked about before. We’ll see what else he did “this” week tomorrow!