Life With Jesus Is Full • Luke 19:1-10

1:17:59 Teaching begins

Notes

What would pull a rich guy away from his money to go see Jesus? How does a guy who has everything suddenly give it away? Is there really such a thing as immediate conversion to Jesus?

It’s all explained by these two axioms.

Life without God is empty.

Life with Jesus is full.

I’m reading in Luke chapter 19.

1. Zacchaeus made some decisions about his life, and has hit every target.

A. He decided that money was going to be the focus of his life because you can turn money into everything you need and want. I will satisfy my life through becoming rich.

B. He decided to go all out to become rich so he became a tax-collector.

1. A man had to bid with the Roman government to guarantee a certain amount of tax. The winner of the contract would have the authority of the government behind him to extract that tax from traders and other people.

2. As long as he turns in to the government what he’s supposed to they don’t care if he abuses that and takes more.

3. Not only did he make himself rich, now he’s a chief tax-collector over other tax-collectors. He gets a cut of all their intake. Lots of contracts, lots of collecting, lots of extortion, lots of money.

C. There were some down sides. To collaborate with the occupying Roman government means he has become a hated traitor to his people. He is despised by everyone he comes into contact with. He’s a bad Jew.

D. He doesn’t care what people think. He’s made his decisions and he has achieved all of them. He’s rich.

2. In this account described in ten verses he suddenly radically changes his life.

A. He starts the day rich, he ends the day voluntarily giving away probably all his money. Money is no longer his great aim in life.

B. You don’t walk away from a lot of money immediately.

1. Remember when the rich young ruler comes up to Jesus and says what do I do to inherit eternal life, and Jesus says, sell all you have, give it to the poor and you’ll have treasure in heaven and come, follow Me. And the guy was rich and walked away. He couldn’t do it on the spur of the moment.

2. I couldn’t, probably you couldn’t do it. Not immediately, like Zacchaeus did it.

C. Zacchaeus could give up his money immediately because he’d already walked away from it in his mind. He’d trusted it to meet all his needs, and it let him down.

1. In his mind, he didn’t need God and he didn’t need people. Money is the answer to everything.

2. It is for a while. Then you realise that though you have everything you want you still feel empty, unsatisfied, unfulfilled. How can that be?

3. God put eternity in your heart. No amount of “thing” can fill that because every “thing” is finite, temporary. Only God can fill that eternity because He alone is eternal. Put anything else in your heart and it lets you down.

D. What can he do? He is stuck in his sin with being empty and hated. With all his money it can’t buy him a solution. Who can he talk to for help? He’s burned everyone. They don’t want to do anything for him. He’s a rich guy, and I bet he doesn’t trust people. Friends? Only other tax-collectors and prostitutes. He’s gone down a dead-end with no exit and no hope of getting out.

3. On this day Jesus arrives in Jericho, and Zacchaeus is more than interested to see who Jesus is. He has to see Him.

A. Why? Because Jesus is not the usual, He’s not ordinary, He’s extraordinary.

1. The commonplace is not special. It’s daily grinding flour, washing dishes, fixing broken things, buying groceries, and paying taxes. There’s nothing to see here, folks. Getting rich is part of the grind, just keeps rolling along like clockwork. It’s empty of life.

2. Jesus is special, doesn’t happen every day. He disrupts the daily grind and pulls people away and attracts people to Himself because He is extraordinary. He’s not a ruler, not a general of an army, He’s not a notorious criminal, all of which would be an okay spectacle. He’s more than all those guys because He represents God. Not only does He do miracles, He eats with tax-collectors and sinners.

B. Is that true? Is Jesus real, or is He a fake, someone who knows how to stir crowds and manipulate them to serve his own purpose? Fake like money is fake?

C. So Zacchaeus runs after the crowd and finds he can’t see over them. They don’t seem to want to help him. Can’t blame them for that.

D. He runs ahead to where Jesus will come and climbs into a tree so he can see over the crowd when they get there. What’s he going to see? How will he know if Jesus is real or not?

4. Jesus establishes who He is with one sentence. And Zacchaeus knows that Jesus is God.

A. You say, “Come on, now! How do you know that?”

B. This is just what happened when Jesus’ disciples met Him for the first time. He already knew them.

1. He saw Nathanael coming to Him and He says, “Behold, an Israelite indeed in whom is no guile.” Nathanael says, “How do you know me?” Jesus says, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” Nathanael says, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God, You are the King of Israel!” That’s something only Nathanael would know, but Jesus knows, He saw him. Nathanael knows Jesus is God.

2. He tells the woman at the well in Samaria, “Go, call your husband,” and she says, “I don’t have a husband.” He says, “You’re right, you’ve had five husbands, and the man you have now is not your husband.” She runs and says to the men in town, “Come see a Man who told me all the things I have done!”

C. When Jesus says, “Zacchaeus” He is telling him, “I know you. You are not a worshipper of God, you’re a traitor, an extortioner, money has failed you, and you’re in a dead end.” Zacchaeus knows: He knows me!

D. When He says, “Hurry and come down because I have to stay at your place today,” He means, “I receive you to Myself, and I want you to receive Me to yourself.”

E. This is like

1. Giving a blind man his sight.

2. Giving hungry people bread.

3. Giving an untouchable leper a touch with His hand.

4. He’s giving an empty man relationship that fills him and satisfies him.

F. Zacchaeus receives Jesus gladly and becomes full.

5. Jesus is happy to save Zacchaeus, Zacchaeus is happy to be saved, but the crowd is not happy for Zacchaeus to be saved.

A. They grumble, “He’s going to be the guest of a sinner!”

B. How can Jesus receive that man? Why doesn’t He judge him for his sins? Give him what he deserves? How is this fair?

6. Zacchaeus shows he is no longer a sinner.

A. He stops before they get in the house. He says, “I’m giving half my goods to the poor and if I have defrauded anyone I’m giving four times as much back.” He’s defrauded almost everyone. He’s wiping out his wealth.

B. You would say, “Hey, give it a little time, fella, you don’t have to be that extreme. Think about yourself, the future. You don’t want to do anything impulsive that you might regret later.”

C. Right now he’s right with Jesus and he wants to be right with people. You restore what you stole. You tell the truth when you lied. You apologise. You humble yourself and make it right as much as you can. I’ve been thinking only of myself and it’s so empty. I’m so done with that. I’m so glad Jesus accepted me. That’s all I want.

D. How can Jesus go to a sinner’s house? Because he isn’t a sinner anymore. Money isn’t his trust. Jesus came to find him and save him, and now he’s full.

7. So what?

A. Life without God is sin, and sin is empty. If you haven’t gotten very far with Jesus it’s because you haven’t realised how lost you are, how sin empties you and makes you feel worthless. Nice people, like the crowd, don’t come to Jesus because they don’t need Him.

B. God is so good He doesn’t hold your sin against you. He’d rather have you back with Him and alive because He loves you.

C. How much does He love you? Jesus is going to give His life to pay for all Zacchaeus’ sins. He dies for him so He can forgive him and receive him.

D. Jesus is still talking to you who know you’re a sinner, you’re lost, empty, stuck in a dead end and can’t get out. He’s still saying, I receive you to Myself and I want you to receive me.

E. Receive Jesus and be filled with Him. Life with Jesus is full.

Let’s pray.