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Hello, my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
For the past several days we’ve been tracing the steps of Jesus and His disciples as they carefully navigate their way toward Jerusalem and Passover. The disciples, of course, loved Passover, as did all Jews, and there was then and now no better place to celebrate Passover than Jerusalem! I left you yesterday in Jericho where Jesus had miraculously given sight to a blind man! Mark tells us the blind man’s name was Bartimaeus. (Mark 10:46) For the disciples the past few days had been mind and heart stretching. This miracle of sight for a blind man was amazing, but small as compared to Jesus restoring life to a man dead nearly a week, Lazarus. (John 11:38-44)
It appears the healing of Bartimaeus did not distract Jesus and He kept moving on with the disciples and the crowd following Him. While Jericho had water and food, it appears Jesus had no intention of staying there, Jerusalem was their objective. Jericho, of course, was a historic city.
I’m sure you remember its destruction by Joshua and the Israelites who had spent 40 years wandering in the desert. (Joshua 6) But do you remember Joshua’s record of Jericho concludes with this: “Joshua pronounced this solemn oath: ‘Cursed before the LORD is the person who undertakes to rebuild this city Jericho. At the cost of his firstborn son, he will lay its foundations; at the cost of his youngest he will set up its gates.” (Joshua 6:26)
And so, the ruins of Jericho lay undisturbed for centuries until the time of wicked King Ahab and a man named Heil who set about to rebuild this ancient city, in defiance of Joshua’s words. 1 Kings 16:34 tells us Joshua’s warning came true for Heil lost both sons in the restoration of Jericho about 860 years before Jesus was born in Bethlehem.
I have a sense the disciples were anxious for Jesus to keep the crowd moving, get out of Jericho quickly and be on their way toward Jerusalem. But Jesus had yet another very important lesson He wanted His disciples to learn and remember in Jericho. Luke tells us a short man had climbed up into a tree alongside the road through Jericho, so as Jesus and the crowd passed by the man in the tree had a good view. Now we understand that, don’t we? You’ve been to parades or other large gatherings of people and you’ve attempted to stand up on something to gain a better view. Maybe you even climbed a tree!
But this was no ordinary short man seeking a view. Everyone in Jericho knew and hated this man, Zacchaeus the chief tax collector. It’s possible the disciple Matthew may have heard of him in his past tax collecting days. The closer the crowd came to the tree, the more the undertone of rumblings could be heard, I’m quite sure. Some people likely wanted Jesus to ignore him, other people wanted Jesus to strike Zaccheus with the blindness of Bartimaeus.
Jesus stopped under the tree, called Zacchaeus by name and shocked everyone with these words: “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today!” (Luke 18:5) Those words must have sent a shockwave through Jericho! Why would Jesus want anything to do with chief tax collector, liar and cheat Zacchaeus?
Evidently Zacchaeus welcomed Jesus, and we presume His disciples into his home for a meal and conversation. At one point Zacchaeus suddenly stood up in front of all his guests, which we presume may have included other tax collectors, and Zacchaeus made this declaration: “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 them back four times the amount!” (Luke 18:8)
Shock swept through the house. We presume Zacchaeus was a wealthy man as a chief tax collector, and much of that wealth would have been amassed deceitfully and even spitefully. If he would do what he claimed, it would affect many people and distribute an enormous amount of money to people who had been taken advantage of.
Jesus spoke: “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man too, is a son of Abraham.” (Luke 18:9) What did Jesus mean by that? What salvation had come to Jericho? I believe salvation, deliverance from what had held Zacchaeus for so long… greed, deceitfulness, dishonesty, corruption, pride. Zacchaeus, like all of us, had lived in bondage to his sin nature and that bondage had hurt many people in Jericho. But on this day Zacchaeus experienced deliverance, and his soul was repulsed by his reputation, and repentance with bountiful restitution overwhelmed him.
Evidently Zacchaeus, like most tax collectors, was a Jew and viewed as a traitor by his fellow Jews because he deceitfully collected taxes from Jews on behalf of Rome. But now, Jesus was celebrating that Zaccheaus, in his repentance and his promise to repay, was declaring his commitment to live as a God honoring member of the chosen people of God!
And then Jesus said: “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” (Luke 18:10) That statement was particularly aimed at His disciples as they wrestled with what they were witnessing. For them, they probably thought nothing good could ever come out of Jericho, surely Jesus had no business to do in this God forsaken city! And yet Jesus had given sight to a blind beggar, and delivered a deceitful, arrogant, tax collector from his bondage, and restored his dignity as a fellow Israelite.
Soon Jesus rose up from the table at the home of Zacchaeus, it was time to resume their journey toward Jerusalem. Jesus was very carefully tracking the time and Bethany was their next stop, where they’d be welcomed at Mary, Martha and resurrected Lazarus’ home for the night.
As they walked along, what do you suppose the disciples were thinking and talking about? A blind man could see, perhaps for the first time in his life, and a wealthy tax collector was distributing his wealth to the poor and those he had cheated!? Jericho was experiencing the powerful hope Jesus can bring to any city, anywhere in the world, right? So as we ponder that, what are the great needs in your city, my friends, great needs that could be met and changed by Jesus or by Jesus empowering His people who live there? Pause and ponder that.
For the rest of his life in Jericho, Bartimaeus no longer sat alongside the road with a tin cup, and Zacchaeus no longer filled his pockets with inflated taxes. And everyone who knew them saw the radical change, with their own eyes, each time they saw them.
HOPE was growing in Jericho at least through these two men who were walking advertisements for Jesus! Is hope growing in your city as we approach Easter? Does the sight of you or the sound of your voice awaken HOPE in those who know you? Here’s a song of HOPE to help us consider Jesus and what Jesus did in Jericho. HOPE…
Today’s Scripture: Luke 19:1-10.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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