LUKE 19
Jesus and Zacchaeus
19:1 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through it. 19:2 Now a man named Zacchaeus was there; he was a chief tax collector and was rich.
Zacchaeus was rich, like the rich young man from the previous chapter.
19:3 He was trying to get a look at Jesus, but being a short man he could not see over the crowd. 19:4 So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, because Jesus was going to pass that way.
Zacchaeus had the faith of a little child, unlike the rich young man.
19:5 And when Jesus came to that place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down quickly, because I must stay at your house today.” 19:6 So he came down quickly and welcomed Jesus joyfully.
Zacchaeus could not wait to entertain Jesus.
19:7 And when the people saw it, they all complained, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.”
The tax collectors were looked down upon by Jewish society.
19:8 But Zacchaeus stopped and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, half of my possessions I now give to the poor, and if I have cheated anyone of anything, I am paying back four times as much!”
Zacchaeus had the opposite reaction of the rich young man.
19:9 Then Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this household, because he too is a son of Abraham!
Salvation did not come to Zacchaeus because of the gift that he gave. Zacchaeus’s change in lifestyle was evidence of his right relationship before God. Since Zacchaeus was a son of Abraham by birth, then he had a right to enter the kingdom because of his connection with Jesus.
19:10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
The Son of Man was the messianic title given by the prophet Daniel. The Son of Man is the Messiah who will eventually defeat the last Gentile king (the Antichrist) and establish the 1000 year Millennial Kingdom.
The Parable of the Ten Minas
19:11 While the people were listening to these things, Jesus proceeded to tell a parable, because he was near to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately.
Jesus was traveling to Jerusalem to die for the sins of the world. The Jewish people thought that Jesus was going to bring in the Millennial Kingdom immediately. Since the Jews had rejected the Millennial Kingdom and called Jesus demon-possessed, Jesus only taught in parables. Parables were theological stories which taught divine viewpoint.
19:12 Therefore he said, “A nobleman went to a distant country to receive for himself a kingdom and then return.
The nobleman in this parable was the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus was ready to establish the Millennial Kingdom in Israel. However, He would first have to travel back to heaven to receive the kingdom from God the Father.
19:13 And he summoned ten of his slaves, gave them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Do business with these until I come back.’
The disciples of Jesus are to serve Jesus until He returns. They are to make more disciples of the nations.
19:14 But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to be king over us!’
The citizens of the satanic world system do not want Jesus to rule over them. They love sin and hate the One who judges their sin.
19:15 When he returned after receiving the kingdom, he summoned these slaves to whom he had given the money. He wanted to know how much they had earned by trading.
God the Father takes the kingdom of the world away from Satan and gives the kingdom to God the Son.
19:16 So the first one came before him and said, ‘Sir, your mina has made ten minas more.’ 19:17 And the king said to him, ‘Well done, good slave! Because you have been faithful in a very small matter, you will have authority over ten cities.’
From this parable, some of the good servants of God will rule over ten cities during the Millennial Kingdom.
19:18 Then the second one came and said, ‘Sir, your mina has made five minas.’ 19:19 So the king said to him, ‘And you are to be over five cities.’
Some of the good servants of God will rule over five cities during the Millennial Kingdom.
19:20 Then another slave came and said, ‘Sir, here is your mina that I put away for safekeeping in a piece of cloth. 19:21 For I was afraid of you, because you are a severe man. You withdraw what you did not deposit and reap what you did not sow.’
Unbelievers will not produce any fruit for God. They will produce fruit which aids the satanic world system. When they appear before the Great White Throne Judgment, they will make excuses as to why they did not serve God. They will call God a severe God of judgment and not a God of love. The excuse of those at the Great White Throne Judgment is that God is too severe in His judgment.
19:22 The king said to him, ‘I will judge you by your own words, you wicked slave! So you knew, did you, that I was a severe man, withdrawing what I didn’t deposit and reaping what I didn’t sow?
At the Great White Throne Judgment, the unbelievers will be judged as guilty of wickedness.
19:23 Why then didn’t you put my money in the bank, so that when I returned I could have collected it with interest?’ 19:24 And he said to his attendants, ‘Take the mina from him, and give it to the one who has ten.’
The cities that the unbeliever could have ruled during the Millennial Kingdom will be given to the faithful servants of God.
19:25 But they said to him, ‘Sir, he has ten minas already!’ 19:26 ‘I tell you that everyone who has will be given more, but from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.
Those who serve Christ at a deeper level will receive more authority during the Millennial Kingdom.
19:27 But as for these enemies of mine who did not want me to be their king, bring them here and slaughter them in front of me!’”
Notice that those who did not serve Christ were actually enemies of God. They will be slaughtered at the Great White Throne Judgment.
The Triumphal Entry
19:28 After Jesus had said this, he continued on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.
Jesus was going to Jerusalem to be slaughtered as the Lamb of God to take away the sins of the world.
19:29 Now when he approached Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples, 19:30 telling them, “Go to the village ahead of you. When you enter it, you will find a colt tied there that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here.
Notice that the colt had never been broken.
19:31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ just say, ‘The Lord needs it.’” 19:32 So those who were sent ahead found it exactly as he had told them.
Some view this as a miracle. Most view this as responsible leadership.
19:33 As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying that colt?” 19:34 They replied, “The Lord needs it.”
These men recognized Jesus as deity.
19:35 Then they brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt, and had Jesus get on it.
Jesus was the Creator God. The unbroken colt obeyed his Creator.
19:36 As he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road.
When kings visited a city, people would lay their cloaks on the road so that the King would not get dirty.
19:37 As he approached the road leading down from the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen: 19:38 “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
The crowd was singing Psalm 118:26. This was a prophetic messianic song which praised Jesus as the Messiah. The Millennial Kingdom was to bring peace to heaven and earth. It was to bring glory to God.
19:39 But some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.”
Notice that the Pharisees did not call Jesus “Lord.” The disciples were singing praise songs to Jesus as the Messiah.
19:40 He answered, “I tell you, if they keep silent, the very stones will cry out!”
Habakuk 2:11 prophesied that the stones would cry out and identify the Messiah. This prophecy will be fulfilled at the Second Coming of Christ.
Jesus Weeps for Jerusalem under Judgment
19:41 Now when Jesus approached and saw the city, he wept over it,
According to the Greco-Roman mystery religions of that day, gods do not weep. There is sorrow in the world so that man will cry. Once a man cries, then he has experienced the emotions that God felt for Jerusalem.
19:42 saying, “If you had only known on this day, even you, the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.
The Jews rejected Jesus and called Him demon possessed. They had committed the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. Their soul was now so hardened that they could not recognize Jesus as the Messiah.
19:43 For the days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and surround you and close in on you from every side.
The Roman General Titus will siege Jerusalem in 70 A.D.
19:44 They will demolish you – you and your children within your walls – and they will not leave within you one stone on top of another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.”
Titus will destroy Jerusalem. He will knock down all of the walls of the city. All of the adults and children will die. Those who committed the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit will die by the sword of Rome.
Cleansing the Temple
19:45 Then Jesus entered the temple courts and began to drive out those who were selling things there, 19:46 saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house will be a house of prayer,’ but you have turned it into a den of robbers!”
This is the second time recorded in Scripture where Jesus drove out the money changers. The money changers were working for the High Priest. The Mosaic priesthood in Jerusalem evolved into a mafia system where the leaders were extracting money from the temple. Jesus may have driven out the money changers on every one of His festival entries into Jerusalem, but only two are recorded in Scripture.
19:47 Jesus was teaching daily in the temple courts. The chief priests and the experts in the law and the prominent leaders among the people were seeking to assassinate him,
Jesus was not teaching seeker-friendly messages. His messages were so hard core, that the religious leaders wanted Him dead. They attempted to find a way to assassinate Jesus.
19:48 but they could not find a way to do it, for all the people hung on his words.
The people loved Jesus. If the religious leaders assassinated Jesus, then they would lose the support of the people. They would lose their positions of authority and power. If there was a mob riot, then the Roman government would step in and squash the riot. They would remove all of the leaders from power and replace them with other leaders.