Introduction
After spending several months on the other side of the Jordan River in Perea, Jesus makes His way back across the Jordan and into the town of Jericho, where He will reinforce many of the leadership principles that He has been teaching His growing team of leaders. He will live them out and put them into practice once again. Jesus was a person who did not just talk about things, but actually acted on them. He so desires to live out these principles through you and me today, if we will only yield to Him. Check out Jesus in action, living out what He teaches, unlike the Pharisees.
Reading [You can read as much as you can, depending on your availability]
Luke 19:1-27
Meditating [Use these questions to start your thinking]
- What do you know about Jericho?
- What do we know about Zacchaeus from this passage?
- What lessons can we learn from the Zacchaeus experience?
- Why do you think Jesus told this parable of a certain nobleman in Luke 19:11-27?
- What are major life lessons that we can get from this parable?
- What other questions do you still have?
Sharing: Text ONE of your answers to the questions above to your team. Each team should post a sharing from a team member in the comments below.
In Jericho, Jesus meets another very rich man, who is the chief tax collector of the region for Rome. He most likely knows Matthew and maybe even is a good friend. It is also possible that Zacchaeus had been one of the many tax collectors that Matthew had invited to his house to meet Jesus (Luke 5:29). It is interesting that when Jesus sees Zacchaeus up in the tree, He calls him by name. How did Jesus know his name? Maybe Matthew had frequently talked about the short, chief tax collector who lived in Jericho. Jesus goes to Zacchaeus’ home and he becomes a believer and the Saviour saves him from himself. Zacchaeus is so overjoyed at the forgiveness he receives that he does what all true believers do — he asks for forgiveness and makes things right with those they have hurt in life. It is on this note that Jesus begins His final walk to Jerusalem. And even though Jesus had made it clear many times that He was going to Jerusalem to suffer at the hands of the religious leaders, His followers must not have wanted to believe this truth. In their defense, everything around them shouted that this would not happen. The movement had grown large and multitudes of people were following Jesus. He had a large crowd of committed disciples all descending on Jerusalem for the Passover.
As Jesus walks along listening to the disciples chatting (no doubt about what they had just seen — a rich person giving his wealth to the poor), Jesus realizes that they think that the kingdom of God is going to appear immediately. They do not understand that He is really going to die and leave them for a period of time. Jesus decides to give them a parable to help them understand that there will be a period of time in which they will be entrusted with the message of the Gospel and that they are to be good stewards of this message.
Let me try to unwrap this parable for you. We have several characters. There is the nobleman (Jesus), who comes from a faraway place (heaven) to redeem His rightful kingdom. So he calls ten slaves and gives them each one mina (three-and-a-half months wages), and he tells them to do business with the mina until he returns. The nobleman expected these ten slaves to get busy and multiply the mina that he has entrusted to them. But many of the citizens of the land did not want the nobleman to reign over them, just like many of the citizens of this world do not want Jesus to reign over them. So they send a delegation to tell the nobleman just that. He was made king, however, and then returns. Upon returning now as king, he calls the slaves to give an account of how they have used the mina entrusted to them. One by one they appear before the King and give an account for what they have done with the investment he has made in them. The first says, “‘Sir, your mina has earned ten more’” (Luke 19:16). The second says, “‘Sir, your mina has earned five more’” (Luke 19:18). Note that these first two servants knew whose mina it was, they took their job seriously and went to work. They obeyed the master and received rewards proportionate to their faithfulness and ability to multiply what the master had given them.
Another servant appears before the Master with nothing but excuses, and pretty lame ones at that. He had not obeyed and multiplied the investment made by the Master in him. The Master is very displeased with the disobedient and lazy slave and takes the one mina away from him and gives it to the one that had multiplied tenfold. Jesus’ audience is furious and shouts, “That’s not fair; that guy already has ten!” But Jesus replies, “‘I tell you that to everyone that has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what he has will be taken away. 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’” (Luke 19:26-27).
The truths in verses 26 and 27 are ones we do not want to accept. They seem harsh, unloving, and unfair. But they are not — in God’s eyes, they are just, well deserved, and more than fair. I will leave you to struggle with the truth of God’s word. Like me, you need a transformation of mind for your eyes to be opened. So I entrust you to the One who can transform your thinking — Jesus (Rom. 12:1-2).
We are stewards of the mysteries of the hidden things, Paul says. We are stewards of not just material things but of spiritual things. God is teaching you things about Jesus that are to be passed on. They are being entrusted to you through this study of Jesus’ life and now you must pass them on. May God help you to be faithful in this assignment. The disciple of Jesus owns nothing but is a steward of everything His Father gives him charge over. And each of us will be held accountable for what he has been called to steward: our time, our words, our thoughts, and our actions. Take some time to talk with others today about the concept of stewardship.
What lessons can we learn from the Zacchaeus experience?
Zacchaeus did the extreme to see Jesus despite his height! I can’t believe he climbed a tree. Through Zacchaeus’ experience, I’m reminded that it’s never too late to ask for forgiveness and repent. Zacchaeus acknowledged his sins & his wrongs. Jesus transformed Zacchaeus and he wanted to be a better, changed person by knowing Jesus.
In today’s reading some important lessons we see come from Zacchaeus’ story. We can learn from his enthusiastic actions and desire to seek Jesus. He went the extra mile to climb the tree and he repented of sinful ways. We also can learn from the parable of the ten minas. We are encouraged to use what God has given us and multiply it by being good stewards of our time and resources.
This parable often strikes a sense of fear in me sometimes. I like to compare it to modern day. Like what if Jesus returns and I haven’t done anything for the kingdom. Or what if I die and I never made anything for him. However I know that this an irrational fear because I know that with time the Holy Spirt will push me to do more. The biggest lesson I take from this is that I don’t want my life to be wasted. I want to try and multiply my gifts.