Deep Dive
Shownotes Transcript
Hey, Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble, and I'm your host for the Bible Recap. In Luke's account, Jesus hasn't yet entered Jerusalem for the Passover celebration, so you'll just have to do a little time travel in your head to a few days ago. He's on his way to Jerusalem, and he's passing through Jericho, which is about 10 miles to the northeast. It's called the City of Palms, and when you pass it in the desert, it looks like an oasis. It's also considered to be possibly the oldest city in the world.
There's a big crowd heading into Jerusalem for the holiday, and Jesus is just one of the many. But a tax collector named Zacchaeus is super curious about him and is hoping to catch a glimpse of him as he's passing through town. What I love about this story is that Zacchaeus doesn't need anything tangible from Jesus. He's not sick. He's not demonized. All seems to be well in his world. In fact, he's one of the most wealthy, powerful men in town. He's just deeply curious.
It's easy to realize our need for God when we have a tangible, real need, but for a wealthy businessman to be curious about Jesus is a different thing altogether. He's so intrigued that he climbs a tree to see Jesus. What do you think prompts a person like Zacchaeus to have curiosity like that?
Jesus looks up at him, calls him by his name, and is like, I'm coming for dinner tonight. I hope you have dried figs and chicken minis in the pantry somewhere. While the very act of inviting himself to dinner anywhere might shock some people, the locals are more shocked that he wants to eat with Zacchaeus at all. He's a sinner. Jesus is quick to remind them that sinners are his priority. He came to seek and save the lost, not those who think they're found.
After being found by Jesus, Zacchaeus sets out to do everything in his power to make right what he's done wrong. It's clear he has a heart of repentance.
Remember the story we read a few days ago about the rich ruler in chapter 18? It's interesting to compare and contrast him with Zacchaeus. They're both wealthy and powerful, but the rich ruler thought he was acing life and morality, whereas Zacchaeus is fully aware of his own wickedness. Despite their financial wealth, they have different levels of awareness of their spiritual poverty. Square one.
Because of that, Zacchaeus sees how much he has to gain in following Jesus, while the rich ruler only saw how much he had to lose.
As Jesus and his followers continue on the journey, they approach Bethany, a village on the outskirts of Jerusalem. He sends two of his disciples into the village to go get a colt. His instructions are somehow precise and vague at the same time, and they almost certainly require divine arrangement. Jesus even tells them how their conversation will go. You'll go get the colt, then they'll be like, hey, why are you stealing that colt? And you'll tell them, Jesus needs it. And they'll say, by all means, me colt, us who colt.
In Matthew's account of this story, there's also a donkey involved, two for the price of free. What's up with this cult situation, though? Jesus has been walking all this way, so why now at the end of his very long journey does he finally ask for a lift? That's like hiking the Appalachian Trail then taking an Uber to your campsite. But this is all very intentional. There are so many Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah, and Jesus is fulfilling them all, bit by bit.
This particular prophecy comes from Zechariah 9:9, which says: "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you, righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey." And this is exactly how he enters Jerusalem. When he arrives, the people fulfill a prophecy he spoke over them back in chapter 13.
That's where he told them he wouldn't be back to Jerusalem until the time when they said, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. And that's exactly what they're saying as they walk down the Mount of Olives and into Jerusalem. Other accounts also tell us they're shouting Hosanna, which means save us. Most likely, this was a cry to save them from Roman oppression, not a cry to save them from their sins.
We don't know the exact path they took down the Mount of Olives, but for 3,000 years, much of that hillside has been covered with tombs and burial plots. They're still there today. Estimates say there are anywhere from 70,000 to 150,000 tombs on that hillside. They're mostly above-ground grave plots with limestone markers. As the disciples are shouting their praises, the Pharisees don't like the uproar, so they tell Jesus to rebuke his people.
He says that if they were silent, the very stones would cry out. And here's where knowing the landscape of Israel helps a bit. It's possible Jesus was referring to actual rocks, but I'm more inclined to think he wasn't referring to flint or granite or shale, but to Fred or George or Sheila, to the thousands of gravestones they were passing on that hillside. I imagine him sweeping his hand past all the cemetery plots and basically saying, if you try to stop the living from praising me, the eternal souls of the dead will do it instead.
My praise will echo through the universe regardless. They didn't get it, though, and it's heartbreaking for him. In the verses immediately following that, Jesus weeps over Jerusalem. He loves Jerusalem and its people, but they don't have eyes to see him for who he really is. And he prophesies the destruction of that city that will happen in approximately 40 years.
Then, remember a few weeks ago when we read John's account of Jesus making a whip and cleansing the temple? John's disregard for chronology threw our timeline off a bit, so I want to point out that this is where it really happens. It's in his final, passionate week where everything gets dialed up a few more notches. What was your God shot today?
Mine was in verse 10, where Jesus points out his mission. The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. It may not be immediately evident, especially since I wasn't alive back then, but I'm in that story. Do you know what I'm doing in it? Nothing. I'm just lost. That's all. But Jesus is doing a lot of stuff in that story. He comes, he seeks, he saves. He is the active agent in my salvation. And thank God, because I never would have found my way out. Honestly, I probably
I probably wouldn't even known I was lost until he showed up. I was lost and foolish, and I desperately needed his rescue. It's the best thing that has ever happened to me. He's where the joy is.
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