Jesus was the guest of a sinner

JESUS WAS THE GUEST OF A SINNER
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Luke 19:7 7All the people saw this and began to
mutter, "He has gone to be the guest of a sinner."
The Sinner’s Savior BY SPURGEON
“And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, He was gone to be a
guestwith a man that is a sinner.”
Luke 19:7
PUBLICANS, or tax-gatherers, among the Jews were objects ofintense
aversion. The nation was always restless under the Roman yoke, for the
Israelite’s pride of lineage made him boastthat he was born free and was
never in bondage unto any man. Moreover, they had hopes of a great future
under a Messiahwho would lead them on to conquest and, therefore, the
Roman yoke galledtheir shoulders exceedinglyand the payment of taxes to a
foreign powerwas a heavy grievance. Thatthe people of God should pay
tribute to a heathen powerwas a bone of continual contentionand the persons
of the tax-gatherers were held in bitter hatred. While they abhorred the
collectors ofcustoms as a class, theyreserved their most intense contempt for
any of their own countrymen who lent themselves to this obnoxious business.
They regardedsuch as almostrenouncing their relationship to Israeland
sharing the guilt of the oppressor. As a usual rule it would only be the lowest
class ofpeople among the Jews who would become collectors oftribute from
their own countrymen. The outcasts andscapegoatsofsocietywould
sometimes take to this detestedbusiness, but very rarely would a man of
wealth and position, such as Zacchaeus evidently was, encounterthe scorn
which such an office brought upon him. Zacchaeus wasnot, perhaps, the

actualtax collectorwho calledupon individuals, but he was the
superintendent of the custom house officers of the district, for, “he was the
chief of the publicans, and he was rich.”
He came, perhaps, under even greatercontempt than others because he
occupieda more prominent position and carried on the unsavory business on
a largerscale. Jewishsocietydrew a cordon around the publicans and set
them aside as moral lepers, with whom respectable people must not associate
if they studied their souls'health. And so Zacchaeus, with all his wealth, was
regardedas a pariah by his fellow countrymen. He may have been a
thoroughly honestand upright man, but that mattered little to those who had
takena prejudice againstall publicans. He was regardedby the Pharisaic
party as one of the offscouring of society–a mannot to be acknowledgedin the
streetand into whose house no one would enter. He was a man to be shunned
if he had the impertinence to enter the synagogue orthe temple, and only to
be tolerated because it was not possible to rid the world of him.
From the very first, our Lord had broken through this hard and fast rule. He
disregardedall the traditional and fashionable rules of caste. Constantlydid
He address publicans as if they had the same feelings as other men. He talked
with them and went into their houses, so that He came to be commonly called
by those who wished to show their contempt of Him, “the friend of publicans
and sinners.” A man who could be a friend to publicans was reckonedto be as
evil as publicans, themselves, and further than that, a man could not go! If the
Jew mentioned publicans and sinners, he always gave publicans the first
place, as being decidedly the worse of the two! “Friend of publicans and
sinners”–who cantell what a mass of contempt was condensedinto that title!
Our Lord did not at all deviate from His course because ofthis scoffing, but
He went on befriending sinners, even open sinners, sinners of the most avowed
and undoubted degree ofsin! He almostcommencedHis ministry by talking
to an unchaste woman at the well of Sychar. And He finished it by dispensing
pardon to a thief while hanging on the Cross–andbetweenthat calling of the
woman of Samaria who had had five husbands and was living unlawfully at
the time–right along to the thief who died upon the gallows tree for his crime,
the Saviorhad been receiving sinners and eating with them! He had been
seeking and saving that which was lost!
The old contempt of the sinner’s Savior still lingers in the world among the
self-righteous. Taking different shapes and speaking with other voices, it is
still among us and still, in one way or the other, the old charge is repeatedthat
Christianity is too lenient on the sinner. They sayit tends to discourage the
naturally amiable and virtuous, and looks too favorably upon the vicious and

disreputable. They say that it is always talking about pardon without merit
and speaking slightingly of human goodness. And therefore some even say
they regard Christianity as a foe to societyand an enemy to goodmorals. How
easilycould we turn the tables upon these slanderers, for usually those who
talk thus have but a scant supply of morals and virtues themselves.
First, Brothers and Sisters, it was said that Jesus had gone to be a guestof a
man that was a sinner, and we shall admit the truth of the charge. Secondly,
we shall deny the insinuation which that charge is meant to cover. And
thirdly, we shall rejoice in the fact which has been the subjectof the objection.
1. First, then, we shall ADMIT THE TRUTH OF THE CHARGE. We do
so most cheerfully and without the slightestreserve!Jesus did go to be a
guestof a man that was a sinner and He did so not only once, but as
often as He saw a need. He went after the sheep which had gone astray
and He had a wonderful attractionfor the disreputable classes, forit is
written, “Then drew near unto Him all the publicans and sinners for to
hear Him.” His ministry was aimed at those who were as sheep without
a shepherd and it succeededamong such, for we read that the publicans
and harlots entered into the kingdom! We are not, for a single moment,
going to deny what is so evidently true–Jesus was and is the sinner’s
Friend.
We admit most fully and freely that the Gospelwhich now represents Christ
upon earth bears the most kindly relationship towards the guilty. That, in
fact, it contemplates their salvationand finds its greatesttriumphs among
them! To begin with, the object of Christ and the designof the Gospelis the
saving of sinners. If there is any man in this world who is not guilty, the
Savior is nothing to him. If there is anyone who has never transgressedGod’s
Law, but has kept His Commandments from his youth up and is excellentand
meritorious in himself, Jesus Christdid not come into the world to callsuch a
man to repentance. Why should He? “The whole have no need of a physician,
but they that are sick.”
Christ comes not to proffer His needless servicesto those who are not sin-sick
or needy! A Savior for those who are not lost? A Redeemerfor those who are
not enslaved? Alms for the rich? Medicine for the whole? Pardonfor the
innocent? These are all needless things! A physician does not at all hesitate to
say that he comes into a town with his eyes upon the sick. It would be
ridiculous for him to come there with a view to anybody else!And so to guilty
sinners Jesus comes.Gospelpromises are addressedto the guilty. Who else
would need abundant pardon? Gospelinvitations are addressedto the sinful.
Who should be entreatedto washbut those who are foul? Gospelblessings are

intended for those who have transgressedand are under condemnation, for
who else would value forgiveness and justification?
I know, myself, of no Gospelfor men who have not sinned! I know of no New
Testamentpromises intended for those who have never broken the Law of
God! I perceive all through the wondrous pages ofthe Gospelthat Mercy’s
eyes and heart are set upon those who are guilty and self-condemned!The
Eternal Watcheris looking over the vast oceanof life, not that He may spy out
the vesselswhich sailalong proudly in safety, but that He may see those who
are almostwrecks. “He looks upon men, and if any say, I have sinned, and
perverted that which was right, and it profits me not; He will deliver his soul
from going into the Pit, and his life shall see the light.”
Our Lord was more moved at the sight of sicknessthan of health! He worked
His greatestwonders among fevers, leprosies andpalsies!This is the end and
objectof the Gospel, namely, to save the unrighteous! The God of the Gospel
is He that “justifies the ungodly,” “for when we were yet without strength,
Christ died for the ungodly.” “Godcommends His love toward us, in that,
while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” As the Gospel’s eye is thus
fixed on sinners, we have to notice that our Lord does actually callsinners into
its fellowship. Zacchaeus did not come to Jesus, first, but Jesus wentafter
Him while he was yet a sinner, and said to him, “TodayI must abide in your
house.” So does the Gospel, by the Holy Spirit’s power, continually call to
itself the guilty!
The drunk, the thief, the harlot, the profane, the careless,the prayerless are
calledout–those who are consciouslyguilty are led to faith and pardon. Not
merely those guilty of open sin, but those guilty of secretsin–sins ofthe heart,
sins of the imagination, sins which stain the inmost soul are converted and
saved! Jesus Christcauses His ministers, in the preaching of the Word of God,
to gather out of the world and into the Church those who were enemies and
alienatedin their minds by wickedworks. The Spirit of God does not
effectually callthose who are without sin, but He calls sinners to repentance.
The Spirit of God does not quicken those living–living in their ownnatural
goodness–He quickens the dead in trespassesand sins!
The eternallove of Goddoes not go forth towards those who dream of their
own superiority and wrap themselves up in the mantle of their own
righteousness, but it goes forth unto those who sit in darkness and in the
shadow of death, bound in affliction and iron because they have rebelled
againstthe Lord and contemned the counselof the MostHigh. These are they
upon whom this mighty love fixes itself and upon whom SovereignGrace
exerts its power!The greatFounder of Zion has found inhabitants for her,

even as Romulus peopledRome. It is said of that renownedbuilder that when
he walled his city he peopled it by permitting the offscouring of all other cities
to use it as a refuge. Glorious things are spokenof you, O Zion, city of God,
and yet all your citizens confess that they were guilty and defiled till Jesus
washedand renewedthem! Today Jesus, the Son of David, enlists under His
banner men who are in debt and are discontented!And out of such as these
are, He makes heroes ofthe Cross!Gladly would I invite to the cave Adullam
of His Church those who are willing to enlist under the banner of the Son of
David!
Moreover, while we are about it, we will make a further confession–the Man
Christ Jesus does very readily come to be a guestwith a man who is a sinner,
for He stands on no ceremony with sinners, but makes Himself at home with
them at once. If a Pharisee had gone to Zacchaeus'house and been allowedto
do exactly what he liked, he would have said, “Well, I may, perhaps,
condescendto enter your profane abode, Zacchaeus, but I must wash first and
washafterwards also. And, moreover, you, also, must washand also have
your house specially purified–it must be whitewashed, scrubbed, and
perfumed with incense. And then, if you will take a seatup in the far corner of
the room, I will not mind coming near the door, where the fresh air may,
perhaps, remove any exhalations from your guilty person, for I, being so
transcendently holy, am exceedinglysensitive and cannot come into contact
with your unholiness.”
Now, the Lord Jesus Christ did not ask Zacchaeus evento washhis little
finger, but He said, “Make haste, andcome down, for today I must abide in
your house.” Why, Zacchaeus had the greenof the tree all over him! He was
not in a very elegantcondition to receive the Lord and, worse still, there was
his sin about him! And yet Jesus Christ saidto him before he had brushed off
a grain of dust, “Make haste, andcome down, for today I must abide in your
house.” To his house Jesus came and with him He sojourned, and all without
ceremonyand preparation! Yes, I have known the Lord Jesus meet with a
man as black as Hell and wash him white in five minutes–and sit at his side
and eatbread with him at once!
I have known Him meet with the very vilest of offenders and almostin the
twinkling of an eye He has made the transgressorto be His companion and
His friend! Did not the father in the parable at once receive his returning son?
How many minutes did he wait before he kissedhim? How many times did the
prodigal washhis face before his father pressedhim to his bosom? He did not
even tell him to washhis hands, though he had been feeding swine, but fell
upon his neck and kissedhim then and there! Our Lord Jesus not only has

pity upon sinners, but treats them with love, comes under their roof and
brings salvationto their homes! We confess the impeachment and rejoice that
our Lord is indifferent to the censures of the proud and continues, still, to
provoke the question, “Why does your Mastereatwith publicans and
sinners?”
Our Lord goes further. He not only stands on no ceremonywith sinners, but
within a very little time He is using those very sinners who had been so unfit
for any holy service–using them in His most hallowedworld! Note how He
makes Zacchaeus to be His host–“TodayI must abide in your house.” Was not
this going too far? Might we not have prudently suggested, GoodMaster,
forgive Zacchaeus,but do it privately? GoodMaster, acceptZacchaeus as a
secretdisciple, but do not publicly go into such society!To sit at his table and
let him wait upon You, is too great an honor for the likes of him! And surely,
Brothers and Sisters, it seemedto the first Christians to be almost impossible
that Saul of Tarsus could be allowedto be a preacher!
They heard that he now preachedthe faith which he had persecuted, but they
could hardly believe in his Apostleship! What? When his hands were just now
blood-red with putting saints to death, is he to stand up and preach and to be
an Apostle–how canit be? We all have a measure of this legalhardness and
are scarcelyprepared to allow the guilty to become heralds of Grace too soon
after their conversion!The Gospelknows nothing of a purgatory at the
Church doors, or a quarantine before its pulpit! Only is it, indeed, seenthat a
man has really acceptedChrist and we may both receive him into fellowship
and employ him in holy service!Jesus permits the man who was a sinner to
become His host, even as He allowedthe woman who was a sinner to anoint
His head, and Peter, who had denied Him, to feed His sheep!
Yes, and the Lord favored Zacchaeus,the sinner, by granting him, that day,
the full assurance ofsalvation. The very day that He calledhim, by His Grace,
He gave him full assurance–atany rate I should not want any better assurance
than Zacchaeus receivedwhenthe Lord, Himself said to him, “This day is
salvationcome to your house.”–
“Oh, might I hear Your heavenly tongue
But whisper, ‘You are Mine!’
Those gentle words should raise my song
To notes almostDivine.”
How often have we sung this wish, but Zacchaeus hadit granted him, for the
Lord said plainly, “Salvationhas come to your house,” and Zacchaeus could
not doubt it! How happy he must have felt, how free from all trouble–“Iam a

savedman and salvation, having once enteredthe house, there is no telling
where it will go–itwill be upstairs, downstairs, among the servants, among the
children! It will embrace all my descendants and I and my house shall be
saved!”
He obtained that choice blessing within the first day of his believing on Christ!
And is it not wonderful, poor Sinner, that though you, even now, have not
believed in Jesus as yet, and are sitting down in sorrow, burdened with sin, yet
if you now believe–before this service shall be over, you may not only be saved
but know it–and shall go home and sayto your wife and children, “Salvation
has come to our house!” Blessedbe the name of Jesus!All this is true and we
have no wish to concealit! Jesus Christhas gone to be a guestwith a man that
is a sinner!
II. Secondly, we are going to DENY THE INSINUATION WHICH IS
COVERTLY INTENDEDBYTHE CHARGE brought againstour Lord.
Jesus is the Friend of sinners, but He is not the Friend of sin! Jesus forgives
sin altogetherapartfrom human merit, but Jesus does not, therefore, treat
virtue and vice as if they were indifferent things, or in any way discourage
purity and righteousness. Farfrom it, for, first, Christ was a guestwith a man
that was a sinner, but He never flattered a sinner yet. Directme to a single
passagein His Word in which He ever justifies a sinner in sinning, or ever
treats sin as if it were a trifle, or looks at it as a mere misfortune and not as a
crime!
No religion under Heaven is so strong in its denunciation of sin as the religion
of Jesus Christ! His Words do not only condemn acts of sin, but even words
and thoughts, in such words as these–“Forevery idle word that man shall
speak, he shall give an accountin the Day of Judgment.” “Godshall judge the
secrets ofmen by Jesus Christ.” The Savior’s lips were too truthful and too
pure to pander to the vices of men! He denouncedsin in every form and shape
and threatened it with everlasting fire! You do not find Jesus Christ anywhere
asserting that the result of sin is a merely temporal evil, that the souls of
sinners will be annihilated, or that they will, by-and-by, in another state,
obtain forgiveness andbe delivered, but, “these shallgo awayinto everlasting
punishment” rolls like thunder from His honestlips.
He sweeps awayfrom men all their empty confidences whereinthey
entrenched themselves and makes them see that whatever a man sows, that
shall he also reap. He who lives in sin is declaredto be the servant of sin, and
he who brings forth evil fruit is judged to be an evil tree. Christ’s fan is in His
hand and He sweeps awaythe chaff. He sits as a refiner and consumes the
dross. He lays the axe at the root of tree and demands that the heart and spirit

be right before God. If He sets forth obedience to the Law, our Lord declares
that it must be obedience in every point, or a man cannot be saved by it. If He
accepts a follower, He bids him count the costand forsake allthat he has, or
he cannot be His disciple. His moral standard is–“Be youperfect, even as your
Father which is in Heaven is perfect.”
If you want the standard of the Laws of God lowered, you must not go to
Christ! And if you wish to see the penalties of sin mitigated, you must not go
to Christ, for He is, of all Teachers, the most severe againstsin of every sort,
and the most clearin foretelling its penalty. The Friend of sinners is too much
their Friend to befriend their sin–that He utterly abhors and He will never
rest till He has driven it out of them. Neitherdoes the Lord Jesus Christ
screensinners from that proper and wholesome rebuke whichvirtue must
always give to vice.
The Pharisees,no doubt, meant to say, “This man Jesus does mischief. We
keepourselves alooffrom all low company and in this waywe do a gooddeal
for these publicans, because we let them see the difference betweenholy and
unholy men! When they look at our phylacteries betweenour eyes and
observe the broad borders of our garments, and see how we washour hands,
and know how we tithes on mint and cumin, it must greatly edify them! No
doubt they will go home and feel greatly ashamedthat they cannotassociate
with such blessedand holy people as we are. Now, that Man, Christ, goes in
among them and eats and drinks with them! And thus, in some measure, our
protest is broken down. They will think a greatdeal of themselves, now that
the proper distance is no longerkept up, for they will say, if this Man, who is,
That is how the Phariseesarguedand there are some around us who still
think that the bestthing you can possibly do with the degradedis to isolate
them. Turn your back on them! The sight of a goodman’s back will be a fine
moral lessonto them! Make them to feel that you are disgustedwith them and
they will be brought to repent. But it does not turn out to be so. This process
has generallybeen carried out by proud formalists and loathsome hypocrites
and has ended in making bad worse!Jesus never sanctions this mode of
reformation. Look at Him and admire! Did He say a word to Zacchaeus about
his having takentaxes by false means, or about his being cruel to the poor?
No, not a syllable!
Christ’s Presence wasenoughrebuke for the man’s sin. No soonerdoes a man
perceive the love of Christ and the perfection of His blessedPerson, than
straightwaysin receives its death blow and is ashamed to show itself anymore.
Jesus is the best rebuke to sin. The Gospelof Jesus Christdoes not sayto you,
who live in sin, “You are not fit company for Christians.” Nordoes it turn to

godly people and say, “Make these your daily associates andjoin in their
mirth.” Quite the opposite!But it does, nevertheless, sayto Christians, “Go
and seek outthe lost and bring them to a better mind.” We go not among the
sin-smitten to catchtheir disease, but to cure it! Going in such a spirit, a good
man’s presence is a far better rebuke to sin than a cold, self-righteous
isolation. The Gospeldoes not aim so much at rebuking sinners as at
reclaiming them. Its business is not to make men feel remorse for having
sinned, but to rid them from the power of sin.
Again, it is not true, as I have heard some say, that the Gospelmakes pardon
seemsuch a very easything and, therefore, sin is thought to be a small matter.
“Oh,” says one, “if men have only to believe and be saved, you put a premium
upon sin by making deliverance from it to be so speedya business.” These
cavilers know better, some of them, and if they do not know better, let us
teachthem! When the Lord Jesus Christforgave me, He taught me at the
same moment to dread sin. I never had such a sense ofthe terrible evil of sin
as I had in the moment of my forgiveness!Where, do you think, did I read my
pardon? I read it on His Cross–writtenin crimson lines! I understood that,
though the pardon was free to me, it costHim cries and groans to bring me
near to God. It costHis soul an agonynever to be describedbefore He could
redeem one poor sinner from going down into the Pit. It is a gross injustice to
charge the preaching of the Gospelto sinners with making sin to appeara
trifle! The accusationis a baselessslander!
They who know no atoning blood. They who know nothing of the sufferings of
Christ–these are they who cantoy with sin. But those who gaze upon the
wounds of Christ cannotbut tremble at sin! The greatdoctrine of the
Substitutionary Sacrifice, wheneverit is fully receivedby the soul, makes sin
to be exceeding sinful! Oh, Sin, I have heard of you by the hearing of the ear,
but on the Cross my eyes see you slaying the Incarnate God! I abhor myself in
dust and ashes!
Now, though Christ is the Friend of sinners, is it true that He makes men
think lightly of personalcharacter? “Oh,” saysome, “these Christians teach
that believing a creedsaves the soul and that it does not matter at all how we
live.” This is an old libel. I remember reading much the same charge in a book
which leveled its artillery at Wilberforce and his evangelicalfriends. The
author said, “in a cant, unmeaning jargon, they talk much of vital faith, but
they say little of vital benevolence.”He goes on to remark that to teachmen to
be honest, clean, kind and truthful was far more important. Now, it is time
that such a slander as that came to an end, but a lie has many lives and though

you kill it 50 times over, it soonrestores itselfto vitality. Look at the matter of
fact.
Jesus Christ did not teachZacchaeus, by going to his house, that character
was of no consequence. Onthe contrary, Zacchaeus perceivedat once that
characterwas ofthe greatestconsequenceand so he stoodforth, and said,
“Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have taken
anything from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.” Let who
will, deny the logic of it! The fact is that when a man comes to believe in Jesus,
he has a higher appreciationof the excellenceofcharacterthan any other man
in the world. And he does not merely appreciate it in theory, but begins to
seek afterit for himself.
Man’s nature becomes renewedby the faith which, some say, will cause him to
become indifferent to holiness. A man’s whole life is changedby his believing
in Jesus, and that which thus happily affects the charactercannothonestly be
said to lead to indifference concerning it! Even the remark I quoted now
about Wilberforce was signally false, because it was through him and the
party which gatheredaround him that benevolence gainedone of her very
noblest victories. How would the slave in the West Indies have obtained his
liberty if it had not been for these very men? Wilberforce and the like, who
while they held that faith in Christ, alone, could save the soul, felt that
benevolence was the essentialspirit of Christianity and liberty the natural
right of every man! They spent their whole strength in fighting againstthe
mercenary feeling of the times, till the fetters of England’s slaves were broken
forever!
It has been said that if we tell men that goodworks cannotsave them, but that
Jesus saves the guilty who believe in Him, we take awayall motives for
morality and holiness. We meet that, again, by a direct denial–it is not so–we
supply the grandestmotive possible and only remove a vicious and feeble
motive! We take away from man the idea of performing goodworks in order
to salvation, because it is a lie! Goodworks will not save a sinner, nor is he
able to perform them if they could save him! Works done with a view to
salvationare not good, because they are evidently selfishand so are not
acceptable to God. The selfishness ofthe motive poisons the life of the work
and takes its goodness outof it.
But when we tell men, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christand you shall be
saved,” if they exercise faith they are saved!And being saved there grows up
in their hearts gratitude to God–and from this springs a loving desire to serve
God on accountof what He has done–andthis motive is not only very
powerful but it is very pure, because the man does not, then, serve God with a

view to self, but he serves Him out of love! And works done out of love to God
are the only goodworks possible to men. It supplies a motive which is clean,
clear, pure–a motive, moreover, which is proven by the lives of savedmen to
be potent enough to keepthem in the way of righteousness alltheir days.
The Gospelof Jesus Christgives men something more than motive, it supplies
them with power and life, for wherevermen believe on the Lord Jesus the
Holy Spirit is surely at work with all His wondrous power! He enters the heart
and changes it, turns the whole current of the soul and creates within the man
a new, living, conquering principle akin to the Nature of God, Himself, so that
the man becomes andcontinues to be a new creature in Christ Jesus. This
indwelling Spirit is not a theory, nor a doctrine, but a Person–andHis work is
not a dream, but a conscious fact–a phenomenonto which all Believers bear
witness, for we have known Him and felt His power! We have bowed before
the might and majesty of His influences.
As the anointing on Aaron’s head went where Aaron went, so where Christ is
received, the Holy Spirit comes, the new creationcommences and men are
delivered from living as they did before, under the bondage of corruption.
Thus we repel with indignation the charge that Christ is the abettor of sin–
and yet we preachwith unabated eagernessthis goodnews for sinners–
Whateversin you may have committed, and howeverstained you may be with
habits of evil, there is immediate pardon to be had and complete salvationto
be obtained, now, on this very spot, if you will but acceptit and trust Jesus for
it! We assure you of this from our own experience!We also assure you that all
your goodworks, prayers, tears and almsgivings will go for nothing if you
trust in them! But though you may be coveredwith ten thousand times ten
thousand sins, if you believe in Jesus youshall be savedfrom them all!
He is a Saviorand a greatone! And He is able to deliver greatsinners. This
will not make you think lightly of sin, nor cause you to continue in sin that
Grace may abound, but it will give you the power which you need! It will
supply you with a strength you have never been able to find, notwithstanding
all your efforts! It will enable you to rejoice that you are saved and, in the
strength of such an assurance,you will find within your heart a love for
holiness and an abhorrence of sin such as you have never known before!You
will go to the door of your heart and say to the devil, “Getyou gone!” And to
the lusts of the flesh, “Getyou behind me!” And as to all the temptations
which arise from old companions you will shut the door in their faces andsay,
“Departfrom me!”
III. In the third place, WE REJOICE IN THE VERY FACT WHICH HAS
BEEN OBJECTEDTO, that Jesus Christ comes to be a guestwith men who

are sinners. And first, dear Brothers and Sisters, we rejoice in it because it
affords hope to ourselves. It often happens that we should never have a hope
of His coming to be a guestwith us if He were not a guestto sinners. To me,
such gracious facts are neededto save me from despair. Oh, it is mighty easy
to build up a fine experience and a pretty sanctification. And to imagine that
you are getting on wonderfully and becoming strong and pure, and very
superior saints, indeed. Let the devil deal with you five minutes and he will
show you something of quite another color!
Let your old corrupt nature only bubble up for a quarter of an hour and you
will find such a condition of things in your soul that you will cry out in
bitterness of anguish! Then will you find that fine words about experience do
not fit your mouth and all your notions of being somebody will evaporate like
dew in the summer’s sun. Oh the thousands of times when I have lookedfor
any mouse hole through which I might creepif I might but enter into a little
hope! I love to preach a sinner’s Gospel, for it suits myself! I delight to preach
holiness and will aim at it as long as I live and can never be contentuntil I am
perfect, but still, my soul needs and must have the sinner’s Savior!Nothing
else will do for me!
Whenever I getnearestto my Lord and feelmost of His preciousness,and
enjoy most communion with Him, I lay lower before Him than ever and feelit
to be an unspeakable privilege to creepto His feetand washthem with my
tears. I have, at this moment, no sort of hope but in mercy, great mercy
rendered to a greatsinner through the sacrifice ofJesus!Brothers and Sisters,
what is there to depend upon, except the sinner’s Savior? If He does not save
sinners, as sinners, by an actof free, rich, SovereignMercy, altogetherapart
from anything that is in them and of them, what will happen to you and me?
We do not wish to make any excuses forour sin! We would loathe it and
abhor ourselves before God on accountof it, but still, a wash in the Fountain
opened for sin and uncleanness suits us today as wellas it did 27 years ago,
when, for the first time, we lookedto Jesus and lived!
Do you not find it so, my beloved Brothers and Sisters? After half a century of
knowing Christ, do you not find that you need a sinner’s Savior as much as
ever? You will need Him when you come to die even as you need Him now!
And while you are languishing into everlasting life, He will be your strength
and your song, and you will be glad to think that, “this Man receives sinners
and eats with them.” Again, we rejoice that it is true for another reason,
because this affords us hope for all our fellow men. Suppose that our Lord did
not visit any but the good, moral and excellent? Then, alas, for poor London’s
back streets and crowdedcourts! Alas for the casualward! Alas for the

penitentiary and alas for the jail! Alas for the fallen woman and alas for the
thief!
But now there is hope for even these and every philanthropist ought to feel,
deep down in his soul, the most profound gratitude to the Lord for this fact.
This is earth’s brightest star! This is her well of hope, her dawn of joy! Since
Jesus Christ receives the guilty and saves the vile, despondency and despair
have, from now on, no right to haunt the abodes of men! Hope smiles on all
and invites the most fallen to look up and live! Yes, and let me tell you
Pharisees,if there are any representatives ofthat sectionhere today–though
you do not like the idea of Grace to the guilty, but cling to the idea of your
being rewarded for your supposed merit–it is a greatmercy for you that Jesus
receives greatoffenders because youmust be numbered among them!
What is your heart but a raging sea of pride and enmity againstGod and even
againstyour fellow men? You despise God’s ordained plan of Grace and you
look with contempt upon the guilty whom He deigns to save!Is it not the spirit
of the devil which makes you think yourself so much above your fellow men?
Is it not an intolerable inhumanity which makes you wish that the Gospel
were molded to suit you and to shut out poor sinners? Who are you to carry
your head so high? If you have never sinned as open transgressors have done,
yet it is very probable that you would have done worse if you had been placed
in the positions which they have occupied! With all their faults there are
greaterfaults in you–and if somebodywere to set to work to read the secrets
of your soul, aloud, you would be much ashamed!
Ah, there are many who are pluming themselves upon their virtues who, in
the sight of God, are as rotten at the core as even the unchaste and the
profane! There are more thieves, I doubt not, outside our jails than there are
inside! And there are more double-dyed sinners than we ever dreamed of who
appear respectable andyet are abominable! Yes, even among nominal
Christians there are plenty of scarletsinners–theyare always atthe place of
worship, very regularin all acts of outward devotion–and yet they indulge in
secretuncleanness andare as bad as any in the felons'prison!
If my Masterwere to repeat, today, a certainscene in which He figured so
wonderfully, some of those now present would be placedin an awkward
position. A woman takenin adultery was brought before Him. He did not, for
a moment, justify her crime, but He said with greatpowerand to the point,
“He that is without sin among you, let him first casta stone at her.” I say to
you who pretend that you are righteous, that if your consciencesspeak, you
must admit that you have no righteousness, but are so sinful that you have not
a stone to fling, even againstthe grossestsinner! Convicted by your own

conscienceyoumay go out–but it were better, still, if you were to stay here
and say, “Yes, in my heart I am guilty, too, and I bless Christ that He is a
sinner’s Savior, and that even I may look to Him this day and live.”
We rejoice that this is the fact, because whenwe are working for the Lord it
cheers us up with the hope of fine recruits. Many become very cold, stale and
mechanicalin their work for Jesus within a short time after they are
converted. The enthusiasm dies out, the warmth chills. I remember a sailor
who, before conversion, usedto swear, andI guarantee you he would rattle it
out, volley after volley! He became convertedand when he prayed it was
much in the same fashion. How he woke everybody up the first time he opened
his mouth at the PrayerMeeting! The little Church had quite a revival, for
their old jog-trotpace would not do for the new convert so full of love and
zeal!
The prayers offeredin the meetings had become quite stereotypedand so had
everything else about them. There were the same sleepypeople, the same long
prayers and the same dreary addresses.But Jack’s conversionwas like an
earthquake and startled everybody–and their zeal revived. They even began
to think that, perhaps, sailors might be saved, and starteda service on the
wharf and did many other goodthings. The conversionof a greatsinner is the
best medicine for a sick Church! In all the churches, you good people who are
settled on your lees, needstirring up every now and then, and one of the best
stirrings up you can have is to open the door of the Church and see a Saul of
Tarsus standing there to be admitted!
The porter enquires, “Who is this that seeks admissionhere?” “Arecruit,”
says he, and we look at him. Why, he is one of the devil’s most famous
soldiers, one of the men who carried the black flag in the battle, one who
ridiculed us most! We are apt to look a little askanceathim, for we feel
dubious. So we refer him to the elders, that they may enquire and sift him, to
see whether he is really a changedcharacter. Perhaps these earnestmen are
not quite sure and hesitate till they see more of him. And they are quite right
to do so. But if the Lord has really calledthe sinner, by His Grace, no sooner
does the Church receive such a man than they find that he has brought with
him fresh fire and throws a fresh impetus into the whole work!Our Lord
Jesus, then, when He goes to be a guestwith a man that is a sinner, brings
additional strength to the Church and finds her recruits of the very sortshe
most needs. We will therefore rejoice and bless the sinner’s Savior.
I wonder, this morning, where Zacchaeus is–whetherhe is up in the gallery
there! Has there come in here a man who is a sinner and knows it? Has there
come in here, this morning, one who, if I were to pass a label up to him

inscribed with the word, “SINNER,” wouldhang it round his neck and say, “I
am the man”? Where are you, Zacchaeus? Jesus calls you!He means to save
you at once!He says to you, “I must abide in your house today.” Make haste
down and open the door, and say, “Come in, my Lord, I am honored to
receive You.” Will any hesitate? Will any delay? May my Master’s Holy Spirit
cause, today, many a greatsinner’s heart to open and receive Jesus joyfully!
PORTIONS OF SCRIPTURE READ BEFORE SERMON–.HYMNS FROM
“OUR OWN HYMN BOOK”–257, 543,544.
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
Zacchaeus;The Triumph Of Earnestness
Luke 19:1-9
W. Clarkson
The incident here recordedprovides a very goodopportunity for the
imagination. We can picture the scene before us quite vividly; it is a subject
for the sacredartist. But let us look at the triumph of earnestnessas
illustrated in the story of Zacchaeus.
I. It triumphed overTHE PERILWHICH ATTENDS WEALTH. This man
was rich (ver. 2). Riches are unfavourable to religious earnestness;we have
Christ's own word for it (Luke 18:24;see homily). They presenta very strong
inducement to their owner to forsake the fountain of living waters, and to
quench his thirst in the lower streams. Fartoo often they lead to luxury, to
indulgence, to spiritual indifference. But Zacchaeus did not suffer this
calamity to befall him, this fatal injury to be wrought upon him. His spiritual
solicitudes won the victory over his temporal circumstances.
II. It triumphed over THE DEMORALIZING CALLING IN WHICH HE
WAS ENGAGED. Our daily vocationmust necessarilyhave a very great
influence over us for goodor evil; and if it be one that tends to lowerand
degrade a man, he is placed in the greatestpossible peril. Much wisdom of
mind, much resoluteness ofsoul, and much devoutness of spirit must be
required to withstand the adverse powers. But though Zacchaeus was engaged

in a pursuit that invited avarice and oppression, still he did not lose his
religious earnestness.
III. It triumphed over AN EVIL REPUTATION. Few things are more
degrading than a bad name. Men quickly become what they are supposedto
be and what they are called. Let all his neighbours considerand call a man a
rogue, and it will be strange indeed if he maintains his integrity. Yet, although
Zacchaeus was denominatedand dismissedas "a publican," spokenof by a
term which was full of the strongestreproach, he did not descendto that level.
IV. It triumphed over THE OBSTACLES WHICH STOOD BETWEENHIM
AND CHRIST. He could not venture to solicitan interview with this holy
Prophet; that he knew was completelybarred by his vocation. He found it
difficult to secure even a view of him as he passedalong;his smallness of
stature was againsthim. But such was his determination that he disregarded
all considerations ofdignity and decorum, and ran any risk of popular
derision and affront, and climbed up, as if he had been a boy, into a tree to
command a view of Jesus ofNazareth. So he prevailed.
V. IT WON WHOLLY UNEXPECTED GOOD.
1. The honour of entertaining this great Prophet at his own house; thus
securing a standing to which he had long been a stranger.
2. The advantage of a protracted interview, an extended privilege, in which he
could not only secure a few sentences fromthe greatTeacher, but could
unburden his heart to him and learn his holy will.
VI. IT LED TO NEWNESS OF LIFE. (Vers. 8, 9.) Zacchaeus from that day
forth was a new man. His characterwas thenceforthdetermined: whatever
selfishness orwrongness there had been, it should be renounced, and, where
possible, reparationshould be made. Characterand life were to be cleansed
and renewed;and Christ took him up into his favour and friendship. He was
to be perfectly restoredto the position he had lost. By his pursuit and practice
he had become an alien, disinherited, no longer admitted to the services ofthe
sanctuary. But now he was to be, in the fullest and deepestsense ofthe word,
"a son of Abraham," a far truer son of his than many who prided themselves
on their descentfrom the "father of the faithful." Thus earnestness ofspirit
completely prevailed.
1. Only earnestnesswillprevail. Indifference will go down to the death from
which it is alreadynot far removed. Halfheartedness will go only a very little
way towards the goal;it will have to take some trouble and to suffer some
pains, but it will not win the prize. Even impulsiveness, ]PGBR> whichbears

a considerable resemblance to earnestness, but is not the same thing, will fail
before the way is trodden and the end secured. Only earnestnesswins.
2. It always must. Whatever comes in the way; whateverinward or outward
obstacles presentthemselves;whateverpersonalor socialhindrances
intervene; howevervictory be delayed; notwithstanding that the case may
againand againseemhopeless; - still in the end earnestnesswill succeed. Jesus
Christ will manifest himself; he will be found in the home; his presence and
his grace willfill the soul with joy; he will declare sonship and heirship to his
devoted and determined follower. - C.
Biblical Illustrator
My house is the house of prayer.
Luke 19:45, 46
The purified temple
A. Watson, D. D.
Regarding the Church as an institution, with its possessions,its laws, its days
of worship, its rulers, its teachers, its outward services, we may find for
ourselves a lessonin this incident. And that lessonis, that the spiritual
characterof the Church is everything, and that its first object is to deepen in
men's hearts the sense of the Divine and the spiritual. When that greatend is
lost sight of, the Church has parted with her strongestclaims upon the world,
and it has forfeited also its privilege as a witness for Godon the earth. The
spiritual influence is the first and chief purpose of the Church of Christ. The
lessonof this narrative comes home to us in these days, when so much time

and thought are given to the outer framework of Church forms and usages;
and that lessonmay be needed to correctour spirit of bustling and restless
energy in what is at the best only the machinery of spiritual life, and not
spiritual life itself. There is no class of men who are more in danger of losing
the true meaning of religion than those who are employed in its service. If I
were to seek for casesin which spiritual truth had been travestiedand turned
to not only secularbut profane purposes, I do not know that I could find them
more readily than in men to whom all sacredwords and acts have grownso
familiar that they have ceasedto express spiritual facts at all. Those who are
always engagedin religious works are apt to lose the sense of their sacredness.
No man more needs to be on his guard againstan unspiritual life than the
man who is perpetually employed in spiritual offices. He brings within the
courts of God's house what ought to be left without; he forgets his high
spiritual functions in the bustle and care which attend them; and it is really no
absolute guarantee of a religious and spiritual life that a man's professionis
the teaching of religion. Christ's words and acts readus all a lesson, then; they
tell us that in the most sacredoccupations oflife there may be found cares and
anxieties which are less religious, and which are apt to swallow up too much of
a man's time and thoughts. There is anothertemple of a different kind, of
which a word may be said. The whole Christian body is, in the words of the
New Testament, a temple of God. There is a sacrednessin that temple, the
spiritual community of Christians, if we would only think of it, much greater
than in the Temple of Jerusalem, orin any building devotedto holy uses. And
just as the whole Christian community is a temple sacredto God, so each
individual heart is in itself a temple where God MostHigh is honoured and
worshipped.
(A. Watson, D. D.)
Lessons from Christ's cleansing of the temple
James Foote, M. A.
1. Abuses are apt to creepinto the Church. Let us be on our guard against
their first introduction.
2. The Church is much indebted, under God, to those who have had the
courage to stand forward as realreformers. Hezekiah;Josiah;the English
reformers. They are indeed the benefactors ofthe Church who successfully
exert themselves to correctdoctrinal and practicalerrors, and to promote the
scriptural administration of ordinances, discipline, and government. Thus, the
progress ofcorruption is arrested, the beauty of Christianity is restored, and

the glory of God, and the religious, and even civil, interests of men are
promoted.
3. It is the duty of us all, according to our severalplaces andstations, to do
what we canto reform whateverabuses may exist in the Church in our own
times.
4. Let this purification of the temple leadus to seek the purification of our
own hearts.
5. In all we attempt for the benefit of others, or of ourselves, let us imitate the
zeal which our Masterdisplayed on this occasion. To be useful to man, or
acceptable to God, we must be deeply in earnest — we must have the Spirit of
Christ in this respect. Neither fear, nor shame, nor sinful inclination should
restrain us in such cases.
(James Foote, M. A.)
Christ's indignation arousedby irreverence
Canon Liddon.
In contemplating this actionwe are at first sight startled by its
peremptoriness. "Is this," we sayto ourselves — "is this He who is calledthe
Lamb of God? He of whom prophecy said that He should neither strive nor
cry; He who said of Himself, "Come to Me; I am meek and lowly of heart"? Is
there not some incongruity betweenthat meek and gentle characterand those
vehement acts and words. No, my brethren, there is no incongruity. As the
angerwhich is divorced from meekness is but unsanctified passion, so the
false meekness whichcannever kindle at the sight of wrong into indignation,
is closelyallied, depend upon it, to moral collapse. One of the worstthings that
the inspired Psalmistcanfind it in his heart to sayof a man is, "Neitherdoth
he abhor anything that is evil." BishopButler has shownthat anger, being a
part of our natural constitution is intended by our Makerto be excited, to be
exercisedupon certain legitimate objects;and the reasonwhy anger is as a
matter of fact generallysinful is, because it is generallywielded, not by our
sense ofabsolute right and truth, but by our self-love, and, therefore, on
wrong and needless occasions. OurLord's swift indignation was just as much
a part of His perfectsanctity as was His silent meekness in the hour of His
passion. We may dare to say it, that He could not, being Himself, have been
silent m that temple court, for that which met His eye was an offence first
againstthe eighth commandment of the Decalogue. The money brokers were
habitually fraudulent. But then this does not explain His treatment of the

sellers of the doves, which shows that He saw in the whole transactionan
offence againstthe first and secondcommandments. All irreverence is really,
when we getto the bottom of it, unbelief. The first greattruth that we know is
the solitarysupremacy of the Eternal God; the second, whichis its
consequence,the exacting characterofHis love. God is said, in the second
commandment, to be a "jealous God."
(Canon Liddon.)
Christ dealt immediately with wrong
J. Parker, D. D.
What He might have done! He might have said, "Well, this temple will one
day, and that day not far distant, be thrown down. I shall not interfere with
this abuse now, because in the natural order of things it will be overturned
along with this structure." Jesus Christ did not know what it was to trifle so. I
don't know that Jesus Christ knew the meaning of the word expediency, as we
sometimes prostitute it. He saw wrong. If that wrong would in five minutes
work itself out, that was no considerationto Him. Meanwhile, to Him five
minutes was eternity!
(J. Parker, D. D.)
The cleansing ofthe temple
H. Goodwin, M. A.
I shall endeavour to call your attention to one or two of the most marked
features. And in the first place, I would bid you notice our blessedLord's zeal,
that zeal of which the Psalmistsaid, speaking prophetically, "the zeal of Thine
house hath even eatenme" (Psalm 69:9).
2. But again, the conduct of our Lord shows us the reverence that is due to
God's house. The Jewishtemple was emphatically a "house ofprayer," it was
a place where Godhad promised His specialpresence to those who came to
worship. And there are some things which, like oxen and sheep, are things not
cleanenough to be brought into the temple of God; all evil feelings, and pride,
and unkindness, and envy, and self-conceit, and other wickedemotions may
not be brought into God's temple; they must be driven out with scourges, they
must not be tolerated. Then also there are some things which, like the doves,
though pure in themselves, have no business in the temple of God; the cares of
this world, things necessarilyengaging our attention at other times, may not

enter these doors: God's church is intended to be as it were a little enclosed
spot where worldly things may not enter. But again, the tables of
moneychangers must not be here; this is no place for thoughts of gain, it is a
profanation of God's temple to bring them here. And, lastly, Christian
brethren, we cannot but be reminded, by our Lord's cleansing ofthe temple in
the days of His flesh, of that awful cleansing of His temple which will one day
take place, when all that is vile and offensive shall be castout of His temple,
and everything that maketh a lie castinto the lake of brimstone.
(H. Goodwin, M. A.)
The Louse of prayer
G. M. Merry.
I. Our first inquiry is — WHAT IS OUR LORD'S VIEW AS TO THE
PURPOSE AND END WHICH HE DESIGNS HIS EARTHLY TEMPLES
TO SERVE? And this is the answer — "My house is the house of prayer." He
calls us here to pray. The work to which He sets us in the sanctuary is mainly
devotional.
1. As first, that common or united prayer is needful for man. Prayer itself is
almost an instinct of nature. Man must worship. And he must worship in
company; he must pray with others.
2. Another observationwhich the Divine idea in regard to the earthly
sanctuary suggests is, that common or united prayer is acceptable to God.
3. Common or united prayer is efficacious to obtain Divine gifts. Otherwise,
God would not assignto it so foremosta position in the worship of the
sanctuary.
II. MAN'S DEPARTURE FROM THIS DIVINE IDEA ABOUT THE
HOUSE OF GOD ON EARTH. "Ye have made it a den of thieves." There is
man's perversion of God's design. You know, of course, whatthe particular
sin was which these words of our Lord were intended to reprove. It was the
appropriation on the part of these Jews ofa portion of the temple enclosure to
purposes of worldly barter. This was the way in which the Jewishpeople lost
sight of the Divine idea in regardto their temple. And though it is not possible
for men now to commit precisely the same offence, I fearit would not be
difficult to trace a corresponding sin, even in the present altered condition of
the church. It is possible now to desecrate sacredplaces andoffices to
purposes of worldly gain. It is possible to make a traffic of spiritual functions
and emoluments. But, my friends, these are not the only things in which a

departure from God's idea about His sanctuarymay be marked now. There
are others, of another complexion and character, it is true, but not the less to
be reprehended. It is to these that I would more especiallycallyour attention.
1. Let me say, then, that some pervert God's idea by making the house of
prayer a house of preaching. With them the sermon is almost everything.
They are impatient of all else to getto that. Prayers, and lessons, andpsalms,
and creeds, are all just to be endured as a sortof preliminary to that.
2. I remark again, that some depart from God's intention with respectto the
sanctuary by making the house of prayer "a house of mere Sunday resort."
They must pass the day somewhere;they must getthrough it somehow, and
so, as it is customary, and seemly, and respectable, theywill go to church.
They are as well there, they think, as anywhere else;but, alas!this is all.
3. I remark, in the next place, that some pervert this design by making the
house of prayer "a house of formal service." Theirservice is no more than lip
service.
(G. M. Merry.)
"My house is the house of prayer
A. McEwen.
Nor are there wanting examples, in all succeeding ages, ofthe conscientious
and religious regularity with which the faithful ever attended the public
means of grace. Thus, for example, "Zacharias andElizabeth walkedin all the
commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless." The just and devout
Simeon "waitedfor the consolationofIsrael, and came by the Spirit into the
temple of the Lord." These, so striking examples of such excellentmen, and
the uniform and continuous practice of the faithful in all ages, show that the
public worship of God is an institution of Divine authority. That there is a
God is the first suggestionofunassistedreason, and that God ought to be
worshipped is the foundation and first principle of all religion. Accordingly,
we have reasonto believe, that public worship beganwith the beginning of the
world, and that it has been continued and maintained in all countries and in
all times, and under every form of religion that man has devised or God
instituted. The ancient Jews forexample, dedicateda seventh part of their
time to the service and worship of God. We may also remark, that, from the
earliestages, notonly particular times, but also particular places, were set
apart and consecratedto these sacredservices. In the darkesttimes of heathen
idolatry, when there were "gods many, and lords many," magnificent temples

were built, statelyaltars erected, costlysacrificesoffered, solemnrites
celebrated, and the elegantarts of painting and sculpture, poesy and music,
were calledinto the service of dumb idols. In after times, when the children of
Israelwere in the wilderness, and had no fixed nor settled abode, the
tabernacle was erectedby God's specialcommand, and richly endowedwith
sacredutensils and ornaments for His solemn worship.
I. PUBLIC WORSHIP IS CALCULATED TO DISPLAY THE GLORY OF
GOD. As the court of an earthly monarch derives its dignity from the
splendour and number of its attendants, so the church, "the court of the
Lord," shows forth the majesty of the MostHigh by its multitudes of humble
worshippers.
II. PUBLIC WORSHIP IS ALSO CALCULATED TO PROMOTEAND
PERPETUATE THE PRACTICE OF PURE AND UNDEFILED RELIGION.
Prayer kindles and keeps up the spirit of piety in the soul. And if the "house of
prayer "be thus holy, how greatshould be the purity of those who frequent it?
Here, again, let the royal Psalmistbe our director, "Praise is comelyfor the
upright."
(A. McEwen.)
The house of prayer
Canon Liddon.
"My house is the house of prayer." This is as true of that portion of the holy
body which we call the Church visible or militant as it is of the rest. The
objectof the visible Church is not solely philanthropic, although the Church's
duty is to do goodunto all men, speciallyto them that are of the household of
faith. It is not solelythe moral perfectionof its members, although the
purification to Himself of a peculiar people zealous of goodworks was
certainly a main object of its founder; still less is it the prosecutionof inquiry
or speculation, howeverinteresting about God, because we alreadyknow all
that we ever really shall know in this state about Him. We have on our lips
and in our hearts the faith that was once delivered to the saints. This temple,
visible and invisible, is thus organized by its Divine founder throughout earth
and heavento be a whole of ceaselesscommunion with God; and as its
heavenly members never, never for one moment ceasein their blessedwork,
so by prayers, broken though they be and interrupted — by prayers and
intercessions,by thanksgiving and praise, private and public, mental and
vocal, the holy Church throughout the world doth acknowledgeHim who is
the common centre of light and love to all its members, whether on this side

the veil or beyond it. Into this temple also there sometimes intrudes that which
moves the angerof the Son of Man, for this spiritual societyhas its place
among men. It is in the world, although not of it, and it thus sometimes admits
within its courts that which cannotbear the glance ofthe All-Holy. And
especiallyis this apt to be the case whenthe Church of Christ has been for
many ages bound up with the life and history of a greatnation, and is, what
we call in modern language, established — that is to say, recognizedby the
State, and securedin its property and position by legalenactments. I am far
from denying that this state of things is or may be a very greatblessing, that it
secures to religion a prominence and a considerationamong the people at
large, which would else be wanting to it, that it visibly asserts before men the
true place of God as the ruler and guide of national destiny; but it is also
undeniable that such a state of things may bring with it dangerfrom which
less favoured churches escape. To be forewarned, let us trust, is to be
forearmed; but wheneverit happens to a great Church, or to its guiding
minds, to think more of the secularside of its position than they think of the
spiritual — more, it may be, of a seatin the Senate and of high socialrank
than of the work of God among the people; if, in order to save income and
position in times of realor supposedperil, there is any willingness to barter
awaythe safeguards ofthe faith, or to silence the pleadings of generosityand
justice in deference to some uninstructed clamour, then be sure that, unless
history is at fault as well as Scripture, we may listen for the footfalls of the Son
of Man on the outer threshold of the temple, and we shall not long listen in
vain. Churches are disestablishedand disendowedto the eye of sense, through
the actionof political parties; to the eye of faith by His interference who
ordereth all things both in heaven and in earth, and who rules at this moment
on the same principles as those which of old led Him to cleanse His Father's
temple in Jerusalem.
(Canon Liddon.)
God's house a house of prayer
Canon Liddon.
"My house shall be calledthe house of prayer." Here is a law for the furniture
and equipment; here is a definition of the objectand purpose of a material
Christian church. There are greatdifferences, no doubt, betweenthe Jewish
Temple and a building dedicatedto Christian worship; but over the portals of
eachthere might be tracedwith equal propriety the words, "My house shall
be called the house of prayer." No well-instructed, no really spiritual

Christian thinks of his parish church mainly or chiefly as a place for hearing
sermons. Sermons are of greatservice, especiallywhen people are making
their first acquaintance with practical Christianity, and they occupy so greata
place in the Acts of the Apostles, because theywere of necessitythe
instrument with which the first teachers ofChristianity made their way
among unconverted Jews and heathens. Nay, more, since amid the
importunities of this world of sense and time the soulof man is constantly
tending to close its eyes to the unseen, to the dangers which so on every side
besetit, to the pre-eminent claims of its Redeemerand its God, sermons which
repeatwith unwearying earnestnessthe same solemn certainties about God
and man, about the person, and work, and gifts of Christ, about life and
death, about the fleeting presentand the endless future, are a vital feature in
the activity of every Christian Church, a means of calling the unbelieving and
the carelessto the foot of the cross, a means of strengthening and edifying the
faithful. Still, if a comparisonis to be instituted betweenprayers and sermons,
there ought not to be a moment's doubt as to the decision;for it is not said,
"My house shall be calleda house of preaching," but "My house shall be
calledthe house of prayer." Surely it is a much more responsible act, and, let
me add, it is a much greaterprivilege, to speak to God, whether in prayer or
praise, than to listen to what a fellow-sinnercan tell you about Him; and when
a greatcongregationis really joining in worship, when there is a deep
spiritual, as it were an electric, current of sympathy traversing a vast
multitude of souls as they make one combined advance to the foot of the
eternal throne, then, if we could look at these things for a moment with angels'
eyes, we should see something infinitely greater, according to all the rules of a
true spiritual measurement, than the effectof the most eloquent and the most
persuasive of sermons. "My house shall be called the house of prayer" is a
maxim for all time, and if this be so, then all that meets the eye, all that falls
upon the earwithin the sacredwalls, should be in harmony with this high
intention, should be valued and used only with a view to promoting it.
Architecture, painting, mural decoration, and the like, are only in place when
they lift the soul upwards towards the invisible, when they conduct it swiftly
and surely to the gate of the world of spirits, and then themselves retire from
thought and from view. Music the most pathetic, the most suggestive,is only
welcome in the temples of Christ, when it gives wings to spiritualized thought
and feeling, when it promotes the ascentof the soul to God. If these beautiful
arts detain men on their ownaccount, to wonder at their own intrinsic
charms, down among the things of sense;if we are thinking more of music
than of Him whose glory it heralds, more of the beauty of form and colour
than of Him whose Temple it adorns, then be sure we are robbing God of His

glory, we are turning His Temple into a den of thieves. No error is without its
element of truth, and jealousyon this point was the strength of Puritanism,
which made it a powernotwithstanding its violence, notwithstanding its
falsehood. And as for purely secularconversations within these walls, how
unworthy are they in view of our Redeemer's words!Time was, under the
first two Stuarts, when the nave of the old St. Paul's was a rendezvous for
business, for pleasure, for public gossiping, so that Evelyn the diarist,
lamenting the deplorable state to which the greatchurch was reduced, says
that it was already named a den of thieves. Is it too much to saythat the
Redeemerwas not long in punishing the desecrationofHis Temple? First
there came the axes and hammers of the rebellion, and then there came the
swift tongues of fire in 1660, and the finest cathedral that England ever saw
went its way. Would that in better times we were less constantlyunmindful of
the truth that its successoris neither a museum of sculpture nor yet a concert-
room, and that He whose house it is will not be robbed of His rights with
permanent impunity.
(Canon Liddon.)
The regenerate soulis a house of prayer
Canon Liddon.
"My house shall be calledthe house of prayer." This is true of every
regenerate soul. When it is in a state of grace the soul of man is a temple of the
Divine presence. "Ifany man love Me, and will keepMy words, My Father
will love him, and we will come unto him and make our abode with him."
Christ's throne within the soulenlightens the understanding, and kindles the
affections, and braces the will, and while He thus from His presence-chamber
in this His spiritual palace, issues His orders hour by hour to its thinking and
acting powers, He receives in return the homage of faith and love, a sacrifice
which they delight to present to Him. So it is with God's true servants, but
alas!my brethren, if you and I compare notes, what shall we say? Even when
we desire to pray we find ourselves in the outer court of the soul surrounded
all at once with the tables of the money-changers, and with the seats ofthe
men who sellthe doves. Our business, with all its details, follows us in the
churches, follows us into our private chambers, follows us everywhere into the
presence ofour God. Our preparations for religious service, the accidents of
our service, occupythe attention which is due to the service itself. Sometimes,
alas!we do not even try to make the very first steps towards real prayer, and
steps which ordinary natural reverence wouldsuggest;we lounge, we look

about us, just as though nothing in the world were of less importance than to
address the Infinite and Eternal God. But sometimes, alas!we do close the
eyes, we do bend the knee, we try to put force upon the soul's powers and
faculties, and to lead them forth one by one, and then collectivelyto the
footstoolofthe King of kings; when, lo! they linger over this memory or that,
they are burdened with this or that load of care, utterly foreign to the work in
hand. They bend, it is true, in an awkwardsortof wayin the sacred presence
beneath, not their sense of its majesty, not their sense of the love and the
beauty of God, but the vastand incongruous weightof worldliness which
prevents their realizing it. And when a soul is thus at its best moments fatally
troubled and burdened about many things, God in His mercy bides His time;
He cleanses the courts of a Temple which He has predestined to be His for
ever, He cleansesit in His own time and way; He sends some sharp sorrow
which sweeps from the soul all thoughts save one, the nothingness, the vanity
of all that is here below; and so He forces that soul to turn by one mighty, all-
comprehending act to Himself, who alone cansatisfy it; or He lays a man
upon a bed of sickness, leaving the mind with all its powers intact, but
stripping from the body all the faculties of speechand motion, and then
through the long, weary hours the man is turned in upon himself; and if there
is any hope for him at all, if at that criticalmoment he is at all alive.to the
tender pleadings of the All-merciful, he will with his own hands cleanse the
temple; he sees the paltriness of the trifles that have kept him back from his
chiefest, from his only good;he expels first one and then another unworthy
intruder upon the sacredground. The scourge is sharp, the resistance it may
be persevering; the hours are long, and they are weary, but the work is done
at last.
(Canon Liddon.)
Irreverence rebuked
When Walter Hook (afterwards Dean of Chichester)was Vicar of Coventry,
he was once presiding at a vestry meeting which was so largely attended as to
necessitateanadjournment to the church. Severalpersons kepttheir hats on.
The vicar requestedthem to take them off, but they refused. "Very well,
gentlemen," He replied, "but remember that in this house the insult is not
done to me, but to your God." The hats were immediately taken off.
COMMENTARIES

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(7) They all murmured.—Better, were all murmuring. It is significant that the
murmur was not confined to a specialsectionofrigorous Pharisees, but came
from the whole crowd. The chief publican was clearly not popular, and
probably the priestly tone of the place (see Note on Luke 19:5) gave additional
strength to all caste feelings. We are carriedforward in this verse from the
promise to the performance. Our Lord was in the house when the murmurs
found expression.
With a man that is a sinner.—The term was obviously used from the popular
Pharisaic stand-point, as attaching necessarilyto the calling of Zacchæus. He
had placedHimself on a level with the heathen or the vilest Jew, and ought to
be treated accordingly.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
19:1-10 Those who sincerelydesire a sight of Christ, like Zaccheus, will break
through opposition, and take pains to see him. Christ invited himself to
Zaccheus'house. WhereverChrist comes he opens the heart, and inclines it to
receive him. He that has a mind to know Christ, shall be known of him. Those
whom Christ calls, must humble themselves, and come down. We may well
receive him joyfully, who brings all goodwith him. Zaccheus gave proofs
publicly that he was become a true convert. He does not look to be justified by
his works, as the Pharisee;but by his goodworks he will, through the grace of
God, show the sincerity of his faith and repentance. Zaccheus is declaredto be
a happy man, now he is turned from sin to God. Now that he is savedfrom his
sins, from the guilt of them, from the powerof them, all the benefits of
salvationare his. Christ is come to his house, and where Christ comes he
brings salvationwith him. He came into this lost world to seek andto save it.
His designwas to save, when there was no salvation in any other. He seeks
those that sought him not, and askednot for him.
Barnes'Notes on the Bible
Murmured - Found fault, complained.
To be a guest - To remain with, or to be entertainedby.
A man that is a sinner - All publicans they regarded as greatsinners, and the
"chief" of the publicans, therefore, they regardedas especiallywicked. It
would appear also from Zacchaeus'confessionthathis character"hadbeen"
that of an oppressive man. But the people seemedto forgetthat he might be a
penitent, and that the Messiahcame to save that which was lost.

Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBible Commentary
7. to be guest—orlodge:something more than "eating with" such (Lu 15:2).
a sinner—that was one but a minute ago, but now is not. This mighty change,
however, was all unknown to them. But they shall know it presently. "Sinner"
would refer both to his office, vile in the eyes of a Jew, and to his character,
which it is evident was not good.
Matthew Poole's Commentary
All here must not be takenfor every individual person, that is not to be
presumed either of all the inhabitants of Jericho, or, much less, of all that
were in Christ’s company: amongstothers Mary Magdalene was atthis time
in his company, who had no reasonto murmur at that. But of what sort of
people were these murmurers? The voice is the voice of Pharisees,who had
often quarrelled at Christ for this, and of their disciples;for there were
multitudes of the Jews thathad drunk in the superstitions of that faction, and
were more afraid of keeping company with sinners, than themselves being so;
of having fellowshipwith their excommunicates in their houses, than of
having fellowshipwith their, or greater, works ofdarkness. Our Saviour had
before answeredthis cavil, he will now come to show them they were mistaken
in the man; that he whom they counted a sinner, was a better man than
themselves generallywere.
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
And when they saw it,.... The Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Arabic versions read,
"when they all saw this"; that is, as the Persic version, rather paraphrasing
than translating, says, "the men and the multitude that were with him"; the
"pharisaical" sort, the priests and Levites, of which there were greatnumbers
in Jericho;See Gill on Luke 10:31.
They all murmured; as the Scribes and Pharisees did, at his eating with
publicans and sinners, Luke 15:2.
Saying, that he was gone to be guestwith a man that is a sinner; a notorious
one, an abandoned profligate creature;one of the worstof sinners, as being a
publican, and the chief of them; who had amassedvastriches to himself, by
extortion and oppression;and they thought it was not agreeable to the
characterof an holy man, and a venerable prophet, which Christ bore, to go
into such a man's house, eat at his table; and have familiar conversationwith
him; see Matthew 9:10.
Geneva Study Bible

{2} And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, That he was gone to be
guestwith a man that is a sinner.
(2) The world forsakesthe grace of God, and yet is unwilling that it should be
bestowedupon others.
EXEGETICAL(ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Expositor's Greek Testament
Luke 19:7. ἅπαντες: generalmuttered dissent(not even the Twelve excepted),
which Jesus anticipated and disregarded. Note His courage, andhow much
prejudice the uncommon in conduct has to reckonwith.—ἁμαρτωλῷ:no
reasonto think with some ancient and modern commentators that Zacchaeus
was a Gentile, a son of Abraham only in a spiritual sense. Theythought him
unfit to be Christ’s host because he was a “sinner” (Grotius). A sinner of
course because a publican, a greatsinner because a chief publican.
Cambridge Bible for Schools andColleges
7. they all murmured] Rather, they all beganto murmur aloud.
The all’ is very significant as shewing how deep-seatedwas the national
feeling which, because it was unworthy, our Lord at the very zenith of His
earthly popularity thus unflinchingly braved. Many of them may not have
heard His previous vindication of His object(Matthew 9:11-13).
to be guest]Literally, “to put up” as though at a guest-chamber(kataluma),
Luke 2:7; Mark 14:14.
Bengel's Gnomen
Luke 19:7. Πάντες διεγόγγυζον, they all beganmurmuring) rather from a
doubt [as to the propriety of His proceeding]as concerns the greaterportion
of them [i.e. as distinguished from “the Pharisees andthe Scribes”], than with
a feeling of indignation. [Comp. ch. Luke 15:2.—V. g.]—εἰσῆλθε, He went in)
and that, too, of His own accord, engaging Himself to be the guestof a
publican, a thing which on other occasions He was not wont to do. [This actis
going even yet further than the act of eating with sinners in the way which is
mentioned in ch. Luke 15:2; Luke 15:5; Luke 15:30.—V. g.]
Pulpit Commentary
Verse 7. - They all murmured. This very inclusive statement, "they all," shows
the generalintensely Jewishspirit of the age, narrow and sectarian. The

people could not imagine goodness, orearnestness, orgenerosityin one who
served the hateful Roman power. Probably in priestly Jericho this stern
exclusive spirit was especiallydominant.
Vincent's Word Studies
To be guest (καταλῦσαι)
More correctly, Rev., lodge. See on Luke 9:12.
A sinner
See on Luke 3:12.
PRECEPTAUSTIN RESOURCES
BRUCE HURT MD
Luke 19:7 When they saw it, they all beganto grumble, saying, "He has gone
to be the guestof a man who is a sinner."
When they saw it, they all began to grumble: Lu 5:30 Lk 7:34,39 Lk 15:2 Lk
18:9-14 Mt 9:11 Mt 21:28-31
Phillips Paraphrase - But the bystanders muttered their disapproval, saying,
"Now he has gone to staywith a real sinner."
When they saw it - Who is they? Pharisees? Crowd? Probablyboth because
the latter had alreadygrumbled at similar actions by Jesus (Lk 5:30-note, Lk
15:2-note). The Jews detestedZaccheus who had enriched himself at their
expense and thus they placedhim in the same despicable class as sinners (Mt
9:10,11, 11:19, Mk 2:15, 16, 17, Lk 7:34-note).
Spurgeon- “This professedlysuperior teacher, this purist, this teacherof the
highest morality, has gone to be guestwith this tax gatherer, — a man who is
a sort of outlaw, a disreputable personaltogether.” Ah! how does the legal
spirit, in self-righteous men, cry out againstthe sweetbenevolenceofour
blessedMaster, who comes into the world for this very purpose, — to be the
Guestof sinners, that he may be the Physicianof sinners! (See Luke 5:31-32-
note, cf Mt 9:12,13 Mk 2:17)
They all beganto grumble - Luke again uses the vivid imperfect tense which
depicts the crowd grumbling again and again producing a veritable chorus
("ALL beganto grumble") of grumbling voices. He was disliked by everyone!

One can just imagine the "buzz" in the crowd. Of course they were grumbling
because Jesuswas willing to associateHimself with an unclean sinner who was
especiallyabhorrent to the Jews!The judges with logs in their eyes by their
statementimplied that by going to Zaccheus'house Christ was give tacit
approval to Zaccheus'sin. They were blind to His mission (Lk 19:10), for the
Messiahwentnot to "commend" him in his sin, but to convert him from his
sin! Critical spirits and grumbling nay sayers sadly often attach bad motives
to the actions of zealous Spirit filled believers!Jesus of course was continually
filled with the Spirit and power(Acts 10:38) and we are calledto imitate His
example (1 Jn 2:6-note).
Beganto grumble (murmur)(1234)(diagogguzo from dia = intensifies meaning
of gogguzo = grumble, murmur) means they began to express their
dissatisfactionby murmur aloud or murmuring throughout (as in a crowd).
And they kept on murmuring, as a manifestation of their distaste for Jesus'
actions. Thayerobserves that the preposition "dia" means "through" which
suggeststhat the murmuring rippled through the whole crowd.
Grumble in Englishdictionaries - a loud low dull continuous noise, a
complaint uttered in a low and indistinct tone, to make a low, growling or
rumbling noise, like a hungry stomachor certain animals, to make
complaining remarks or noises under one's breath, to utter or emit low dull
rumbling sounds, to utter (complaints) in a nagging or discontentedway, to
complain about something in a bad-tempered way.
The only other NT use of diagogguzo is also by Luke
Now all the tax collectors and the sinners were coming near Him to listen to
Him. Both the Pharisees andthe scribes beganto grumble, saying, “This man
receives sinners and eats with them.” (Lu 15:1-2-note)
He has gone to be the guestof a man who is a sinner - "Being the guestof a
man who is a sinner was a common complaint about Jesus:Luke 5:31–32;
7:37–50;15:1–2." (NET Note)
Guest(2647)(kataluo fromkata = down + luo = to loose)means to loose or
unloose what was bound and is used (intransitively) by Luke here and in Lk
9:12 (and in the Sept = Ge 24:23, 25; 42:27;43:21) of lodging, because in such
a lodging the weary traveler would unyoke his beasts of burden and unloose
his pack. Many of the 16 NT uses carry the sense ofto destroyor demolish.
Obviously the former sense is meant in this passage.Imagine what it must
have been like for Zaccheus to have the Lord Jesus lodge in his house
overnight, which is something even Abraham did not experience with the holy
Visitor in Ge 18:16! It is interesting that Abraham also met the Lord (pre-

incarnate Lord - Christophany - see Angel of the Lord) under a tree much like
Zaccheus and also gladly receivedHim as his guest(Ge 18:1-3, 4-16).
Pritchard - If you have the NIV (Lk 19:7NIV), notice the quotation marks
around the word “sinner.” Thatmeans a big sinner, a gross sinner, a terrible
sinner, a person we would never associatewith.
MacDonaldcommenting on He has gone to be the guestof a man who is a
sinner quips that these grumblers "overlookedthe fact that, coming into a
world like ours, He was limited exclusivelyto such homes!" (Believer's Bible
Commentary)
Spurgeon- I wonder where he could have gone and not been guestwith a man
that was a sinner; but Zacchaeus was thoughtto be a sinner beyond ordinary
sinners. Our Lord still loves to be the guest of a man that is a sinner, he still
wants a place where he can stay. O man, thou who art a sinner, ask him home
with thee! O woman, thou who art in thy very trade a sinner, ask him home
with thee, and we will say again, not murmuringly, but joyfully, “He has gone
to be guestwith one who is a sinner.”
Sinner (268)(hamartolos fromhamartáno = deviate, miss the mark) is an
adjective that is often used as a noun (as in this verse and Ro 5:19 [note]) to
describe those who are continually erring from the way, constantly missing
God's mark, living in opposition to His goodand acceptable and perfectwill.
Thus a sinner is one who lives in oppositionto the divine will. In a more
selective use, in the view of the Pharisees a sinner was a Jew who is one not
careful in the observance of ceremonialduties (Mt 9:10ff, Lk 15:1ff, Mk 2.16).
Finally sinners were frequently placed in the same categoryas despisedtax-
collectors -Mt 9:10, 11, Mt 11:19, Mk 2:15, 16, Lk 5:30, Lk 7:34, Lk 15:1, Lk
18:13. Jesus'purpose for coming into the world was to save sinners (Mt 9:13
1Ti 1:15) as He says in Luke 19:10.
Life Application Study note - Judging from the crowd's reactionto him,
Zacchaeus must have been a very crookedtaxcollector. After he met Jesus,
however, he realized that his life needed straightening out. By giving to the
poor and making restitution-with generous interest-to those he had cheated,
Zacchaeus demonstratedinner change by outward action. Following Jesus in
your head or heart alone is not enough. You must show your faith by changed
behavior. Has your faith resulted in action? What changes do you need to
make? (Life Application Study Bible - Luke)

BARCLAY
THE GUEST OF THE MAN WHOM ALL MEN DESPISED (Luke 19:1-10)
19:1-10 Jesus enteredJericho and was passing through it. And--look you--
there was a man calledZacchaeus by name, and he was commissionerof
taxes, and he was rich. He was seeking to see who Jesus was, andhe could not
for the crowd, because he was short in height. So he ran on aheadand climbed
up into a sycamore tree, for he was to pass that way. When Jesus came to the
place he lookedup and said to him, "Zacchaeus!Hurry and come down! for
this very day I must stay at your house." So he hurried and came down, and
welcomedhim gladly; and when they saw it they all murmured, "He has gone
in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner." Zacchaeus stoodand said to the
Lord, "Look you--half of my goods, Lord, I hereby give to the poor. If I have
takenanything from any man by fraud I give it back to him four times over."
Jesus saidto him, "Todaysalvationhas come to this house, because he also is
a son of Abraham; for the Sonof Man came to seek and to save that which
was lost."
Jericho was a very wealthy and a very important town. It lay in the Jordan
valley and commanded both the approachto Jerusalemand the crossings of
the river which gave access to the lands east of the Jordan. It had a great palm
forestand world-famous balsam groves whichperfumed the air for miles
around. Its gardens of roses were knownfar and wide. Men calledit "The
City of Palms." Josephus calledit "a divine region," "the fattestin Palestine."
The Romans carried its dates and balsam to world-wide trade and fame.
All this combined to make Jericho one of the greatesttaxationcentres in
Palestine. We have alreadylookedat the taxes which the tax-collectors
collectedand the wealth they rapaciouslyacquired (Luke 5:27-32). Zacchaeus
was a man who had reachedthe top of his profession;and he was the most
hated man in the district. There are three stagesin his story.
(i) Zacchaeus was wealthybut he was not happy. Inevitably he was lonely, for
he had chosena way that made him an outcast. He had heard of this Jesus
who welcomedtax-collectorsand sinners, and he wondered if he would have
any word for him. Despisedand hated by men, Zacchaeus was reaching after
the love of God.
(ii) Zacchaeus determined to see Jesus, and would let nothing stop him. For
Zacchaeus to mingle with the crowd at all was a courageousthing to do, for
many a man would take the chance to get a nudge, or kick, or push at the little
tax-collector. It was an opportunity not to be missed. Zacchaeus wouldbe

black and blue with bruises that day. He could not see--the crowd took an ill
delight in making sure of that. So he ran on ahead and climbed a fig-mulberry
tree. A traveller describes the tree as being like "the English oak, and its
shade is most pleasing. It is consequentlya favourite wayside tree . . . It is very
easyto climb, with its short trunk and its wide lateral branches forking out in
all directions." Things were not easyfor Zacchaeus but the little man had the
courage ofdesperation.
(iii) Zacchaeus took steps to show all the community that he was a changed
man. When Jesus announcedthat he would stay that day at his house, and
when he discoveredthat he had found a new and wonderful friend,
immediately Zacchaeus took a decision. He decided to give half of his goods to
the poor; the other half he did not intend to keepto himself but to use to make
restitution for the frauds of which he had been self-confessedlyguilty.
In his restitution he went far beyond what was legally necessary. Only if
robbery was a deliberate and violent actof destruction was a fourfold
restitution necessary(Exodus 22:1). If it had been ordinary robbery and the
original goods were not restorable, double the value had to be repaid. (Exodus
22:4; Exodus 22:7). If voluntary confessionwas made and voluntary
restitution offered, the value of the original goods had to be paid, plus one-
fifth (Leviticus 6:5; Numbers 5:7). Zacchaeus was determinedto do far more
than the law demanded. He showedby his deeds that he was a changedman.
Dr. Borehamhas a terrible story. There was a meeting in progress atwhich
severalwomenwere giving their testimony. One woman kept grimly silent.
She was askedto testify but refused. She was askedwhy and she answered,
"Fourof these women who have just given their testimony owe me money,
and I and my family are half-starved because we cannotbuy food."
A testimony is utterly worthless unless it is backedby deeds which guarantee
its sincerity. It is not a mere change of words which Jesus Christ demands, but
a change of life.
(iv) The story ends with the greatwords, the Son of Man came to seek and to
save that which was lost. We must always be careful how we take the meaning
of this word lost. In the New Testamentit does not mean damned or doomed.
It simply means in the wrong place. A thing is lost when it has gotout of its
own place into the wrong place;and when we find such a thing, we return it to
the place it ought to occupy. A man is lost when he has wanderedaway from
God; and he is found when once againhe takes his rightful place as an
obedient child in the household and the family of his Father.

Luke 19:1-10 - Zacchaeus the Tax Collector
Jesus calls Zacchaeus
When Steven Spielberg filmed Schindler’s List, his penetrating film about the
Holocaust, he wantedus to feel the intensity as if we were living it. So he
refused to use anything other than natural angles. No shots from high above,
nothing to detach the viewer. He wanted them in the middle of the action –
just like Luke the Physician does in his Gospel. He puts us today under a
large tree on a dusty streetin Jericho to see a remarkable sight, an impossible
sight, that only the presence ofJesus could overcome – perhaps the hardest
and most hopeless ofall the forms of human sin: the love of money.
Key Truth: Luke wrote Luke 19:1-10 to teachbelievers that Jesus draws us to
His Presenceand His Purpose.
Key Application: Today I want to show you what God’s Word says about
Jesus’PresenceandPurpose.
Key Verse:Luke 19:10 (the keyverse of the entire Gospel)
Pray and Read: Luke 19:1-10
Contextual Notes:
Throughout his Gospel, Luke emphasizes the importance of walking in faith
and avoiding unbelief. He has made it clearthat every individual who meets
Jesus Christ must make a decisionabout Him. Christ must be receivedor
rejected. His claims must be believed or denied. When the Gospelshifts gears
at Luke 9:51, Luke urges us to prioritize faith over unbelief (Luke 9:57-11:36)
and warning us to trust the Lord rather than ourselves (Luke 11:37-12:59).
Christ then calls us to a Kingdom marked by grace (Luke 13:1-21),
repentance (Luke 13:22-35), provision (Luke 14), and redemption of the lost
(Luke 15). Luke warns us to prepare for His Return by responding to God’s
Word in repentance (Luke 16), guarding againstsin with obedience and
thankfulness (Luke 17:1-19), waiting with faithful service (Luke 17:20-37),

and persevering prayer (Luke 18:1-8). God always responds with mercy to a
humble and simple reliance on Him (Luke 18:9-17). True faith is
In chapter 18, Luke, who has been talking about the importance of walking in
faith and not in unbelief, shows us what true faith actually looks like. The
necessityofcomplete reliance on God is emphasized in Jesus’response to the
little children (Luke 18:15-17), the response ofthe rich young ruler to Jesus
(Luke 18:18-30), and most powerfully by Jesus Himself when He shares with
His disciples His coming death and resurrection(Luke 18:31-34). Thenin an
example of His free mercies, Jesus turns aside to free a beggarfrom blindness
(Luke 18:35-43).
The passagebefore us brings us to the end of Jesus’journey toward
Jerusalem.
Sermon Points:
1. Jesus draws us to His Presence(Luke 19:1-7)
2. Jesus draws us to His Purpose (Luke 19:8-10)
Exposition: Note well,
1. JESUS DRAWS US TO HIS PRESENCE (Luke 19:1-7)
a. The story of Zacchaeus togetherwith the Ten Minas bring Luke’s Journey
to Jerusalemto a close (Luke 9:51-19:44). Whata fitting conclusion to a
sectionthat has been called “The Gospelto the Outcast.” Zacchaeus, whose
name “Zakkai” means “the innocent one,” (Ezra 2:9; Neh 7:14) is the ultimate
in Israel’s outcasts, a chief tax collector, the worstof the worst. Jesus’
encounter with the rich ruler (Luke 18:18-30)had prompted the question,
“Who then, can be saved?” (Luke 18:26). If, as Christ had said, that it was
harder for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven than for a camelto
pass through the eye of a needle, Zacchaeus was the most impossible case.
b. In this story, told only by Luke, Jesus is now passing through Jericho, an
oasis for millennia in the desert, a stopping point on the way up to Jerusalem.
Mostpeople restedhere in this desertoasis with nice weatherall year before
starting the six-hour trip uphill trip from 600 feetbelow sea level to 3000 feet
above, through the dangerous, rocky, robber-haunted gorge leading up to
Jerusalem. There were two Jerichos, the old and the new cities, and it was a
town of two classesofpeople: priests and publicans, Pharisees andtax

collectors.This is the sixth mention of tax collectorsin Luke, all of them
favorable to Jesus (Luke 3:12; 5:27; 7:29; 15:1; 18:10).
c. Zacchaeus wantedto see this Jesus ofwhom he had heard so much (like
John 12:21), but he was so short that the crowdmade it impossible for him to
see anything. So, he climbed up in a tree along the route which Jesus’group
would take. Jesus transforms a tax collectorin Jericho and leads to Luke’s
clearstatement of the purpose of Christ’s missionto the planet. Zacchaeus is a
seeker(Luke 19:1-4), and soonJesus himself seekshim (Luke 19:5-7) to save
him (Luke 19:8-10). Jesus seeshim in the tree and calls him down, asking him
for hospitality.
d. Luke 19:2 – chief tax collector:Being a border city betweenPerea and
Judea with the Jordan as the border, Jericho had a customs station. Taxes
were assessedonthe large business traffic in balsam in the Jericho area and
on goods crossing the Jordan from the easternRomanprovince into Herod
Antipas’ Judea. Tax collectors were viewedas extortionists and Roman
collaborators andwere despised. Zacchaeus apparently held a relatively high
position in the Roman tax system (architelonis). Though this word has not
been found in Greek literature outside the Bible yet, it seems to be an official
title, perhaps we could say Commissionerof Taxes. These positions were
obtained by making high bids with the Roman government for the leasesto
collecttaxes who then hired employees to collectthe taxes. The costof the bid
was recoveredby charging ordinary people exorbitant rates. Zacchaeus’title
probably indicates that he was responsible for a broader region,
e. Luke 19:4 – sycamore-fig tree:For Zacchaeus to be short by ancient
Mediterraneanstandards means he was probably less than five feet tall.
BecauseofZacchaeus’lack ofheight, he ran ahead to a place where Jesus
would pass, and he climbed to one of the widespreadbranches of the
sycamore fig tree to geta glimpse of Jesus. This is not the Europeansycamore,
nor like our fig, but the ficus sycoorus, “fig-mulberry.” It was tall, similar to
an oak with a short trunk, pleasing shade, and wide branches, easyto
climb.[1] Without a doubt he was not welcome in this crowdof religious and
self-righteous from that city.
f. Luke 19:5 – “I must stay at your house”:Even in ancient times, people did
not normally invite themselves to someone else’s home. Pharisees, especially,
would not do this because they would not trust the food. Not its cleanliness,
but insteadone could not be sure if what one was given to eat had been tithed
on. Still, Jesus couldhave enjoyed accommodations atany home in Jericho,
but he chose to spend it with this despisedtax collector. Jesus’ability to call
the name of someone whom he had never met was consideredby the Jewish

people to be the sortof thing only a prophet could do (how Jesus knew
Nathanaelcf. John 1:47).
g. APPLICATION: How do we reachpeople? By spending significant time
with them in settings where they feel comfortable. Don’t be surprised when
people don’t acceptan invitation to come to church. If you want to reach
them, spend time where they do.
h. Luke 19:7 – The guestof a sinner: In a city of priests as Jericho was, it is
natural to expect that a great rabbi like Jesus would be receivedin the home
of some descendantof Aaron. But no, it was in the home of a hated tax
collectorwhere he found hospitality. Eating in a person’s home was a
significant actin biblical times, signifying fellowshipand acceptanceofthe
other by both guestand host. In the eyes of the crowd, Jesus had a lot to lose
and did lose a lot of respectwith them for going to Zacchaeus’home. For a
religious-minded Pharisee to eatwith a notorious sinner brought ceremonial
defilement and socialostracism. Jesus’motive was not consideredby the
crowds, but look at his love for the lost. It must move you and me. The mere
presence ofChrist in Zacchaeus’home brought conviction to the tax collector.
2. JESUS DRAWS US TO HIS PURPOSE (Luke 19:8-10)
a. Luke 19:8 – Four times: The OT Law demanded restitution in casesof
loss, but only by adding 20 percent to the value of the goods lost, certainly not
this much under ordinary circumstances (Lev5:16; 6:1-5; Num 5:5-7). A thief
who has been caughthad to pay the victim double (Exod. 22:4, 7). The penalty
for outright theft of something essentiallike a farm animal and showing no
pity, however, required restitution of four or five times the value (Exod. 22:1;
2 Sam 12:6). Zacchaeus apparentlyviewed his white collarcrime, his
heartlessness andcruelty just as serious as outright theft and offers the whole
four-fold restitution.
b. The text (statheis, pros ton kurion, idou) indicates that for Zacchaeus, this
was a formal act of renunciation. This is a declarationof the immediate result
of personalcontactwith the presence ofChrist. He is overwhelmedby Christ
coming to be with him, and his is eager to acknowledgeit well. He is not
answering his accusers.Instead, Luke is contrasting his conduct with theirs.
He addresses the Lord. By saying in presenttense, “I hereby right now restore
. . .”
c. Zacchaeus’restitution is in response to grace, not in order to receive grace.
One cannotearn salvation by doing. That would be a wage, notgrace.
Zacchaeus’salvationwas not basedon what he did, not on his works. Instead

what we see is the result of his faith. Because ofhis faith in Jesus, we see its
genuineness in what he did. Zakkaihad himself now become innocent.[2]
d. APPLICATION: The proof of salvationis not that we do what is required
to make things right, but that we gladly do more.
e. Luke 19:9 – A son of Abraham: MostJewishpeople believed that salvation
belong to all Israelites by virtue of being descendedfrom Abraham exceptfor
those, like Zacchaeus,who excluded themselves through heinous crimes. The
Jews were proud of their status as children of Abraham and treated this as
reasonenoughfor God’s blessing. Tax collectors, however, were viewedas
having forfeited their rights as Abraham’s children. Salvation, in Hebrew
(yeshu’ah), the feminine form of Jesus’name is important. There is wordplay
in “Salvation/Yeshua has literally come to this house.” Note the complete
difference betweenZacchaeus andthe Pharisee ofLuke 18 with his self-
congratulating prayer and the difference betweenthe rich young ruler who
found it impossible to give up his idol of possessions, “he became very
sorrowful, for he was a man of greatwealth,” and Zacchaeus, “Here and now
I give half of my possessions to the poor.”
f. Luke 19:10 – Though this story told only by Luke, is often viewed only as
a cute children’s story, it is in factone of the most important stories in the
whole Bible, since it reveals the heart of Jesus’missionand God’s purpose for
the world. Jesus came, above all, to seek and save what was lost.
g. Only on this occasiondid Jesus invite Himself as a guest, though He
sometimes acceptedinvitations. But the remarkable thing He does here is to
revealHimself as Messiahto this outcasttax collector. He only did that with
the womanat the well (John 4:26), a despisedSamaritan, and to the man born
blind, who had been castout of the synagogue (John9:37). This verse is
consideredthe key verse and a major theme of Luke’s Gospel, the best
summary of what Luke taught.
h. It reflects the image of a shepherd seeking his lostsheep, and image Luke
has alreadyused of Jesus eating with tax collectors (Luke 15:1-7), and further
points especiallyto the image in Ezekiel34:6, 11 of God as a shepherd to his
people Israel. The criterion of God’s dealings with men is not men’s merit but
his need.
APPLICATION:Those who love God will share his passionto bring his
wondrous salvationto a lost world. Christ came to seek andsave the lost. That
is the GreatCommission. That the order He gave us when He ascended. His
mission on this planet is that there be disciples from every tribe, language,

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