Friday, March 27, 2020

Friday - Luke 19 - Wanting to Hear Jesus


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UKE 19 begins and ends with Jesus being desired. It starts with Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus was a wee little man who climbed up in a tree in order to see the Lord. Zacchaeus wanted to see Christ. He sought after Him. There were others who stood between him and the Lord, but He pursued Him anyway. So, when Christ invited Himself over to Zacchaeus' house, Zacchaeus was thrilled. And, the influence of Christ was immediate. Zacchaeus (who had been quite a crook), determined to restore the things that he had taken unjustly.  Not only did his heart incline in that direction, but publicly he made his intentions known. This would have done a couple of things. It made Him accountable, but beyond that it spoke of the change that had occurred in Zacchaeus' heart. Jesus said that salvation had come to Zacchaeus' house (Luke 19:9). Zacchaeus sought for Christ, and Christ found Him (Luke 19:10).

This chapter concludes with an account of Jesus' triumphal entry and His cleansing of the temple (Luke 19:28-48). Both events were enough to infuriate His enemies, and to instigate a violent resistance against Him. In fact, these events did lead into Christ's Passion and death. One reason why there wasn't an immediate execution of Christ is because there were a significant number of people who were still seeking to hear Him (Luke 19:48. They wanted to listen to His words. They were seeking after Him. They were interested in His doctrine. Like Zacchaeus, they desired the Lord (Haggai 2:7).

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