18:31-34
This event seems like a transition of sorts. Jesus has been heading to Jerusalem for some time. Back in 9:51, Luke wrote “When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.”
Now he is close to Jerusalem, just outside of Jericho. He is around 20 miles from Jerusalem. From here, events will move more quickly toward his death. So he warned the disciples again about his destiny. He said “See, we are going up to Jerusalem”. (31)
Jerusalem is where Jesus will be killed. He reminded them of that, telling them again that he will die. This time he gave very specific details. He said:
he would be delivered over to the Gentiles (the first time he said this);
he will be mocked, shamefully treated and spit upon;
he will be flogged;
he will be killed; and
on the third day he will rise.
Notice that Jesus said “everything that is written abut the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished”. (31) He meant that all of the events he detailed about his death were written about by the prophets and these events fulfilled those prophesies. We know that because he put the word “for” between “accomplished” and the list of events.
Thus we know that Jesus’ impending death was not unknown to God. Peter said that Jesus was delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God. (Acts 2:23) God knew it, planned it, and told the prophets about it.
There are many prophecies in the Old Testament about the Messiah, his suffering and sacrificial death. You could start with God’s curse of the the serpent (and by representation, Satan) in Genesis 3:15: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel”.
Psalm 22:16-18 says:
“For dogs encompass me;
a company of evildoers encircles me;
they have pierced my hands and feet -
I can count all my bones -
they stare and gloat over me;
they divide my garments among them,
and for my clothing they cast lots.”
This is a prophecy of the crucifixion.
Isaiah 53 also portrays a suffering servant who is wounded, crushed, flogged, slaughtered and buried.
Daniel 7:13 speaks of a son of man ascending to the throne of God and receiving glory and a kingdom.
All of these prophesies and more were fulfilled in Jerusalem in Jesus’ death, burial, resurrection and ascension. Jesus knew he was going to die. But he also knew he would be raised and ascend to the Father.
Despite their knowledge of the prophecies, the disciples did not understand. They understood his words, but not their ultimate meaning. They did not understand why the Messiah would be killed by Gentiles because they thought the Messiah would run the Gentiles out of Israel and restore the kingdom. They did not understand the resurrection.
Luke, in fact, wrote that the saying was hidden from them. He did not say why God did that. But we see that, they see Jesus after his resurrection. And we see that, after the Holy Spirit came upon them, they understood the prophecies and their fulfillment. Peter’s first sermon referred to Joel 2, Psalm 16 and Psalm 110:1.
The Beggar Who Believed
18:35-43
This story starts with the words “as he drew near to Jericho”. This tells us something about his route to Jerusalem. If he had walked straight from Galilee to Jerusalem, Jericho would have been out of the way some 18 miles to the west. But we know that some Samaritans refused to let Jesus enter their villages with his disciples. (9:51) That is when Peter wanted to call down fire on them.
It is possible that Jesus took the route that devout Jews often took to avoid Samaria. He would have gone over into the area of the Decapolis to the east, walked south through Perea, then crossed the Jordan into Jericho. From Jericho he would walk to Jerusalem, passing through Bethany.
On the way into Jericho, a blind man sat by the road begging. It was a good place to beg, for Jews traveling to Jerusalem and the temple would pass by and be inclined to give alms to him.
When the beggar discovered Jesus was passing by, he yelled out “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me”. Others told him to be quiet, but he yelled out even louder. Jesus had him brought to him and asked him what he wanted Jesus to do for him. He asked to recover his sight. Jesus said “recover your sight; your faith has made you well”. (42) And the man recovered his sight.
Let’s look at how this passage fits into the ones we recently studied. First, the man was persistent. Jesus told a story of a persistent widow to show that we should always pray and not give up. (18:1-8) This man did not give up.
We also studied a story about approaching Jesus humbly. One involved a tax collector. The tax collector said “be merciful to me”. (18:13) Because he sought mercy he was justified. The beggar likewise said “have mercy on me”. (39)
Jesus also demonstrated by receiving children, that we must receive him in child like faith to enter into his kingdom. (18:17) The beggar had faith. He called Jesus “son of David”. (18:38) He referred to the promise God made to David in 2 Samuel 7 that the Messiah would come from his lineage. In other words, the beggar believed Jesus was the promised Messiah.
Because of the beggar’s faith in him, Jesus made him well. (42) The beggar received his sight. He responded by following Jesus and glorifying God, as should anyone who has been saved. This caused others to glorify God as well.
Zacchaeus
19:1-10
This story occurs as Jesus entered Jericho on his way through to Jerusalem. The story involves another tax collector, this time a chief tax collector who was very rich. He was also short, so he climbed into a tree to see Jesus.
Jesus saw Zaccheus in the tree and told him to come down because Jesus must stay at his house that day. (5) Jesus had already been criticized for eating and drinking with tax collectors, so you can imagine how they would feel about him spending the night in a tax collector’s house. Luke says “they all grumbled” and they said “he has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner”. (7)
It is sad that the “righteous” people criticized Jesus for eating with sinners rather than pray and hope Jesus would make those sinners righteous.
Zacchaeus received Jesus joyfully. (6) He seems to have believed in Jesus. He bore the fruit of salvation and repentance, vowing to make restitution four fold to anyone he defrauded in his tax collection. Plus, he vowed to give half of his goods to the poor. (8)
Notice the comparison between Zaccheaus and the rich ruler. Jesus told the ruler to give up his possessions to the poor and he could have eternal life if he followed Jesus. He refused. But Zaccheaus, of his own volition, borne of his joy in meeting Jesus, gave up half of his possessions plus made restitution to others he had wronged. Zaccheaus proved the point Jesus made: “what is impossible with men impossible with God”. Indeed a rich man can be saved. (18:27)
To make sure everyone knew what had happened, Jesus declared “today salvation has come to this house”. (9) Yes, Jesus had gone to the house of a sinner. Then he brought salvation to Zaccheus and his family. And that was the mission of Jesus, to seek and to save the lost. (10)
It is still his mission today, and he carries it on through us.
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