Luke 19

Luke 19 (NKJV)

Jesus Comes to Zacchaeus’ House

1Then Jesus entered and passed through Jericho.

2Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich.

3And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature.

4So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was going to pass that way.

5And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to him, “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.”

6So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully.

7But when they saw it, they all complained, saying, “He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner.”

8Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.”

9And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham;

10for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

The Parable of the Minas

11Now as they heard these things, He spoke another parable, because He was near Jerusalem and because they thought the kingdom of God would appear immediately.

12Therefore He said: “A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return.

13So he called ten of his servants, delivered to them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Do business till I come.’

14But his citizens hated him, and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We will not have this man to reign over us.’

15“And so it was that when he returned, having received the kingdom, he then commanded these servants, to whom he had given the money, to be called to him, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading.

16Then came the first, saying, ‘Master, your mina has earned ten minas.’

17And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant; because you were faithful in a very little, have authority over ten cities.’

18And the second came, saying, ‘Master, your mina has earned five minas.’

19Likewise he said to him, ‘You also be over five cities.’

20“Then another came, saying, ‘Master, here is your mina, which I have kept put away in a handkerchief.

21For I feared you, because you are an austere man. You collect what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow.’

22And he said to him, ‘Out of your own mouth I will judge you, you wicked servant. You knew that I was an austere man, collecting what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow.

23Why then did you not put my money in the bank, that at my coming I might have collected it with interest?’

24“And he said to those who stood by, ‘Take the mina from him, and give it to him who has ten minas.’

25(But they said to him, ‘Master, he has ten minas.’)

26‘For I say to you, that to everyone who has will be given; and from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.

27But bring here those enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, and slay them before me.’ ”

The Triumphal Entry

28When He had said this, He went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.

29And it came to pass, when He drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mountain called Olivet, that He sent two of His disciples,

30saying, “Go into the village opposite you, where as you enter you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Loose it and bring it here.

31And if anyone asks you, ‘Why are you loosing it?’ thus you shall say to him, ‘Because the Lord has need of it.’ ”

32So those who were sent went their way and found it just as He had said to them.

33But as they were loosing the colt, the owners of it said to them, “Why are you loosing the colt?”

34And they said, “The Lord has need of him.”

35Then they brought him to Jesus. And they threw their own clothes on the colt, and they set Jesus on him.

36And as He went, many spread their clothes on the road.

37Then, as He was now drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen,

38saying: “‘Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!’ Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

39And some of the Pharisees called to Him from the crowd, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.”

40But He answered and said to them, “I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.”

Jesus Weeps over Jerusalem

41Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it,

42saying, “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.

43For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side,

44and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”

Jesus Cleanses the Temple

45Then He went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in it,

46saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house is a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’ ”

47And He was teaching daily in the temple. But the chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people sought to destroy Him,

48and were unable to do anything; for all the people were very attentive to hear Him.

John 1:1–14

The Eternal Word

1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

2He was in the beginning with God.

3All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.

4In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.

5And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

John’s Witness: The True Light

6There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.

7This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe.

8He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.

9That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.

10He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.

11He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.

12But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:

13who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

The Word Becomes Flesh

14And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

Scripture readings

Devotional 📖

Jesus changed the script on what it means to be a righteous man.

While all the other Rabbis and Pharisees actively avoided sinners, the Lord Jesus actively sought out those who were lost.

Now there are two main arguments we normally hear when it comes to reaching the lost:

Darkness doesn’t mix with light. This argument says that we shouldn’t be friends with sinners because darkness doesn’t mix with light
We are called to righteously judge the world. This argument says that we are here to influence and convert the world of sinners, not be friends with them.

Some of you may be reading this and be thinking…”well those are some good arguments, right?”

The important thing here is the heart behind what we’re saying.

Darkness does not mix with light, absolutely you are right. Darkness is not supposed to mix with light, darkness is supposed to flee from light. When we speak about engaging with unbelievers, oftentimes many of us avoid those who need God the most out of fear, not a desire for purity.

We only fear darkness to the degree of our conviction about light. Jesus went into the darkest places as light because He knew there was no chance that darkness could stand where He went. Rather than focusing on potentially being ‘influenced’ by darkness, He had such a strong conviction about light that He was focused on bringing people out of darkness and making sure they stay in the light.

1 John 3:8 - 'He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. '

As the light of this earth, the Church is called to go into darkness. Light only shines when it’s in darkness. How else will people know Jesus if you are not the one to reveal Him to them? We mustn’t isolate ourselves from the ones that need Him most, no matter how dark their story is.

Now, it’s important we understand what we mean by “friend”. In the Bible, it’s clear that Jesus had different levels of friendship. Apostle John was His closest friend, then Peter and James, then the other 12. Reaching the lost is not letting anyone in your life. Remain discerning of those who have closest access to you, no matter how much you love them.

Proverbs 4:23 - 'Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life.'

Now let’s tackle the second argument.

We are called to righteously judge. Absolutely, the Bible says we are called to righteously judge….the Church, not the world.

I Corinthians 5:12-13 - 'For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? But those who are outside God judges. Therefore “put away from yourselves the evil person [those who are unrepentant of their sin within the church].”'

Jesus is the judge of the world of unbelievers, we are called to hold our brothers and sisters in Christ to a Biblical standard and uplift them when they fall.

Just by living our lives in obedience to the word, we condemn the world of unbelievers. We don’t have to go out of our way to point out the sins of the world. Why? Because we are testimony that Christ truly did come, is Lord and is coming back soon.

You can’t blame a fish for being a fish. How can we judge people by a standard they don’t know? We have to remind ourselves that our desire to see justice and judgement cannot override God’s heart for mercy.

2 Peter 3:9 - 'The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.'

The truth of Jesus is that even in His perfection, He chose to be the friend of sinners.

Jesus sought friendship with man, not with their sin. He never condoned sin but understood His mission was to “seek and save the lost”. He had true compassion on their souls by telling them to repent.

Our presence in the lives of unbelievers should not be a justification for their sin, but our unashamed living for Jesus should convict them and encourage them to turn to Him with all their heart. Righteous love does not rejoice in evil, but rejoices in the truth. He taught us to love people and hate sin. This is righteousness redefined.

Prayer 🙏

Say a prayer for the people in your life that don’t know Jesus yet! Ask the Lord to show you how you can reveal His love and light to them.

Jesus, friend of sinners

Devotional 📖

Prayer 🙏