Luke 19 is full of amazing events in the Life of Jesus. In my studies of this passage, I found that this chapter can be broken into roughly four sections. Those would be:
- Personal Faith – Luke 19:1-10
- A Postponed Kingdom – Luke 19:11-20
- Th Triumphal Entry – Luke 19:29-44
- The Cleansing of the Temple – Luke 19:45-48
So, let’s dig into it.
Personal Faith – Lk 19:1-10
The story of Zacchaeus is one that we, as believers in Jesus Christ, can relate to. It is the story of a sinner coming to faith. Zacchaeus was a tax collector, and in Jewish society, he would have been ostracized. Although a wealthy man, he could only associate with other tax collectors and “sinners” (a euphuism for prostitutes). Zacchaeus knew his status before God, and he knew that getting to Jesus was the best way to start his journey to redemption.
Of course, Jesus deciding to be his guest displeases the Pharisees, because they would typically rejoice over the death of a man such as this. But Zacchaeus joyfully comes to salvation. Such an amazing picture, and reminds me of my journey to redemption, when i joyfully came to Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of my sins.
Zacchaeus then proves his salvation by letting go of his wealth. He declares in Luke 19:8 that he will restore anyone he wronged fourfold. That is to say 400%! Under the Mosaic Law, Zacchaeus would have only needed to repay 120% of those he wronged.
It is interesting to see the contrast between the rich young ruler and Zacchaeus.
The rich young ruler was righteous in the Law. He kept it, he wasn’t lost, but he couldn’t let go of his wealth. Zacchaeus was a lost, unrighteous publican. And when he comes to faith, he joyfully relinquishes it. This just goes to so that Jesus came to seek and save that which was lost.
The Delayed Kingdom – Lk. 19:11-28
The parable of the ten minas is a parable about the delay of the Messianic Kingdom. Jesus is using this parable to correct the misconception that He is about to set up this kingdom, which is seen in Luke 19:11. Jesus is telling His discipes:
- The king must leave (Lk. 19:13)
- That the kingdom has been rejected (Lk. 19:14)
- The disciples must carry on the work (Lk. 19:13)
- The king will return (Lk. 19:15)
- There will be a judgement of the servants (Lk. 19:16-26)
- There will be a judgment of the citizens (Lk. 19:27)
The principal of this parable is that those who are faithful to the king will be rewarded and given authority in his kingdom. Those who do nothing are not. For us, we need to examine our lives and what we are doing for the kingdom, while the king is away. The unfaithful servant is the one who doesn’t know his king very well, which is why he is making excuses for not doing the work. We need to be students of the Word of God and show our faithfulness by doing what is instructed in this book. So that on the day of His return, we can be like the faithful servant and receive the rewards of the kingdom.
The Triumphal Entry – Lk. 19:29-44
This passage marks the beginning of Jesus final journey into Jerusalem. The key to this is the date, the 10th of Nisan. On this date, the Passover lamp is to be set aside. Take a moment to read Exodus 12:1-6, which explains the instructions given to Israel to set aside the Passover lamb on this date.
The Triumphal Entry is NOT a re-offer of the Messianic Kingdom, it is the Messiah setting Himself aside as the Passover Lamb who takes away the sins of the world.
This picture is so sad, but so beautiful at the same time. Just as the lamb was set aside for the Passover, so Jesus will go through the same process. This event marks the beginning of the testing of the lamb. You see, when a lamb is set aside for the Passover it goes through four days of testing to determine if it fits the bill for sacrifice. So to, Jesus will go through four days of testing. He will be tested by the Pharisees, Sadducees, scribes, and Herodians.
In verses 39-44, Jesus pronounces a judgment on the city of Jerusalem. Here he is prophesying the events that will occur in 70 A.D. When the city and temple would be utterly destroyed by the Romans.
The Cleansing of the Temple – Lk. 19:45-48
This chapter ends with Jesus taking possession of the temple and cleansing it The sons of Annas had turned the temple into a place of business, exploiting those who would come to worship the Lord. Jesus overthrows those who sold, scourging them that are partaking in things not sanctioned by God (Isaiah 66:3-6). He begins to teach in the Temple daily.
All of these actions cause the pharisees and scribes to start to seek an opportunity to take hold of Jesus and destroy them. They are looking for an opportunity that is outside the view of the multitude, because they feared the repercussions of arresting Jesus. However, Jesus will provide that opportunity to them soon, but not until the right time. That is, after He has been tested, as the Passover lamb would be.
