Chronological Gospels: Luke 18:15-19:48
In this week’s reading, we visit Luke’s account of Jesus riding into Jerusalem. In this account, a few new things stood out to me. One of the blessings of reading through the gospels in chronological order, side-by-side, is that we get to see things from each perspective consecutively and draw out different details than we would by reading them separately.
One thing that really hit me today was how the disciples rebuked the people for bringing children to Jesus before they had even checked with Jesus. They came to their own decision that these children were not worth bringing to the Lord, maybe that they were a waste of time to someone as important as Jesus. They judged for themselves who should be allowed to come to Jesus. Jesus then used those His disciples had turned away as an example of faithfulness.
Those who do not have faith like a child will never inherit the Kingdom of God. Children are fully dependent on their parents. They trust quickly until they have been taught not to. I think about my kiddo and how when she was little, she was wildly trusting. She would jump on the couch, landing on me knowing I wouldn’t let her fall. Even last night she called me to tell me she got hurt and ask what to do. She knew I would answer and provide the help I could. How little children trust and rely on their parents is how Jesus wants us to trust and rely on Him.
What does it teach you about God that He wants you to have faith like a child to inherit His Kingdom?
After this declaration, we get to see several examples of people’s response to Jesus and Him calling them to Himself. What struck me today is that not only did Jesus come to save, but He came to seek. We read in John 6:44 that no one can come to Jesus unless God calls them to Himself, and here Jesus says He came to SEEK and save the lost. He leaves the 99 to find the one lost sheep. Jesus wants all sinners, which is every person to ever exist, to be found by Him, called to Him, and saved by Him. He died to save every person, and He seeks all of us to come and follow Him.
What does knowing Jesus came to seek and save you teach you about your relationship with Him?
I love the part about Zacchaeus climbing up the tree to see Jesus. This is a man the people later call out as a sinner and complain about. He is someone who extorted money, cheated people, and made his wealth by greed and deception. Even today our world likes to call out the Zacchaeus’s. He was content to watch Jesus pass by from a distance, but Jesus sought Him out. I love seeing the evidence of God planting in Zacchaeus’s heart the desire to see Jesus, and Jesus seeking him out. This sinful man was who Jesus then chose to stay with that night, to the judgment and displeasure of the crowd. They complained that Jesus would stay with a sinful man.
While the crowd complained about Jesus declaring salvation over this sinful man who had wronged them, Zacchaeus responded to the Lord by repenting, committing to making right the wrongs he could, and serving the Lord and the poor. Jesus saw Zacchaeus and Zacchaeus responded by letting Jesus change his sinful heart.
How does Zacchaeus’s story change how you see yourself or others?
What stood out in particular in this account that you had not seen as clearly in the other gospel accounts?
