INCARNATIONS PURPOSE (2): JESUS IS EVERYTHING

(Luke 19:5-7)
November 13, 2016
Read Lu 19:1-6 John Bacon was an 18th century English sculptor of some of
the most famous works in British history. But he had this inscribed on his
tomb in Westminster Abbey: What I was as an artist seemed of some
importance to me while I lived; but what I was as a believer in Jesus Christ
is the only thing of importance to me now. Hes right, Beloved. When it
comes to eternity, Jesus is everything. Bc He can do the impossible save us.
This little story of how the hated and lost tax collector Zacchaeus became
found is one of the most beautiful in the Bible. According to v. 9 the
impossible happened. Salvation came to his house. It can come to ours too.
The purpose of the whole incarnation was to save Zacchaeus, to save John
Bacon, to save me, to save you and to save anyone who is willing to be found.
The story divides into 3 parts -- The Sinner, The Savior, The Salvation.
Today, we look at the Savior and the part He plays in bringing salvation.
I.

He Is the Initiator

V. 1: He entered Jericho and was passing through. Throwaway verse? No. It

shows the personal nature of Jesus seeking and saving ministry. It shows
salvation BEGINS with God! Look at v. 3: And he was seeking to see who
Jesus was. Zach thought he was seeking Jesus. Instead, it was Jesus seeking
Zach. Thats why He came to seek and to save the lost. And Hes come to
Jericho to find a single man. Zach is the lost. Jesus came to seek and save him.
Notice He entered Jericho and was passing through. Why passing thru?
Because He was focused like a lazer on Zach, and He knew Zach had run on
to beat the crowd. You say, Arent you reading a lot into those words? I
dont think so. Skip to v. 5. Jesus says, Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for
I must stay at your house today. Must, , it is necessary. Physical
necessity? Nope. He could have gone a hundred places other than Zachs. So
why must? Because He is seeking him individually! Hes come to Jericho for
Zach. Isnt that beautiful? Its a personal divine appointment. MUST!
We see the same language in John 4:3-4, He [Jesus] left Judea and departed
again for Galilee. 4 And he had to pass through Samaria. Had to = . It
was necessary to go through Samaria. Really? Didnt Jews going from Judea
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to Galilee normally avoided Samaria, taking the longer route east of the
Jordan? Yes. It wasnt physically necessary at all. So what? It was a divine
necessity. So He can meet the woman at the well. So He can seek and save
her. He must go thru Samaria, not bc there were no other roads, but so He can
find one outcast woman. Just like He must go thru Jericho to find Zach. He
came to seek and save because the truth is wed never seek Him on our own.
This passage shows us that long before Zacchaeus determined to find out more
about Jesus, Jesus had already planned to come this way. The Bible is very
clear on this. If our salvation depended on us taking the initiative to find
God, it would never happen. Isa 53:6 makes clear, All we like sheep have
gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way. His own way.
Even what we call seeking God is really just a selfish attempt to define a God
of our own liking who will fit in with our agenda. None of us deliberately
set out to find a God to whom we must be accountable. That God is not lost.
That God has revealed Himself powerfully in His creation, in His Word, in
His Law written in our hearts and in His own Son. That God is right in front
of us, but we dont want that God. Thats why Paul rightly says, No one
seeks for God (Rom 3:11). If He didnt seek us, no one would ever be saved.
Stan Telchin, a successful Jewish businessman, felt betrayed when his
daughter, Judy (21), called from college to say, I believe Jesus is the
Messiah. Ive given my life to Him. Stan seethed! He began an energetic
quest to prove her wrong. He wasnt seeking the true God. He was seeking to
destroy the true God. But God was seeking him. So the evidence kept
pointing toward Him, not away from Him. Months later Stan went to a
National Convocation of Messianic (believing) Jews to work the crowd for
business contacts. But by day 3 he was at a crisis point. He couldnt sleep.
Next morning someone asked him to pray over breakfast. Startled, he
complied: Praised be Thou, Lord God of the universe. Thank you for what
we have learned at this meeting. Bless this food, in the name of Jesus, the
Messiah. It was out before he knew it. One man said, Stan, you are a
believer! And so he was and so, it turned out, were his wife and other
daughter. He thought he was seeking Jesus, but it was quite the other way. It
was Jesus who found Him. I hope youve allowed Him to find you.
II.

He Is the Implementer

And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him,
Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.
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Here is a loaded verse. Where does salvation originate? Paul

knew. Eph 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly
places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that
we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for
adoption as sons through Jesus Christ. We not saved because we were smart
enough to accept Christ. We are saved because he chose us in him before the
foundation of the world. Thats Lukes precise point. Look: When Jesus
came to the place. What place? A sycamore tree! So whats so special about
that tree that it is specifically the place where Jesus came? Thats where
Zach was, thats what! And when Jesus gets there, He stops. Then He looks
up. Hes passed a thousand trees and never looked up, but now He looks up.
And He says, Zacchaeus. Hes never met him, never texted or emailed him.
Yet -- He knows him by name; and He knows exactly where he to find him.
Why?
Ill tell you why. Its because this very event didnt start that morning when
Jesus headed thru Jericho after breakfast. Oh, no! This event was determined
by God long before time began. And now, after all these millennia of time, the
moment has come. Zach thinks hes seeking Jesus, but its Jesus come all the
way from eternity past, -- all the way from heaven to earth so that on this
day, at this place, He can stop, look up into the face of Zach and call him to
repentance. The time has come for Zach to be found. Gives you goose bumps.
You thought you came to X? Got new for you. He found you.
Jesus goes on: Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your
house today. I must stay at your house. Why must? Because youve been
chosen. And nows the time! This is your divine appointment. SO have you
had your divine appointment? You say, What if Im not chosen. How do I
know Im chosen? Well, if youre asking that question, you probably are
chosen. But the only way to know for sure is by saying Yes to Jesus. Those
who are chosen repent their sin and open their life to Jesus. Those who have
not harden their hearts just like Pharaoh did. Gods choosing is always placed
side by side with our choice. You cant change Gods choosing, but you can
and must make your choice. Youll never be able to say, Its your fault.
Spurgeon: "I believe in the doctrine of election because I am quite certain
that if God had not chosen me, I should never have chosen Him. And I am
quite sure that He chose me before I was born, or else He never would've
chosen me afterwards." Brilliant more importantly biblical. "And he
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must've elected me for reasons unknown to me, for I never could find any
reason in myself why he should have looked upon me with special love."
That is the biblical explanation for each and every believer. He chose us.
III.

He Is the Invader

Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today. Jesus
next step in bringing salvation? Full-scale invasion. He didnt just say, Come
on down for tea, Zach. He said, Im coming home with you. All-out
assault. Full-scale invasion. Nothing hidden. No secrets. Jesus is moving in
lock, stock and barrel. That illustrates another aspect of salvation one Jesus
described in Lu 9:23: If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself
and take up his cross daily and follow me. This isnt just a brief visit then
back to normal. Its not just a trip down the aisle, a brief prayer, and then
business as usual. Salvation means a new king on the throne new priorities.
Billy Graham says, When Jesus said, If you are going to follow me, you
have to take up a cross, it was the same as saying, Come and bring your
electric chair with you. Take up the gas chamber and follow me. He did not
have a beautiful gold cross in mind - the cross on a church steeple or on the
front of your Bible. Jesus had in mind a place of execution. Execution of
self painful, yes, but also the entry point to a whole new life. We die to self
only to come alive in Christ! Thats the best exchange youll ever make.
Weve misled many on this. Weve told them just believe and live as you like.
But that is nowhere found in the Bible. Weve told them you can accept Jesus
as Savior now and as Lord later, when you feel like it. Or if you never do,
thats okay too. But thats not what the Bible says. The Bible says, Because,
if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord [boss, master, sovereign]
and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be
saved. The belief that the Bible speaks of is one of total commitment and
surrender. He either invades all or He doesnt come in at all. Rev 3:20,
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens
the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. To eat with
someone in that culture was an act of intimate act of fellowship and
commitment. You can choose not to let Him in. But if you let Him in, its for
good. Youve given Him all the keys or you havent let Him in at all.
Tim Keller tells of a woman who came to his church having been taught that
God accepts us if we are good and ethical. When he explained the gospel, that
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Christ has done it all, she said, That is a scary idea good scary, but still
scary! He asked her, Whats so scary about unmerited free grace? She
replied, If I was saved by my good works there would be a limit to what
God could ask of me. Id be a taxpayer with rights. But if Im a sinner saved
by sheer grace at Gods infinite cost then there is nothing He cant ask
of me. Shes right. Grace is scary. It means new management for your whole
life! But believe me, its a glorious invasion! One you will never regret.
IV.

He Is the Indemnifier

What is an indemnifier? Someone who pays damages. Thats Jesus. That is

the price of seeking and saving the lost He must pay the price for their sin.
Jesus says in Mark 10:45, For even the Son of Man came not to be served
but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. He indemnifies us
with His life! Jesus could only save Zach because of what He was about to do
in Jerusalem. In Jerusalem, He intentionally and purposefully climbed up
the tree so that He could invite Zach down. Isa 53: 5) But he was pierced for
our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the
chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. Jesus
is the indemnifier; paying the price we could not pay so we could have the life
we could not earn.
On Nov 26, 2008 Islamic terrorists stormed the historical Taj Mahal Palace
Hotel in India, killing 200 innocent people. An Indian-born English actor
survived. He said hed been eating with friends when the shots began.
Someone grabbed him and pulled him under the table. The assassins came
striding thru the restaurant, shooting at will, until they thought everyone dead.
When asked why he was still alive his answer was sobering: I suppose its
because I was covered in someone elses blood and they took me for dead.
Thats a perfect illustration of Gods gift thru Jesus to everyone who will
believe. We can be saved only if covered by His blood.
Salvation was costly to God. Trevin Wax comments. Because Jesus said, I
thirst, we can drink from the fountain of living water and never thirst
again. Because Jesus said, Woman, behold your son, and felt the pain of
separation from His earthly family, we can experience the blessing of being
united with a heavenly family. Because Jesus cried, It is finished! our new
life can begin. Because Jesus committed his spirit into the Father's hands,
God commits His Spirit into our hearts. Because Jesus said, My God, my
God, why have you forsaken me, we can say, My God, My God, why have
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you accepted me? Because Jesus hung on that tree, Zacchaeus could
come down, and so can we. Hes indemnified us (paid our damages) if we will
but accept it. Because the sinless Savior died, / My sinful soul is counted
free; / For God, the Just, is satisfied / To look on Him and pardon me.
Cant you see why its a disaster to refuse such love?
Conc So what is Jesus part in salvation. Everything. Everything. He is the
initiator, the implementer, the invader and most importantly, the indemnifier.
Hes everything. Which is exactly why He said in Jn 17:3, And this is eternal
life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have
sent. When it comes to salvation, He is everything.
D. L. Moody used to tell of a CW vet who was engaged when the war broke
out. He and his fianc wrote constantly. But after the Battle of the Wilderness
the letters stopped coming from him until one arrived in strange writing. It
said, We have fought a terrible battle and I have lost both arms. A friend is
writing this for me. I love you more tenderly than ever, but I can never
support you and release you from your promise. I can not ask you to join
your life with this maimed life of mine. He got no return letter. Instead, that
young woman was on the next train, seeking his hospital and his row and his
cot. She threw her arms around his neck and said, I love you, not your arms.
Ill never desert you. I will take care of you if you will have me. It didnt
take him long to choose her all over again.
Beloved, I urge you, dont resist the love of the only Savior you will ever
have. When He stops at your place and calls you name, let Him save you. Jn
10:3, The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and
leads them out. Zach responded in faith when he heard his name. And Jesus
said, Today salvation has come to this house. Why? Because Jesus came to
that house! And if you hear Him calling your name, today could be your day.
When it comes to eternity, Jesus is everything! Lets pray.