This transcript was generated by whisper.ai.

This is day four together of our walk through the book of Luke, week four,
chapter 19 today, and we're on the way to Jerusalem. We've learned from Jesus
all the way along the way, and now He's getting very close. Jesus passes through
Jericho, that's the last big town before Jerusalem.

He heals Bartimaeus on the way into town. We saw that at the end of the last
chapter. And then He meets a man by the name of Zacchaeus in the middle of town.

Listen to what happened beginning in verse one. Jesus entered Jericho and was
passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus.

He was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was,
but being a short man, he could not because of the crowd. So he ran ahead and
climbed a sycamore fig tree to see Him, since Jesus was coming that way.

When Jesus reached the spot, He looked up and He said to him, "Zacchaeus, come
down immediately. I must stay at your house today. " So He came down at once and
He welcomed him gladly.

All the people saw this and began to mutter, "He's gone to be the guest of a
sinner. " But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord, here and
now, I give half of my possessions to the poor. If I've cheated anybody out of
anything, I will pay back four times the amount.

" Jesus said to him, "Today, salvation has come to this house because this man
too is the son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was
lost. " So Zacchaeus is saved.

It's an awesome story. This man who can't see Jesus, who has to climb a tree,
Jesus stopping, looking at Zacchaeus, that moment of connection, saying, "Come
down. I must go to your house.

" Zacchaeus does it. If you're anywhere in your journey of faith where you
haven't yet made a decision to step across the line and to fully trust Jesus
Christ with your life, Zacchaeus' story is your story. It's the story of a man
who decided to trust Him and saw everything change.

In this story though, there is more than just what is happening to Zacchaeus
going on here. In this occurrence, the battle lines are being drawn. Jesus calls
a tax collector a son of Abraham.

Tax collectors were the most hated group in all of Israel. Why? Because as we
talked about earlier in this book, they were the people of Israel being hired by
the Roman government to cheat their own people.

They were hated. And Jesus is saying, "This man too is now a son of Abraham. He
is turning the religious thinking entirely upside down and the religious
establishment is not going to be able to handle it.

" And now as we head toward Jerusalem, right before we get there, Jesus turns
our minds back to stewardship. The people everywhere, everyone was thinking that
Jesus was going to establish himself as a king immediately when he got to
Jerusalem. Let's get rid of this Roman government.

Let's get a Jewish king, a messiah, Jesus Christ. They were looking forward to
that day. Jesus draws people's attention to the real question of the kingdom.

The real question of the kingdom, Jesus says, is how are you managing what God
has given? What's your role in the kingdom of God right now? Is it to speculate
about the future?

What might it be like? Is it to criticize God's decisions? I don't like what it
is.

No, it's to manage what God has given. Listen to what Jesus taught about that
beginning in verse 11. Well, they were listening to this.

He went on to tell them a parable because he was near Jerusalem and the people
thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear at once. He said, "A man of
noble birth went to a distant country to have himself appointed king and then to
return. So he called ten of his servants and he gave them ten minas.

Put this money to work," he said, "until I come back. " And then skipping down
to what happened after he came back, the first one came and said, "Sir, your
mina has earned ten more. Well done, my good servant," the master replied,
"because you've been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten
cities.

" The second came and said, "Sir, your mina has earned five more. " His master
answered, "You, take charge of five cities. " And then another servant came and
said, "Sir, here is your mina.

I have kept it, laid away in a piece of cloth. I was afraid of you because you
are a hard man. You take out what you did not put in and reap what you did not
sow.

" His master replied, "I will judge you by your own word, you wicked servant.
You knew, did you not, that I'm a hard man, taking out what I did not put in,
reaping what I did not sow? Why then didn't you put my money on deposit so that
when I came back I would have collected it with interest?

" Then he said to those standing by, "Take his mina away from him and give it to
the one who has ten minas. " This is a parable about the kingdom, but it's a
parable about stewardship, our stewardship in the kingdom. God has given you
possessions, He has given you time, He has given you intelligence, He's given
you abilities, He's given you gifts, what are you going to do with them?

One who didn't do anything with what God had given, did you see why he didn't do
anything? Did you notice? He said, "I was afraid.

" Fear keeps us from being stewards. You don't have to be afraid of God. As we
said a couple of days ago, your relationship with Him is the relationship of a
son, of a daughter, and in that relationship you serve Him, and that frees you.

That frees you to serve, that frees you to invest, that frees you to give.
Because you're not afraid, you have a new freedom in your life. What is your
role in the kingdom right now?

Your role is to be a steward, a manager of what God has given, using it for His
glory, using it to look forward to eternity, investing it in what will last.
That's your role, that's my role in the kingdom right now. Many people, and
you'll meet these people all the time, you'll read them in books, many people
want to make their role being a commentator on the kingdom.

What's going to happen? How might it happen? I guess it's okay from time to time
to speculate on things as a matter of interest, but when that becomes the
driving force of your life, you've lost sight of your role in the kingdom.

You manage what God has given. Having taught this, Jesus is now going to arrive.
This journey toward Jerusalem, in verse 37, we're going to see that He arrives
at Jerusalem.

After preparing, having His disciples go and get a cult that He can write on,
here's what happens in verse 37. "When He came near the place where the road
goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to
praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen. 'Blessed is the
King who comes in the name of the Lord.

Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest, Hosanna. '" They sang these songs to
God in these verses. This triumphal entry, this moment where they thought He was
going to become their King, and Jesus knew that He was going to become their
Savior.

There was a lot of joy in the crowd, but it was misplaced, and because of that,
many of these same people in this same crowd are going to condemn Jesus to death
in just a few days. They're going to ask for Barabbas instead of Jesus. Why did
their hearts turn so quickly?

Because their hearts were focused on the political realities and not the
personal truth that Jesus had to bring. Jesus is walking into Jerusalem. He sees
the people saying, "Hosanna, what's in His heart at this moment?

Wouldn't you like to know? " The Bible tells us. Luke tells us what is in the
heart of Jesus at this moment as He walks into Jerusalem, knowing He's going to
die in just a few days, looking at this city where He's going to give His life.

What was the heart of Jesus? First, He wept over the city. That's how you see
the heart of Jesus.

And then He cleansed the temple. In those two actions, you see the heart of
Jesus. He wept over the city.

In verse 41 and 42, "As He approached Jerusalem and saw the city, He wept over
it, and He said, 'If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring
you peace, but now it is hidden from your eyes. '" Jesus' tears were for those
who did not understand, who could not see the salvation that He was bringing. He
still weeps over cities.

He still weeps over families. He still weeps over individuals. Because the
purpose of Jesus Christ is to bring salvation to all mankind.

And those who reject Jesus weeps over us. He weeps over you. He wept over the
city, and then He cleansed the temple.

Verse 45 and 46, "Then He entered the temple area, and He began driving out
those who were selling. 'It is written,' He said to them, 'My house will be a
house of prayer, but you made it into a den of robbers. '" He cleansed the
temple because the temple was to be a place of worship to God.

But they had made it into a place where they, in essence, sold a relationship
with God. When you came into the temple, you had to have a sacrifice. And that
sacrifice had to be pure.

If you didn't have a pure sacrifice, you could buy one. But what happened in the
temple is nobody's sacrifice was pure. You could bring the best of doves up to
be sacrificed.

"Oh, doesn't pass the test. Go buy one. " So everybody was having to buy, and
the temple coffers got more and more full.

It was all about money, and it wasn't about God. And Jesus, because He saw what
was happening, Jesus cleansed the temple, wept over the city, cleansed the
temple, and the heat on Jesus continues to turn up. The tension in these
moments, in this last week in Jerusalem, you can feel it.

Verses 47 and 48, "Every day He was teaching at the temple, but the chief
priests, the teachers of the law, and the leaders among the people were trying
to kill Him, yet they could not find a way to do it because all the people hung
on His words. " Next week, we're going to see Jesus giving His life for us.
Right now, we see this moment of preparation before it happens, and we feel the
tension of it.

Those who are rejecting Him, those who are accepting Him, those who do not
understand, some of you are in that place of tension right now. You're not sure
about your relationship with Christ. You can be sure right now.

Jesus weeps over you until you begin a relationship with Him. What does that
mean? How do you begin a relationship with Him?

You begin it simply by trusting Him, trusting Him for forgiveness and trusting
Him for life. Jesus, forgive me for the wrong things I've done. Jesus, give me
the life that only You can give, Your resurrection life.

I want to follow You. I want to put down my selfishness, and I want to take up
Your way of life. You pray a prayer like that, and as you pray that prayer,
Jesus hears you.

He heard you just now, and He opens the door of heaven to you. Why? Because
you've trusted Him.

Now tomorrow, as we end this week, we're going to see Jesus facing His enemies.