Jason Robinson - Toward Jerusalem - Class 3 - Save Those who are Lost

Automatically transcribed. Accuracy is good but not perfect, and words are sometimes wrong. Trust the audio over the text.

1. 0:00

   All right, good morning, Bible school. Fantastic to be back up with you here on a Tuesday. We are marching our way through the week. Before you know it, the Bible school’s over. So let’s enjoy these last couple last these beginning days before they’re over. Goodness. OK, we are on class #3 today. I hope everyone did their homework and came up with a verse for strength when feeling overwhelmed with your burden from yesterday.

2. 0:30

   I got called out yesterday for not having my verse the top of my head. I found 1 and I thought I would share it with you guys. So Sister Beth, here’s my verse. Romans 8, verse 18. It’s a great encouraging verse to kind of help you if you feel like sometimes that burden’s just a little too heavy. Romans 8, verse 18 for I consider the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

3. 1:06

   So if you guys ever get down and you didn’t find a verse yesterday, feel free to use that fantastic verse from Paul’s letter to the Romans. All right, today we’re going to take a look at saving the lost, and we’re going to see how this was an incredible theme all the way through Christ’s journey toward Jerusalem. And as he’s walking and as he’s journeying and as he’s bringing along his 12, he is really trying to find everybody who’s kind of lost and wandering on that road to Jerusalem. What we’re going to see is that’s everyone. Everyone was lost on the road to Jerusalem. It’s your attitude about what you do when you find out that you’re lost.

4. 1:47

   So the theme today is saving those who are lost. This was Christ’s mission. The purpose, of course, we looked at yesterday, the purpose of the mission is to fulfill all the things that were spoken of by the prophets as that’s why he went up to Jerusalem and on his way. He’s going to save those who are lost.

5. 2:04

   We’re going to be looking at a handful of parables. We’re going to be taking a look in the Old Testament received the failure of some of the leaders in Israel, but he is on this mission to create a new Jerusalem, a Jerusalem of people. And it is going to be a city for all, but in particular those who are lost without a city who are looking for one. OK, so let’s start off.

6. 2:27

   We’re going to be looking at the the big picture here. Christ set off on the journey towards Jerusalem and he kind of paints very clearly that if you want to be found, if you want to get to that city, well, follow him, follow me. And we looked at that yesterday with the three volunteer disciples at the end of Luke Chapter 9.

7. 2:46

   The goal, of course, is to be found. The goal of course, is to become part of a magnificent heavenly city which will come down from heaven, a city made-up of people, a city which we can walk through the gates and which Christ can call us New Jerusalem. That’s the goal. Now, unfortunately, what we notice is that it’s not always easy to just get into that city.

8. 3:06

   We find barriers, we find walls, we find speed bumps, all on this road to Jerusalem. We find exits, we get off of the road. We can get confused, we can get lost. And Christ says, I know that’s going to happen, you’ll feel lost. But it came to seek and to save those who are lost.

9. 3:26

   So we have two sides now. We have those who are lost, those who are found, and everybody on this side of the Kingdom is just lost. That’s where we are. We’re lost, we’re wandering, we’re looking, and Christ has called us to be found. But in this lost side, there’s two groups of people. We’re going to fall into one of these two. There’s the people who are lost and they don’t think they’re lost.

10. 3:53

    And there’s the people who are lost who desperately want to be found. You know, we’re going to run into those people from Luke 9 to Luke chapter 19 over and over and over again. Christ is going to sit down and he’s going to have a meal with people.

11. 4:11

    And the people are going to stare at him and say, do you know who you’re eating with? Do you know what this person has been through? Do you know how disgusting these people are? And Christ is going to say, I came to seek and to save the lost. And there’s people who desperately want to be found, and there’s people who say, I don’t think I’m lost.

12. 4:33

    I don’t understand what the confusion is here. But Christ came to save all. Now a big, big theme and a reason we can prove that a big theme is lost and found inside of this journey to Jerusalem is the fact that we have many, many parables. And we actually have a couple chapters that come right in the middle of the journey and Luke 15 and Luke 16. So if you guys could turn with me to Luke chapter 15, we’re, we’re not going to do too much reading at this time. We’ll get into the parables in a little bit, but we’re going to kind of lay out an outline in Luke chapter 15. We start off the chapter really with the parable of the lost sheep parable.

13. 5:12

    Lost sheep is not unique to Luke. We also have the parable the lost coin in verses 8 through 10. This parable is unique to Luke. In Luke chapter 16, as we skip over to the next chapter, we have the parable of the unjust steward unique to Luke and the rich man and Lazarus unique to Luke.

14. 5:33

    Now right in the middle of this is one more unique to Luke parable, and that’s the parable of the prodigal son, Luke chapter 15, verses 11 through 32. And it’s a long parable, but it is a fantastic parable because what the parable, the prodigal son is, it’s it’s an outline of Christ’s journey to Jerusalem. He’s going to find two kinds of people. He’s going to find some like the younger son. He’s going to find some like the older son. And his desire is just to bring them where to the father’s house.

15. 6:06

    That’s the goal, the House of the father. And some run back to it and some can’t even enter into it. So right in between these two sets of parables, 1 describing those who are lost and another describing those who are lost, is another describing those who are lost. Everyone’s lost. It’s your attitude once you realize that. So it’s a parable, the prodigal son. And this is really we’re going to focus on for the beginning here of our class this morning.

16. 6:43

    The parable, the prodigal son has three simple characters. And we’re just going to dive into these three characters, which we all know very, very well. But let’s look at them for the sake of our class this morning. We have the younger son and the parable, the prodigal son. The younger son, he asks his father for part of the inheritance. He says, dad, I know we’re going to get inheritance. Can you give me mine early?

17. 7:04

    His father, who says, yes, he leaves home. He wastes it all. And he has this revelation as he’s eating the food he was hired to feed pigs with. He’s eating it. And he goes, I’d rather be a servant working in my father’s house than live this life. And he runs home and his father runs out to meet him and greets him and brings him in, and he throws him a party.

18. 7:29

    His son was lost, but he’s been found. He’s repented. But we have the story of the older brother, It says in Luke 15, verse 25. Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, keep in mind the house, he heard music and he heard dancing. The younger son, he’s working in the field and as he’s coming home, he goes, is that dancing and music? Verse 26 And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant.

19. 8:06

    And he said to him, your brother, your brother has come back and your father has killed the fatted calf because he has received him back safe and sound.

20. 8:19

    And the attitude of the older brother should have been drop everything, run and embrace his brother. What’s the attitude of the older brother? Very next verse, he was angry and he refused to go in.

21. 8:41

    The older brother wouldn’t even enter the House of the father. So the father comes to him. His father came out and entreated him, but he answered his father. Look, these many years I have served you, and I have never disobeyed your command. Yet you never gave me a young goat that I might celebrate with my friends.

22. 9:04

    But when this son of yours who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him, and he said to him, son, you are always with me and all that I, all that is mine is yours. And so we have now the introduction of the father. The father is trying to bring both sons into the house. He runs out to the younger, he brings them into the house. The older refuses to come in.

23. 9:31

    He comes out and he says come into the house. It’s getting to the father’s house. That’s the point. That’s where Christ is going to the House of his Father. His first step into Jerusalem. The text is walking into the temple. And he’s called all those who would be willing to follow, those like the younger and those like the older.

24. 9:54

    And so if we’re going to look now at the types of who each of these is, it’s pretty easy. I’m sure we all have this marked. Of course, the Father is our heavenly Father who desires everybody to be saved. He desires all to come into his house and find salvation. The younger Son was those publicans and sinners.

25. 10:24

    How dare they be accepted into a place like this? The publicans and sinners, those who had left it, wasted their life, and now they want repentance. And the older son was those scribes and the Pharisees.

26. 10:43

    And so we have this beautiful type of everyone that Christ would meet on that road to his Father’s house toward Jerusalem. Now look at the attitude of each of these brothers, verse 21, the attitude of the younger son. The Son said to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, I am no more worthy to be called your son. So the attitude of the younger is I’ve sinned. That’s the first step.

27. 11:13

    That’s what we all have to do. That’s repentance. But what was the attitude of the older verse 29? But he answered his father, the older brother. Look, these many years I’ve served you and I have never disobeyed your command. So the attitude of the younger son is, father, I have sinned. The attitude of the older is I have never sinned. Which one of these brothers and sisters is actually lost? Which one of these people is actually the lost brother? The younger son was lost, but he’s been found. He’s come back.

28. 11:50

    The older son has no idea that he’s actually lost. He thinks he’s never sinned. Well, if we were to compare this to another unique Luke parable, Luke 18-9 to 14, we’re almost back into Jerusalem in Luke 18, verse 9. I’ll read it for you. He told also this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous.

29. 12:23

    That’s his audience. Verse 10 Two men went up into the temple to pray. Two men went into the House of the Father to pray. 1A Pharisee and the other a tax collector.

30. 12:43

    The Pharisee standing by himself prayed thus. God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week. I get ties of all that I get. But the tax collector standing far off would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breath saying, God be merciful to me, a Sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other.

31. 13:14

    For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted. So we take now another unique Luke story, another parable by Christ, two men, House of the Father. The one says I sure thank you God that I am not like disgusting people.

32. 13:33

    And the other one says I’m a Sinner, please be merciful to me, I’m lost. The Pharisee who couldn’t be more self-centered, exposes just how lost he actually was. And the publican, he couldn’t sound more lost. If you walked in, he’d be a little scared of this guy. He couldn’t sound more lost. But in so doing, he exposes his desire to be found. And this is everybody on Christ road to Jerusalem. They’re lost.

33. 14:13

    They want to be found or they really can’t accept the fact that they’re lost. So the publicans and sinners were going to label as lost. They were lost, but they desired so much to be found. They knew they sinned. They knew they made mistakes. So they come to Christ, they fall down at his feet and worship him.

34. 14:37

    And the Pharisees and scribes look down and they say, if this man knew who this person was, if only we’re to categorize these as the Super lost forsake of example. So we have lost and we have super lost. We have the lost to say, I just need to be found. And the Super lost who haven’t even made it to the fact that they understand that they’re lost as well.

35. 15:06

    So as we move forward toward Jerusalem, Christ is going to come across these people time and time again. We could think of countless stories. So if you’re going to say that, well, the parable, the prodigal son is this beautiful picture of the story, the road that leads to the father’s house, the calling of those who are lost in the Super lost. The parable ends and it explains to us for the son of man came to seek, he’s searching and save the lost. That was Christ’s goal.

36. 15:40

    Let’s pause for a second and understand how beautiful that is. We can feel so lost sometimes in our lives. We can feel like, I don’t know if I need to turn left or if I need to turn right or if I need to go straight. We can feel so lost. And Christ says, I came to not only save you, but I came to find you. I came to search you out.

37. 16:08

    And we’re going to see it at the end of our class, time permitting. But one of the last things that he says before he enters Jerusalem is the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. This was the theme. This was why he journeyed. He wants as many as he can to admit or lost in this life without him.

38. 16:34

    So this was his purpose. This was his goal was to seek and to save the lost. Well, Jesus, in the collection of the four gospels that we have, he, he heals, He socializes, He instructs, He forgives all kinds of people who were lost. He spends time with tax collectors. He spends time with the unclean, lepers and the diseased, the zealots, the mentally sick, the confusing, the social outcasts, Samaritans, Gentiles, the uncircumcised Gentiles, adulterers, prostitutes, thieves. Christ came to seek and to save the lost. But not only that, not only does this, the path that he chose to walk towards Jerusalem.

39. 17:27

    Look at the people he spent his time with. His closest friends were uneducated fishermen. Those were his disciples, His meals. He would sit down with sinners. The treasurer he collected was a thief. If you’re putting together a team, brothers and sisters for work, you have a project or a goal or a place you need to make it to.

40. 17:53

    Would you put together a team that Christ assembled? I wouldn’t to take to take this group. Maybe the first people I’d Passover. I’d find the cream of the crop, the best of the best, the biggest resume. That’s what I’d find. Christ doesn’t. He chooses these. We’re going to really open this up in tomorrow’s session because we really explore the dynamics of the people to Christ chosen his disciples, but keep this in mind.

41. 18:24

    Christ came to seek and to save the lost. This was his purpose. So as he travels to Jerusalem, he does so going out of his way so many times, so many times to just save this person, or he’s going to linger here to save that person, or he’s going to walk into the city to save this person. And the disciples are going, why are we going here? What are we doing over here?

42. 18:52

    Christ came to seek and to save the lost. So if you’re going to now look at this and you’re going to say, well, everyone’s lost. We know we’re trying to get to Jerusalem. Christ is searching. He wants everybody to be found. It’s up now to, it’s up to us now to admit we are lost. Are you going to sit on the side and say I am, I’m not actually lost, I’m fine, Or are you going to do anything that you can to make us so Christ can find you so you can follow Christ to Jerusalem?

43. 19:21

    We’re going to see these examples as we March forward. Just to kind of quickly recap now, these parables that surround the parable, the prodigal son, chapter 15 and Luke verse one. Now the tax collectors and the sinners were drawing near to him and the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled. So we have the characters, the tax collectors and the sinners who hear the parables of the parable of the lost sheep and the parable of the lost coin.

44. 19:47

    Well then what we have is chapter 16, verse 1. He also said to the disciples, and he speaks the parable of the unjust steward. Well look at verse 14. This is verse 14. The Pharisees who were lovers of money, they heard. All these things and they ridiculed him and said you are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts, for what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.

45. 20:16

    So we have now all the parties present hearing these parables. What I’d like to do now is take a little break from the New Testament. If you guys would come with me to the prophecy of Ezekiel. The prophecy of Ezekiel gives us a springboard into our next little topic here looking at the lost. We’re going to look at Ezekiel chapter 34. Ezekiel chapter 34 tells us the story of the shepherds of Israel.

46. 20:54

    Because as we come unto the scene of Christ and he’s wandering and he’s seeking those who are lost, nobody should be surprised. This is exactly what was to be expected. This was prophesied. Had these religious leaders truly been paying attention to their Bibles, to their prophets, they would have known precisely the state that Israel was in. We come to Ezekiel 34, verse one, and the word of Yahweh came to me, Son of Man, prophecy against the shepherds of Israel, prophecy and say to them, even to the shepherds of Israel. Thus says the Lord Yahweh, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves, shouldn’t shepherds feed the sheep?

47. 21:39

    So he says, listen to this prophecy, you shepherds of Israel, you’ve been feeding yourselves. Isn’t it the job of a shepherd to feed sheep?

48. 21:50

    Verse three, You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you don’t feed the sheep the weak, he says You haven’t strengthened them. The sick you haven’t healed, the injured you haven’t bound up, the strayed you haven’t brought back and the lost the lost. You have not sought out shepherds of Israel.

49. 22:23

    So what happens when Israel doesn’t have shepherds looking after them? We know, we know the we know the story. When sheep don’t have shepherds, they wander, they’re scattered. Verse 77. Therefore you shepherds hear the word of Yahweh as I live, declares Lord Yahweh. Surely, because my sheep have become a prey, and my sheep have become food for all the wild beasts, since there was no shepherd, and because my shepherds have not searched for my sheep, the shepherds have fed themselves and have not fed my sheep.

50. 22:54

    Therefore you shepherds hear the word of Yahweh. I am against the shepherds. So because these shepherds had failed in their duty to feed the sheep, to strengthen the weak, to heal the sick, to bound up the injured, to bring back the strayed and to seek out the lost, the children of Israel became scattered. They became food for the beasts they were. They were eaten up by the culture and the religions of the Gentiles.

51. 23:24

    They were just chewed up. They wandered the mountains, said Ezekiel. And while they were wandering, there was no one looking for them. These shepherds were too busy sitting in their kitchens, feeding themselves. They couldn’t even search for the the sheep. Israel was full of lost sheep

52. 23:52

    who just wanted to be found, but none searched for them. But we come to verse 11. For thus says the Lord Yahweh, Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep. I will seek them out. Shepherds, you failed. I will do this. As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he’s among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all the places where they have been scattered.

53. 24:26

    I will bring them back from among the peoples, and I will gather them from the countries, and we’ll bring them into their own land. I will feed them on the mountains of Israel. I will feed them in a good pasture. So what he’s saying is I have to do your job. Shepherds of Israel, you have failed. You’ve stuffed your faces while the sheep have been lost. You’ve only done these things for yourself. Verse 16.

54. 24:53

    I will seek the lost that was God’s words in this prophecy. I will seek the lost. What was Christ’s words? I came to seek and to save the lost. God sent his Son to finish the work that the shepherds of Israel failed to do according to Ezekiel 34. And I will strengthen the weak and the fats and the strong I will destroy, I will feed them injustice.

55. 25:29

    So what does God say He is going to do in verses 11 through 16? He says the lost I will seek, the strayed I will bring back, the injured I will bind up and the weak I will strengthen. Everything that the shepherds have done wrong. I’m going to send my son to make right.

56. 25:51

    This was God’s promise in the prophecy of Ezekiel 34. So when Christ comes onto the scene in Matthew Chapter 9, he has compassion on the crowd. Matthew 9 And Jesus went throughout all the city and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the gospel of the Kingdom, healing the disease of every affliction. And when he looked out and he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd.

57. 26:37

    And this is Christ’s introduction to the scene. And he comes and he sees these people and he looks out and he says they’re just like sheep. They have no shepherd. I’m healing their diseases. I’m teaching in the synagogues. I’m doing the work of all these shepherds because they’re feeding themselves. John 10, verse 11.

58. 26:57

    I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep, he says, and Jesus knew this as he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem. He knew that what awaited for Him there was that He would lay down His life for all of those sheep that He would gather and collect. But He does it anyway because He came to seek and to save the lost, and He went to Jerusalem to start an order. All that was written about him of the prophets, even Ezekiel 34, He begins these things in order and it was a message of repentance.

59. 27:45

    So as you compare now the shepherds of Israel and Christ finishing their task, repentance would come. But Ezekiel tells us it was going to come now, not by the hands of the shepherds, but by the hands of God, and he uses his Son. So when we come onto the scene,

60. 28:06

    where’s the first time we’re introduced to these shepherds of Israel in Christ’s day? They haven’t changed. They’re still feeding themselves. They just now have names. They’re just now known as scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees. They live in Jerusalem, but they still ignore the flock and feed themselves. But God promised He would somehow bring about repentance. So the very, very first time we see these shepherds, come with me to Matthew chapter 3, these shepherds now we come unto the scene and it’s none other than John the Baptist, the one who prepared the way for Christ.

61. 28:52

    Beautiful language in this road to Jerusalem prepared the way Matthew 3 verse 3 for this is he who was spoken by the prophet Isaiah when he said the voice of one crying in the wilderness. Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. First four. Now John wore a a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist.

62. 29:15

    His food was locusts and wild honey. Then guess who comes to him? Jerusalem comes to him and all Judea and all the region round about Jordan were going to him and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan confessing their sins. Verse 2 tells us this was the goal. Repent, He says that’s how you can be found. You repent.

63. 29:41

    We’ve seen this. God said repentance would come. So John comes declaring, you guessed it, repentance, and they come to him baptized, confessing their sins. So Jerusalem now comes. Guess who’s part of Jerusalem? Well, not only is it the lost, but it’s also the Super lost. Come look at our introduction to the Pharisees and Sadducees, verse 7. But when he saw many of the shepherds of Israel, the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, you brood of Vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come bear fruit in keeping with what? Repentance.

64. 30:32

    He says, Imagine that. Imagine you are one of these hired Pharisees or Sadducees and you come out to check out this John the Baptist guy and you step foot into this area and he yells at you that you’re the seed of Vipers.

65. 30:48

    Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. And don’t you dare say, he says, don’t you dare say that we have Abraham as our father, for I tell you, God can make new sons of Abraham with those rocks right there.

66. 31:04

    He tells them, shepherds of Israel, your responsibility is what? It’s the bear fruits of repentance. That’s your job description. Go look it up. Bear fruits worthy of repentance for a group of people who follow every jot and title of the law. Your goal, your career is about getting people, finding people, seeking them out and saving them.

67. 31:29

    But you yourselves can’t even find repentance. And this is what he tells them. Bear fruits keeping with repentance. But then he says in verse 9, don’t think to say within yourselves we have Abraham to our father. After I say to you that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham, he says, don’t think that you’re going to say we’re 4 seeds of Abraham, We’re fine. I just said your seeds of the Viper, don’t say your seeds of Abraham.

68. 32:03

    Everything’s going to be OK. Now Luke adds a little bit to this. Luke says Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance. That’s the goal, bring forth fruits worthy of repentance. Now why Abraham? Why does John say, don’t say we have Abraham to our father because God can make new children unto Abraham. What’s so special about Abraham? Why not David, the kingly line?

69. 32:34

    Why not the second Adam, a new creation? Why Abraham? Well, we know the story of Abraham. What’s he remembered for in Hebrews 11. If you’re going to sum up the faith of that man, Hebrews 11, what is he known for? Hebrews 11, it says in verse 8, by faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance, and he went out having no idea where he was going. What’s Abraham remembered for in Hebrews 11 verse 8? For being a guy who’s lost, for being a guy who wandered, for being a guy who was commanded by God to leave the house and to leave having no idea where he was going. The brothers and sisters is more than that. Look at verse 10, for he was looking for a city. This is what he was looking for.

70. 33:52

    He wandered lost because he was looking for a city. Not just any city, a city with foundations whose builder and maker is God. That’s why Abraham because he spent his whole life looking for a city he knew he would never see a city built and designed by God. Verse 16 But as it is they these faithful desire a better country, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has done what he’s prepared them.

71. 34:38

    A city. All of these faithful of old, they wandered, lost their whole lives looking for a city, knowing I’m not going to find it in this life. It’s a heavenly one, it’s one from above, it’s a city built, it’s a city designed by God. So I wander, lost in this life, knowing I’ll be found. That’s Abraham’s record in Hebrews 11. So children of Abraham, they all have a city waiting for them. We wander in this life knowing we’re not going to be found until we find our city, New Jerusalem. We follow Christ to get there, one that will come down from heaven.

72. 35:22

    The children of Abraham will make up this city. So then we come to Luke chapter 13, come with me if you would to about middle of our journey toward Jerusalem in Luke 13. We’re going to follow this theme now of repentance.

73. 35:47

    If we follow Christ to Jerusalem, we’ll see abundantly that it’s the loss of this world that Christ came to save. He says in Luke 13 verse 3, I tell you, nay, but except you repent, you shall all likewise perish. So the story here is there were some of the present verse one who told them about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingle with their sacrifices. What they’re saying is they come to Christ and they say look up in Jerusalem.

74. 36:13

    Pilate has slain some of the Galileans and their blood has been mixed with the blood of the offerings. There’s been murder, committed religious acts of murder, and Christ says, do you think that are you implying that these Galileans were worse than other people because they died this way? This is no, no, no, that’s not how it works. Verse three, I tell you, unless you repent, you all will perish. Repentance is the key is what he says. If you do not repent, it equals perishing. The word perish is the same exact word that we’ve been seeing as lost.

75. 36:53

    So the solution to perishing is repenting. The solution to being lost is repenting. We’ve seen this in Ezekiel. We’ve seen this with John the Baptist. Bear fruits worthy of repentance. And Christ here emphasizes to the people, it’s about your fruit. It’s about the repentance. You want to be found, repent. There was a group of people who Christ went with who did repent, and there were a group of people who Christ travelled with who could not bring themselves to repent.

76. 37:27

    We come to verses 6 through 9. We have the parable of the barren fig tree, a fig tree that cannot produce fruit. Then we come to verse 10. Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. Christ really loved to push their buttons, didn’t He? This is how Christ worked verse 11 the behold, there was a woman who had a disabling spirit for 18 years. She was bent over and she couldn’t fully straighten herself.

77. 37:58

    When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said to her, woman, you are freed from your disability. And everybody would have would have steered clear of this woman. She’s unclean, something’s wrong with her. She doesn’t belong here. And Christ says, woman, come here, you’re healed. Now what’s the story? This story is crazy.

78. 38:24

    Verse 13, he laid hands on her and immediately she was made straight and she glorified God. Beautiful story. Imagine this the the presenter now in the synagogue saying this is the expectation for today. This is wonderful. That’s not at all what happens. We’ll see what happens. Verse 14 But the ruler of the synagogue indignant because Jesus had healed in the Sabbath and said to the people, said to who? The people?

79. 38:51

    He changes his sermon. There are 6 days in which work ought to be done, come on those days and be healed and not on the Sabbath day. So he’s giving his sermon, He’s giving his sermon, He’s giving his sermon. Jesus heals somebody. He says, people, there are 6 days in which you can be healed, never on the Sabbath.

80. 39:13

    What an opportunity to capture this miracle, to expound on the principles and the expectations there. And yet he changes his sermon now to call out Christ. Then the Lord answered in verse 15, You hypocrites, does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the Manger and lead it away to water?

81. 39:35

    And I thought this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound 18 years, I can Christ can take these stones and make sons and daughters of Abraham. Don’t think to say within yourselves, Abraham’s our father. God can make new ones. And here Christ walks into the synagogue and he heals a woman

82. 40:05

    who’s been diseased 18 years and says she. Is a daughter of Abraham. That was the exhortation. That was the perfect sermon for the synagogue on that Sabbath day. But we have one more Luke 19. What do we know happens in Luke 19?

83. 40:41

    Christ enters Jerusalem, but Jesus has one more lost sheep to find one more He’s going to collect and He’s going to sum up this journey perfectly. Luke 19, Luke 19, verse 1. He enters Jericho and passing through there was a man named Zacchaeus. He has one final sheep to find. It will be his final stop. It’s a reverse journey to the parable of the Good Samaritan from Jericho to Jerusalem.

84. 41:32

    Now, the story of Zacchaeus is a fairly familiar one, but it’s a story that really seals this theme of Jesus searching for the lost. Zacchaeus, we’re told, was chief among the publicans. He was a chief tax collector. Not only was he himself a tax collector, but he was a boss of other tax collectors. And like tax collectors, in that time, he made his wealth mostly by deception and by stealing.

85. 42:01

    The riches of these tax collectors was almost always acquired by deception or thievery. But Zacchaeus wants something more than riches. He just wants to see Jesus. He just wants to see Jesus. He heard how Jesus was coming to Jericho. At this point, Jesus’s itinerary was probably quite a topic. A man who could, at the heel of a touch, a man who could feed thousands from a boy’s picnic. This man is a guy worth paying attention to. And Zacchaeus was no stranger to these rumors. He just wants to see Jesus.

86. 42:44

    He has a problem. He’s vertically challenged. What he needs to do is he climbs up. In verse four, he ran ahead, he dashed in front of the people and he climbs up into a Sycamore tree to see him. For Christ was about to pass right by the road where this tree was. Zacchaeus.

87. 43:06

    The solution, climb a tree. He hopes to see Jesus, who he was. He had heard so much, but he just wants to see him. So he climbs into a Sycamore tree. Now the fascinating thing is Jesus stops and he looks up and he sees Zacchaeus. Now the interesting thing is that this word Sycamore, the Sycamore is actually this type of fig tree.

88. 43:28

    It comes from the Greek word sukumoria, the he, the, sorry, the Greek root word for this is sukhan, which is a fig. So what he’s saying is he’s stopping by this, this type of Sycamore that bears figs and he stops. And it’s the same word in Mark 11 that is this fig tree.

89. 43:49

    Now, fig trees on this road to Jerusalem and on Christ’s journey through the Gospels, fig trees do something. They have an interesting story to tell. I’m going to read you a few verses as we follow Christ toward Jerusalem in this Gospel of Luke. We’ll stick to Luke’s gospel, Luke 6 and at verse 43.

90. 44:11

    For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, for each tree is known by its own fruit. Figs, they’re not gathered from thorn bushes. Grapes are picked, aren’t picked from a Bramble Bush. No, the good person out of the good treasures of his heart, they produce good fruit. And the evil person, out of the evil, he produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart, his mouth speaks. So good trees produce good fruit. Luke 13.

91. 44:46

    We’ve already danced around this verse a little bit. The Luke 13 is this story of the parable of the barren fig tree. He told this parable. A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard. Amazing study to look at. Why would you plant a fig tree in a vineyard another time? And he came seeking fruit on it. Does he find fruit?

92. 45:09

    No. A fig tree is supposed to make fruit. So he comes and he doesn’t find any fruit on it. And he said to the vine dresser, look, for three years now I come to this tree and I seek fruit and I find it, not just chop it down. But he answered and said, Sir, just leave it alone this year

93. 45:28

    until I dig it about and I put it up a newer than if it should bear fruit next year, well, good, and if not, I can cut it down. Who else came to a fig tree Jerusalem looking for fruit for three years but could never find it? Christ did Luke 21 verse 29.

94. 45:47

    He’s entered Jerusalem, He’s come back out, and he told them a parable. Look at the fig tree and all the trees. As soon as they come out in leaf, you see for yourselves and know the summer is already near. So also when you see these things taking place, you know that the Kingdom of God is near. Fig tree leaves symbolize the sign that your redemption draws near the fruit.

95. 46:10

    It’s the context, of course, of the destruction of Jerusalem. So the story is that fig trees bear fruit. So when Christ comes to this fig tree, guess what he finds?

96. 46:26

    He finds fruit and he looks up in the tree, a fig tree. And what does he do with the fruit? He picks it. He says, Zacchaeus, come down,

97. 46:47

    I’m coming to your house today. But Zacchaeus wasn’t just any kind of fruit, was he? What kind of fruit was Zacchaeus? What does he say when he invites him over to his table for dinner? Half of my goods I gave to the poor, those who I’m defrauded, I’m going to give back four times as much.

98. 47:08

    What is this? What is he doing? He’s bearing fruits of repentance. He’s saying I was going this way, I’m going to completely turn around and go this way. And Christ says this fig tree bears fruit and he picks him off and he dines with him.

99. 47:38

    Because you see, brothers and sisters, Jerusalem couldn’t find much fruit there, but there was one last guy he had to save, one last lost individual who just wanted to be found. And he goes to Jericho and he finds him. We don’t have time to look at this, but the fruits of repentance that John the Baptist spoke in Luke chapter 3 bear fruits in keeping with repentance.

100. 48:09

     Don’t begin to say yourselves. Look, we have Abraham to our father. God can have these very stones raise up new children to Abraham. Even now he says the axe is laid to the root of the tree. Every tree, therefore, that does not bear good fruit is cast down and thrown into the fire. Zacchaeus showed fruits of repentance. Jesus picked him.

101. 48:39

     He’s shown himself to be one that could bear fruit. So that tree lived. He was lost, but he’s found. But why? Brothers and sisters, how does it end? What are the last words in the story of Zacchaeus? The last words he speaks to the last man he brings to Jerusalem and Jesus said to him today salvation has come to this house.

102. 49:12

     He also is a son of Abraham, sons and daughters. He came to gather all for, he says verse 10. The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.

103. 49:35

     And so he calls Zacchaeus. He’s going to enter the city further on in this chapter. But the purpose of Christ in this third session together is that Christ came to seek and to save the lost. Everyone’s lost. We may know everything that there is about this book in front of us. That doesn’t mean we’re not lost. The mission of Christ was for us to repent, for us to say we’ve sinned.

104. 50:07

     We can’t make it there without Christ. Ezekiel 34 got his very, very harsh words for the shepherd, shepherds of Israel who are doing more harm than good. And Christ came not only to save those, but he came to save all.