Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - What Does It Take to Become a Christian? | Learning to Follow Jesus | Luke 18.18-30 and Luke 19.1-9

Starting point is 00:00:00 Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life and the time it takes to get to work. I'm Patrick Miller. And I'm Keith Simon. Right now, we're learning what it looks like to follow Jesus by working our way through the Gospel of Luke. It was an ordinary day at Loro Park Zoo. Children are running around from exhibit to exhibit. People are laughing. They're enjoying fine weather.

Starting point is 00:00:28 It was all ordinary until a gorilla escaped. The first park employee to see the uncaged graze. acted quickly, you know, great training, was ready to go. He finds a tranquilizer gun, and from a long distance, he takes his shot. But somewhat to his surprise, the gorilla, it doesn't kind of slowly lumber to a stop and fall over. Now, the gorilla just falls over immediately the second that it's shot. And so he slowly approaches the gorilla. And as he gets closer and closer, he realizes that it's a really small gorilla. No, it's not a small gorilla. It's a 35-year-old man in a gorilla suit. Note to self, don't do Halloween at the zoo. It was a bizarre case of mistaken identity. And in today's story from

Starting point is 00:01:15 Luke, he wants to tell us a similar story, a story about someone who people mistake his identity for the wrong thing. He wants to tell us about two cases actually of mistaken identity. And it starts in Luke 18, when a rich young synagogue ruler comes to Jesus and he asks him what he needs to do to inherit eternal life. Not a bad question, right? And Jesus tells this upstanding young citizen to obey the Ten Commandments. And when the man explains that he's already obeyed all of these down to the finest point, Jesus tells him this. This is Luke 1822.

Starting point is 00:01:50 You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven. then come and follow me. When the young ruler heard this, he became very sad because he was very wealthy. What's Jesus doing? Who could be more deserving of eternal life than this upright young man? He's followed the Ten Command mix. He's used his wealth to build the local synagogue.

Starting point is 00:02:17 Doesn't Jesus want a guy like that on his team? You know, somebody could help bankroll his mission, give his kingdom cause a little prestige, a little influence? All the disciples seem to think so, because when they hear him, hear that even a guy like this can't walk on the path of life, they all blurred out. Well, who can be saved? I mean, it's not this guy who? Luke waits to answer their question until the next chapter, but I think Jesus might say to them, you're suffering from a case of mistaken identity. The disciples thought that true apprenticeship to Jesus' way looked like prestige, wealth, an outstanding Jewish lifestyle. Perhaps that's not surprising because perhaps that's what they all kind of hoped they

Starting point is 00:02:58 were going to get by following Jesus. I don't think today were that different. We all kind of like the idea of becoming an apprentice of Jesus, a disciple of Jesus, and that somehow that might actually take us or transform us into being an outstanding, influential, maybe even wealthy member of the community. But is that the right hope for apprentices of Jesus' way? Is that the best way to identify an apprentice of Jesus? That's what a real disciple looks like. Or maybe we come at this from a whole different angle. Maybe we already have wealth and influence and community stature. Or maybe we're kind of on the path to having those things. And so we're thinking, man, isn't Jesus lucky to get someone like me on his team? Someone who takes his way seriously, the way that I take it, someone who takes

Starting point is 00:03:46 church seriously the way that I take? I mean, isn't my church really lucky that they get to have someone like me here? Isn't my small group lucky that they get to have someone like me involved? I think Jesus would say, be careful. A man in a gorilla suit isn't a gorilla. And a rich young ruler isn't necessarily a follower of my way. Just because the world looks at you and says, wow, you've got all those great things. We'd love to have you on our team.

Starting point is 00:04:12 Doesn't mean that you're on team Jesus. Fast forward to Luke 19. We're going to read another story of another rich man. And again, there's going to be a case of mistaken. identity. If in the last case, they mistook this guy for someone who must be a follower of Jesus, in this case, they're going to mistake a rich man for someone who could never be a follower of Jesus. Luke 19. Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zakias. He was the chief tax collector and was wealthy. So we needed to pause for a second. Tax collectors

Starting point is 00:04:45 were hated by Jews in their days because they colluded with the Roman government, which was actually occupying Israel at the time. And they didn't just collude with the government. These tax collectors, they took people's money and they were famous for doing shakedowns, right? They didn't just take what they needed to give to Rome. They took a lot extra and they kept the leftovers. And now, Zakias, he's not just a tax collector. He's a chief tax collector, right? He's the guy who's overseeing all of the tax collection in his region. And so here we have not just a normal center. We've got the chief of sinners. We've got a guy whose identity is not in question. There's no way that this guy could ever be a follower of Jesus. There's no way that this guy could ever be a true child of Abraham, right?

Starting point is 00:05:32 Verse 3. Zakias wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short, he couldn't see over the crowd, and so he ran up ahead, and he climbed up a sycamore fig tree to see him since Jesus was coming that way. When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, Zakias, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today. And so he came down at once and he welcomed him gladly. Catch what Zakias does. Zakias doesn't think, oh man, isn't Jesus lucky? Isn't Jesus lucky to have a wealthy guy like me on his team? No, Zakias knows from the start that he's not even worthy to be on Jesus's team. So when Jesus calls him by name, there's no smug self-confidence. Verse 6 says that he welcomes Jesus joyfully. He receives King Jesus with the kind of joy. I'd received a completely unexpected, undeserved gift. It's the kind of joy you get whenever you get the gift and you unwrapped it, and it's just so extravagant and it's so big, you think there's no way this is for me. And you're going back through the rapping, trying to find the tag and make sure that it actually had your name on it.

Starting point is 00:06:38 There's no way, but it is. It's for me. This is amazing. Verse 7, all the people saw this. Jesus saying, I'm going to go say with you, Zekees, of all people. They saw this and they began to mutter. He's gone to be the guest of a sinner. But Zekees stood up and said to the Lord, Look, Lord, here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor. And if I've cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount. The law of Moses required a full restitution of anything that was stolen plus a fifth.

Starting point is 00:07:12 But in extreme circumstances, someone could even do a case. fourfold restitution. And so here's Zekees saying, look, I'm not just going to give people a quarter back over the top of what I took from them. I'm going to pay them back times five. I'm going to pay them back and then add another four on top of it. Jesus said to him, today salvation has come to this house because this man too is a son of Abraham. For the son of man came to seek and to save the lost. The crowds, they already know who Zekees is. He's the guy. He's the guy. He's the guy. you pick last on your team. He's the guy you avoid on the street, the one you don't make eye contact with. He's the lost sinner who's been colluding with Rome and stealing our money. But Jesus says,

Starting point is 00:07:56 no, you've mistaken his identity too. This man is an apprentice of my way. In verse three, Zechias, he's seeking to see Jesus. And in verse 10, we learned that Jesus actually came to seek and save him, because Jesus says, I came to seek and save the lost. And it's precisely because Zichias is lost, that Zichias is found. It's precisely because Zakias knows his lostness, that he's able to see what the rich young ruler is just absolutely blind to. Jesus isn't lucky to have me. I'm lucky to have Jesus. It's precisely because Zakias knows his lostness, that he's able to do what the rich young ruler was totally unable to do. He gives his wealth to the poor, and he writes all past wrongs. Zakias knows that you can't identify a follower of Jesus just by looking for who's

Starting point is 00:08:48 the most upright, influential, wealthy person in the room. That might be how we humans tend to think, but that's not how God thinks. No, if you want to find a follower of Jesus, do it by looking for someone who knows this little phrase, I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see. and what they see, these kinds of people, they see that Jesus isn't just a person, Jesus isn't just God, Jesus is a tremendous gift. He is the tremendous gift, the gift which outstrips all gifts, the gift which is better than a big house, a nice car, a big following, a high-profile job, the respect of others. He's not just better than all of those things. He shows those things for what they actually are mistaken treasure.

Starting point is 00:09:37 Zechias shows us the path of true apprenticeship. If you want to follow Jesus, this is what it looks like. Repentance, allegiance to the king, and radical obedience. Yes, even radical self-diminishing generosity. That's the true sign of being an apprentice of Jesus, of being a true son or daughter of Abraham. Have you mistaken the identity of a true follower of Jesus, what that actually looks like?

Starting point is 00:10:07 Have you swapped out wealth for radical generosity? Have you swapped out maybe influence for poverty of spirit? Have you swapped out prestige for humility? Today, pray that God would reveal to you the true worth of King Jesus and set you free to become a true apprentice. Thanks for listening. If you've enjoyed this content, please subscribe and give us a rating. That helps other people find this podcast more easily.

Starting point is 00:10:37 Also, ask yourself, who could you share this podcast with? Texting an episode to a friend or a family member is a great way to help them grow spiritually. If you want to go deeper, check out our show notes for book recommendations.

Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - What Does It Take to Become a Christian? | Learning to Follow Jesus | Luke 18.18-30 and Luke 19.1-9

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