Encounter with God (10) – The Rich Man who Joyfully Received the Lord (Luke 19:1-10)

By Rev. Jeremiah Cheung

Jesus said, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible. Let us look today at how a rich man entered the kingdom of God. This rich man is Zaccheus. The scripture passage is found in Luke 19:1-10.

In these 10 verses, we see and hear four declarations.
– v5 is Jesus’ declaration;
– v7 is the people’s declaration;
– v8 is Zaccheus’ declaration;
– v9-10 is Jesus’ second declaration.

These four declarations brought out a beautiful story of how a rich man joyfully received the Lord and entered the kingdom of God.

Verse 10 is the central idea of the whole story. In it, there are three important thoughts: the Son of Man came, to seek the lost, to save the lost. This is Zaccheus’ story.

1. The Son of Man Came v1/v5

2. To Seek the Lost v2-7

a. He is a man who cheats people of their money

b. He is a man whose true character falls short of his good reputation

c. He is a man who is poor in spirit

3. To save the Lost v8-9