"Hands on Ministry" August 19 Readings: Luke 18:35-19:27

 

Reading the Bible Chronologically in 2024

This year, instead of reading from Genesis to Revelation, we will read the Bible as the story flows, as it happened and was written. There are several plans out there and I have worked to combine them into a plan that lets the Bible tell its own story "as it happened." Remember, the Bible is inspired, but not in the order the books appear in our Bibles.  The Old Testament is approximately 3/4 of the Bible, but we will give more emphasis to the New Testament, spending half the year in the Old Testament and half in the New. 

Bible Readings: Luke 18:35-19:27 

Background:  

Today's readings take place in Jericho, on the west side of the Jordan, at the north end of the Dead Sea. Jesus was headed to Jerusalem, determined to give himself for the sins of the world, and so he walked in the Jordan River valley, the easiest way to walk. In Jericho, Jesus healed a man born blind (a story we read yesterday in other gospel accounts) and the story of Zaccheus, the repentant tax collector. He also, while in Jericho, told the parable of the nobleman who gave his servants "minas" to invest. It is about being faithful to use that which God has given us in the kingdom.

From Jericho, Jesus will head up the hill toward Jerusalem and his Triumphal Entry and the eternally significant events that followed.

Daily Devotional: Hands on Ministry

Zaccheus was a wee little man, and a wee little man was he...

It's one of the stories that we church kids heard in Sunday School, about the little guy who climbed the tree to see Jesus. As is often the case, our familiarity with stories like this often causes us to miss the bigger picture.

The heart and soul of this story is the nature of the kingdom of God and the nature of Jesus Christ's mission in this world. He was locked in a constant battle with the religious leaders who had, by this time, decided he had to go and were plotting his demise. They disdained him for many reasons. But he was not focusing on them, not trying to appeal to them. They were not the primary targets of his message. Jesus came for the lost sheep of Israel, those broken by sin.

He came for Zaccheus, a tax collector. A cheater. A thief. Someone everyone else hated, rejected, and avoided. But Jesus dined with him. That drew the ire of the Pharisees but it was the heart of Jesus to reach out to men like him.

It ought to be the heart of the church as well. The poor. Minorities. Refugees. Addicts. Those whose lives have been totally broken by sin. We need to not simply speak a gospel message to them, but we need to engage their lives. Jesus did not stand at the doorway of Zaccheus' home and shout the message inside to him. Jesus went in and stayed at his house. He accepted Zaccheus' hospitality. He built a relationship and from that relationship, he declared the message of repentance...effectively.

We cannot proclaim the gospel at arm's length. We cannot simply send gospel tracts to the other side of the tracks. We have to get our hands dirty. We have to engage the sinful world personally, lovingly, and genuinely. Anything less than that will not only be ineffective, it will be un-Christlike.

Father, forgive me for how I have often tried to engage in Christ's work at arm's length. Help me to find a way to minister in this world as Christ ministered to Zaccheus. 

Consider God's Word:

Think through the implications of "hands-on" ministry.

What is required of you to minister to sinners in this world as Christ ministered to Zaccheus?