Thursday, July 10, 2008, Part 2
"Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned, they were sawed in two, they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated – the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground" (Hebrews 11:36-38 NIV).
IDEA: When we understand the place of the tax collectors in the first century, we get some insight into why the people and the religious establishment attacked Jesus.
PURPOSE: To help listeners appreciate why tax collectors play such a key part in Jesus' ministry.
Do you believe the old adage, "A man is known by the company he keeps"?
Or "Birds of a feather flock together"?
Is there any truth in these?
If you accept those proverbs to be true to life, then you can understand why Jesus had the opposition from the religious leaders of his day.
I. The tax collectors were regarded as the scum of Jewish society.
Luke 15:1—The tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus, but the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them."
Who were the sinners?
Who were the tax collectors?
What is the significance that Jesus ate with these people?
Did Jesus eat only with tax collectors and sinners?
Can you sympathize with way the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law reacted to the company that Jesus kept?
Why did Jesus respond to these accusations? There are other cases in which He refused to answer charges leveled against Him.
How did Jesus respond?
II. When we understand the position of the place of tax collectors in the first century, we can appreciate the significance of Luke 19.
In Luke 19:1-9 Jesus is on His way to Jerusalem and a huge crowd is following Him. What do you think the crowd was looking for?
During the period between the Old and New Testaments there was a heightened desire for a Messiah to appear.
The people had lived under the domination of the Persians, the Greeks, then the Romans. They saw the Messiah as a deliverer from the power of Rome.
What were the people looking for when they followed Jesus? Why?
If you were to spell out how the people would have talked about Jesus, what do you think they might have said?
What do you think was the significance of Jesus going to the home of Zacchaeus who was called "a chief tax collector and was wealthy"?
Do you think this meeting with Zacchaeus was accidental or deliberate? Why would Jesus behave as He did?
Luke 19:7—all the people saw this and began to mutter, "He has gone to be a guest of a sinner." Why would this have been so shocking?
It defied their thinking. How can you conquer an enemy when you go to his house? This meant that they had an incorrect judgment of Jesus.
III. Jesus is indeed going to attack the sinfulness of the system, but not in the way the people expected.