Quick Note – Luke 18:35-43/Luke 19:1-10 – Two People Unafraid in Jericho

Luke 18:35-43 – ³⁵ As he drew near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. ³⁶ And hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what this meant. ³⁷ They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” ³⁸ And he cried out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” ³⁹ And those who were in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” ⁴⁰ And Jesus stopped and commanded him to be brought to him. And when he came near, he asked him, ⁴¹ “What do you want me to do for you?” He said, “Lord, let me recover my sight.” ⁴² And Jesus said to him, “Recover your sight; your faith has made you well.” ⁴³ And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.

Luke 19:1-10 – He entered Jericho and was passing through. ² And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. ³ And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small in stature. ⁴ So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way. ⁵ And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” ⁶ So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully. ⁷ And when they saw it, they all grumbled, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” ⁸ And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” ⁹ And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. ¹⁰ For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

Peer pressure is a powerful thing.  It can make you do things that you should never do like take drugs and get drunk.  That is why parents often tell their children, “If your friend jumped off a bridge, would you also do it?”  They say this phrase to get their children to think about their actions and what motivates them – to remind them that they shouldn’t do stupid things just because the crowd tells them to.  Moreover, peer pressure can also be used to dissuade people from doing things.  It can prevent people from doing what is right.  Have you ever read The Scarlet Letter?  In that book, a red letter A was forced to be worn by Hester Prynne for having a child out of wedlock.  From that point forward, all her neighbors would treat her like she had the plague.  Rather than showing compassion and care for a person who made a mistake and needed to be shown love, she was avoided.  Peer pressure kept people from doing what was right. 

In our two passages today, two people near or in Jericho could have allowed the crowds to keep them from seeing Jesus, but they did not allow others from preventing them from seeing the Lord.  They pushed through any obstacle that would keep them from Jesus and experienced the grace of God firsthand.  To them, nothing was more important than Jesus Christ. 

The first person mentioned in Luke 8:35-43 was a blind beggar named Bartimaeus.  Because he was blind, the only way he could make a living was to beg on the highway to Jericho.  To his surprise, that day, Jesus was walking by.  He must have heard of all the miracles that Christ had done, so when the crowds told him, Jesus was coming, He began to cry out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”  When the crowds found him annoying and told him to be quiet, he only yelled louder, because he knew that Jesus was the only one that could heal him.  He wouldn’t allow the people to stop him from seeing Jesus.  He wouldn’t allow his pride, his “manners,” or even his disability to keep him from getting to the Lord.  Jesus, hearing Bartimaeus and seeing his faith, called to him, and healed him. 

The second person mentioned in Luke 19:1-10 was a tax collector who lived in Jericho named Zacchaeus.  Zacchaeus was a very short person, so when Jesus was coming into the town, he was unable to see him due to his height.  Rather than letting the crowds keep him from seeing the Lord, he climbed up a tree (which was not appropriate for a man of his social stature) just to get a peek at Jesus.  Jesus, seeing him in a tree, called him down and told him that He would stay in his house that day.  Zacchaeus overjoyed then repented and turned to Christ.  Just as with Bartimaeus, Zacchaeus did not let the crowd stop him from seeing the Lord. 

This is the question I ask you to contemplate today – “What is stopping you from seeing the LORD?”  Are you allowing the world to keep you from coming to Jesus Christ?  I know that many people choose not to give their lives to Jesus Christ, because they are afraid of what others will think.  They fear what their parents, their family, their friends will say.  They are afraid of how others might see them compared to their past, so they refuse to turn to Christ.  These two men on the road to and in Jericho show us that we shouldn’t allow how others perceive us to prevent us from finding Christ.  Our pride and our status in the sight of man should not stop us from coming to the Lord.  Be unabashedly bold, unafraid to know the Savior of the world.  You won’t believe the amazing miracles He can and will do in your life when you place your trust in Him. 

Quick Note – Joshua 6:22-25 – First of Her Family

Joshua 6:22-25 – 22 But to the two men who had spied out the land, Joshua said, “Go into the prostitute’s house and bring out from there the woman and all who belong to her, as you swore to her.” 23 So the young men who had been spies went in and brought out Rahab and her father and mother and brothers and all who belonged to her. And they brought all her relatives and put them outside the camp of Israel. 24 And they burned the city with fire, and everything in it. Only the silver and gold, and the vessels of bronze and of iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the Lord. 25 But Rahab the prostitute and her father’s household and all who belonged to her, Joshua saved alive. And she has lived in Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.

I grew up in a Christian family, so I don’t really understand the fear that comes and the courage that it takes to be the first person in your family or friend group to become a Christian.  I don’t know what it feels like to choose to be different than all your other family members – to be set apart – to turn to God and to turn away from your former beliefs.  I have not had to deal with persecution or disrespect from family and friends.  I have not had to deal with being ostracized from my social groups.  I have not had to wonder whether my mom or dad, brothers or sisters, aunts or uncles would become Christians as well.  Fortunately for me, most of my family members were already Christians when I became one.  However, I don’t discount the struggles that must come with those who aren’t as fortunate.  It must be hard.  However, I want to share with you today a story about a person in the Bible who was the first in her family and probably her nation to choose to turn to God.  And because of her choice, her whole family was saved. 

In Joshua 2, two Israelite spies were sent into Canaan to observe the land before they would enter and conquer it.  The Canaanites were very fearful of the Israelites.  They knew all that God had done for them.  They had heard about the parting of the Red Sea.  They had heard about the defeat of the powerful kings on the other side of the Jordan.  They knew that God was with Israel, and He was the Almighty God.  Because of this fear, they sought to capture the spies.  To avoid capture, the two spies hid in the house of a prostitute named Rahab.  She hid them, in exchange, for her and her family’s life.  She told them that because she had chosen to protect them, in exchange, they should swear to spare her family when they entered the land.  The spies agreed to this deal and told her that if she wanted her and her family to be safe, they would need to stay in her house and to tie a red scarlet cord at the window for identification.  Everyone who was in the house would be spared, but anyone who chose not to stay, their blood would be on their own head.  Rahab chose to trust these words, gathered her family into her house, and were saved. 

Unlike the people of Canaan who continued to try to fight against God and Israel, Rahab chose to humbly place her trust in that God.  She recognized that the God of Israel was the “God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath.” (Joshua 2:11).  She knew that this God was giving this land to Israel, and her only way to be saved was to humbly submit to Him.  She trusted that this God was merciful and that His people were merciful and trustworthy and decided to protect the spies.  By taking a stand against her nation, against her people, against her former beliefs and life, and by placing her trust in the God of Israel, not only was she saved, but her whole family as well. 

This same God of Israel is the God of the Bible.  This God sent His Son to die for our sins on the cross.  He promises that those who call upon His name, who place their faith and trust in Him will be saved from the power and punishment of sin.  All one has to do is believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay the penalty of sin, which is death, and that He rose again to give new life to those who would believe that He could save them.  Now, I know that it’s tough.  I know that it must be scary to take this leap of faith – to jump into this unknown alone – to abandon your former beliefs (if you had any) and to trust in God.  I know that it must be especially hard when your family does not believe or may even be against it.  But look at Rahab.  She did what no one else in her nation was doing.  She trusted in God, when everyone else wouldn’t.  And because of her choice, eventually, her whole family was saved.  Now, I can’t guarantee that if you become a Christian, your whole family will turn to God as well.  But I do believe that our God is merciful and loving, and that if you trust in Him, He can make you the light that helps draw your family and friends to Him.  Additionally, you will be welcomed to a new family – the family of God, who has been waiting with open arms for you.  Don’t let fear keep you from God.  Place your faith and trust in Him today. 

Quick Note – 1 Kings 16:29-34 – An Evil King but a Good Lesson

1 Kings 16:29-34 – “29 In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab the son of Omri began to reign over Israel, and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years. 30 And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord, more than all who were before him. 31 And as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, he took for his wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal and worshiped him. 32 He erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he built in Samaria. 33 And Ahab made an Asherah. Ahab did more to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him. 34 In his days Hiel of Bethel built Jericho. He laid its foundation at the cost of Abiram his firstborn, and set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke by Joshua the son of Nun.”

A nation can rise and fall by its leaders, so it is important that good and righteous leaders are chosen to lead a nation.  Being that I was born in the United States and this year is an election year, I have the opportunity to vote for who will be the President of my country for the next four years.  I will also be able to vote for other officials like Congressman and senators, who will help make the laws for the next two or six years.  Therefore, my vote through who I help elect will affect whether this nation will grow or decline.  My vote really matters, and being a Christian, I should support a person that I believe will help lead this nation closer rather than farther away from God. 

In ancient Israel though, the person who led the nation was not selected through a democratic vote.  Instead, it was determined either by the blood lineage or the defeat of the previous king.  If the current king ruled with a strong arm and his subjects did not rebel against him, then usually his son would be the next king.  On the other hand, if his subjects did lead a rebellion and one of his generals defeated and killed him, then that general would become the king.  This second way was the one by which the father of the king in our passage today became the ruler.  Omri was a general in the army of the previous king of Israel.  After one of the king’s subjects Zimri assassinated the king and tried to usurp the throne underhandedly, Omri’s soldiers selected him to be king instead.  Knowing he had the support of his soldiers, Omri then went and killed Zimri and established his rule.  King Omri was a strong ruler, so he was able to establish his kingdom for his son, Ahab, which is who we will focus on today. 

King Ahab is described as an evil king, a king who was more evil than those who were before him.  So you may be asking, “What can we learn from such an evil person?  Why would I highlight a man as bad as this?”  And my answer would be that we can learn from the mistakes that people make in the Bible just as much as we can learn from those who do right.  By looking at King Ahab’s life and how he reflected that of a bad ruler, we can learn how we should live our lives and how we should look for rulers who do not embody the characteristics of Ahab.  So let’s dive in for our short lesson today.  There are four key characteristics that we can see that made Ahab a king who did more to provoke the Lord to anger than any previous king before him.

1.  He took previous sins lightly and did not learn from them.

King Ahab was the son of King Omri, who was considered an evil king.  Verse 25 of this chapter states that “Omri did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and did more evil than all who were before him.”  That means King Ahab’s father was already considered the worse of the worse and yet King Ahab did worse than him.  And if you trace back the kings before Omri, each one is described as evil and doing something that would provoke the LORD to anger.  This was the reason why the Northern Kingdom of Israel at that time was so tumultuous.  King after king was being placed on the throne and usurped, because each king did as he pleased rather than seeking the approval of God.  Unlike David, who was considered a man after God’s own heart, whose kingdom was then established by God, the kings of Israel sinned and incurred God’s wrath.  After seeing all this though, King Ahab refused to learn from the mistakes of the rulers before him and decided to double-down on the sin.  Rather than learning, he took their sins lightly (vs. 31) and provoked God even more.  History is written down so that we can learn from the achievements but also the mistakes of the past.  Yet history constantly repeats itself, because we as human beings refuse to learn from those mistakes.  As Christians, we should be careful to study the mistakes that were made in the past and do the opposite instead.  There are countless stories of people who fell in the Bible.  These stories were written so that we as Christians would be on guard against them and not fall into them as well.  So let us not take sin lightly and let us learn from those mistakes and do better.

2.  He associated with sinners who would lead him astray.

King Ahab made a crucial mistake early in his reign – he married Jezebel the daughter of a foreign king who worshipped other gods.  Like King Solomon, by marrying a foreign wife, he was led to worship other gods as well, eventually setting up a temple and altar for Baal.  He would also then worship Asherah, which was another foreign god at the time.  If Ahab had surrounded himself with good and righteous counsel who would advise him to follow God and seek His commandments, he likely would have, because if you read about Ahab and his personality in other passages, it sounds like he is a person who is the product of those around him.  But because he associated with sinners, he was led to sin.  1 Corinthians 15:33 states, “Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company ruins good morals.’”  This is exactly what happened with Ahab.  We must be wary of the people we hang around and spend time with for they can either lift us up or lead us astray.  Iron sharpens iron.  So let us surround ourselves with those who seek after God. 

3.  He worshipped idols.

King Ahab did exactly what the other kings before him did – he worshipped other gods instead of the God of Israel.  Jeroboam, a king of Israel a few generations earlier, established false gods that looked like calves in the cities of Dan and Bethel.  He then told the people of Israel to worship these false gods.  Not only did Ahab keep this tradition, he added to it by establishing worship to Baal (by building his temple and altar in one of the primary cities in the Northern Kingdom) and to Asherah.  We may mock King Ahab and look upon him as a fool because of what he did here, but we must be careful to perform some introspection and see if we have done the same thing in our hearts.  Our hearts are the Temple of the Living God, but have we put an idol in its place.  The idol does not need to be some golden or wooden statue, it could be money, our family, our friends, or our career.  If we put anything before God, we have created and are worshipping an idol.  Let us correct this and remove any idols that we are worshipping.

4.  He allowed others to sin around him. 

Lastly, it is interesting that the writer of the book of Kings mentions that Jericho was rebuilt during the reign of King Ahab.  This may not seem like an important detail, but it is incredibly significant.  The reason is because Jericho was never to be rebuilt again.  Joshua had laid a curse on anybody who would rebuild the city when it was first conquered by the people of Israel entering into Canaan in Joshua 6 – “Cursed before the Lord is the one who undertakes to rebuild this city, Jericho: ‘At the cost of his firstborn son he will lay its foundations; at the cost of his youngest he will set up its gates.’”  Nobody dared to rebuild the city likely because of this curse, but when King Ahab reigned, we hear about how Hiel of Bethel decided to rebuild Jericho.  He did this at the cost of his firstborn and his youngest son.  Hiel willingly defied God even though he knew it could cost him his children.  How decrepit of a generation and people that would be willing to sacrifice their children for their own gain!  King Ahab did not stop him, even though, he was the king.  He did not fight back or reject what was done but likely supported him in doing so.  And even if he didn’t support him, he didn’t stop it.  We must be careful not to support evil or even just be silent in the face of it.  We must stand up to what is evil and stop it. 

King Ahab was an evil ruler over Israel, and the people of Israel would eventually fall for his sin.  They would experience a famine for three years for their sin.  They would lose to many enemies.  They would eventually suffer the wrath of God.  All because an evil king allowed for evil to continue in his country.  But even with all this wrongdoing, he did leave us something important – a lesson of what not to do.  Let us be careful not to act like Ahab lest we be remembered for being worse than all those who were before us.