BIBLE STUDY LESSON 16

SERIES S --- THE SON OF YHVH

TREES AND TALENTS

ZACCHEUS

From Matthew 20:29-34; Mark 10:46-52; Luke 18:35-19:28

As Yeshua left one part of Jericho and approached another, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus, son of Timaeus, sat with a blind companion along the road. Crowds were swarming around Yeshua, but when the blind men heard that Yeshua was coming, they cried out to Him. [Adonai, have mercy on us, son of David!] Yeshua stopped and called for them to be brought to Him. [What should I do for you?] He asked. [Open our eyes that we may see,] they answered. Yeshua touched them and immediately they could see. They gave YHVH praise and followed after Him. Later, as Yeshua was passing through Jericho, a wealthy tax collector named Zacchaeus was trying to see Yeshua, but he was too short and could not see above the others in the crowd. He ran ahead and climbed into a sycamore tree beside the road that Yeshua was traveling so that he might see Him. When Yeshua arrived at the tree, He looked up at Zacchaeus. [Come down, Zacchaeus,] Yeshua said, [for I want to visit with you at your home.] Zacchaeus hurried down from the tree and happily invited Yeshua to his home. Some of the people were displeased with this. [Yeshua is going to a sinner’s home as his guest,] they said. Zacchaeus, however, was sorry for his sins. [Adonai, half of my possessions I will give to the poor,] he told Yeshua. [And if I have cheated anyone, I will repay him four times as much as I took.] [Salvation has come to this house today,] Yeshua said. [I have come to seek and to save those who are lost, like this descendant of Abraham.] Later, as Yeshua approached Jerusalem, He told a parable to help the disciples realize that the Kingdom of YHVH would not appear immediately. [A very important man once travelled to another part of the kingdom to become its ruler. Before he left, he gave each of his ten assistants a large sum of money to invest for him. [Some of the local people rebelled against this appointed ruler and sent a delegation to say that they did not want him to rule over them, But the man was put over them and then returned to his home territory. He called for his ten assistants and asked how they had used his money and what they had gained with it. [The first assistant came before him and said, ‘Master, I have earned ten times your original investment,’ to which the ruler said, ‘Good work! You have been a faithful assistant, so I will put you over ten cities.’ The second assistant reported that he had earned five times as much as the original investment, to which the ruler said, ‘I will put you over five cities.’ Another assistant came before the ruler, but he had only the original amount. ‘I have kept this hidden in a handkerchief,’ he said. ‘I was afraid to invest it, for you are a harsh man, taking what is not yours and gathering from other people’s harvests. Here is your money back.’ ‘You say I am harsh,’ the ruler replied. ‘You will be judged by your own words. If you thought I was that harsh and demanding, why then did you not put this money in a bank and let it earn some interest for me?’ Then this ruler turned to some who stood nearby and ordered, ‘Take this from him and give it to the man who earned ten times as much for me.’ ‘But he already has so much,’ they protested. This is true, but it is also true that to those who have much, more will be given, and those who have little will sometimes have to give up what they have. The new ruler will also say, ‘Take the enemies who rejected me as their ruler and execute them in my presence.’] After this parable, Yeshua went on, walking up toward Jerusalem.

COMMENTARY

JERICHO

Jericho, once a fortified Canaanite city, had become the winter playground of Israel’s kings by New Testament times. Herod built a palace for himself among its palms where he could enjoy the warm breezes that blew even during the winter months. Many noblemen and wealthy citizens followed the king to this fashionable resort. They built luxurious winter homes near the royal residence where they could escape the cold Jerusalem nights. For the wealthy citizens of Jericho, life was made pleasant with trips to Herod’s theatre and walks through the royal gardens. But for the poor, Jericho offered little comfort. All of the city’s riches were in the hands of a few wealthy men, while the rest of the people lived in poverty. The poor laboured for the king and the aristocracy, and when the rich returned to Jerusalem at the beginning of spring, the poor were left behind to endure the intense heat of the summer months. Jericho’s tropical climate provided ideal growing conditions for the large balsam groves that flourished outside the city. Although they originally belonged to Cleopatra, the queen of Egypt had sold them to Herod for a large sum of money. The trees yielded a highly valued ointment treasured during Bible times for its great healing power. North of Herod’s balsam groves, a large mound of earth rose abruptly out of the plain, marking the site of the Old Testament city of Jericho. As the people of each generation built upon the ruins of previous inhabitants of the city, the mound continued to grow. But by Yeshua’ time, ancient Jericho had long been abandoned and a new city built some distance away, on the plain. No one wanted to rebuild ancient Jericho because Joshua’s curse still lay over its ruins. The new Jericho lay on the Roman road that led to Jerusalem. Its location made it a bustling, thriving city. People on their way to worship at the temple in Jerusalem stopped there. So did merchants travel the caravan route between Damascus and Arabia. It was this road Yeshua took as He passed through Jericho on His way to Jerusalem.