Luke 19:9 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham.”
Have you ever wondered about the structure of a building when you passed it on the street or gazed at a picture of it online? How did they get that shape of a building to stay standing? Who would want a house with that shape? Boy, that thing is ugly!
We often look at something and wonder about what lays underneath the surface. Curiosity is one of the traits of humanity that connects us to God. He created all the possibilities that exist, and we as His Images here on Earth, continue to look and see the structures that He has made and bring them under our guidance and control. We take charge of the structures, just as God took charge of the chaos of Genesis chapter One.
Sometimes the structure of what we read is is obvious. Poetry in the English language has rhyme and rhythm. Roses are red, violets are blue. Oranges are sweet, and so are you. You recognize the structure and that helps you understand what is being said.
But sometimes the structure is hidden, or not quite as obvious. Sometimes the structure spans a large portion of the work, and can be missed altogether.
I think this happens for most people as they read this text, our text for today. What is the structure and how does it help us understand what Jesus is saying?
The first hint of the structure and meaning come from the use of the word “salvation” here. This word, and its related noun, is only used in chapters one through three and here in chapter nineteen. If appears repeatedly in the book of Acts, or as it might be titled: Luke Part II.
As we look at the places (1:71, 77; 2:30; 3:6; 19:9; Acts 4:12; 7:25; 13:26, 47; 16:17; 27:34; 28:28) where it is used in the first three chapters of Luke we see a pattern. Salvation in Luke’s understanding involves rescue from the perils of an enemy, forgiveness of sin, salvation in the physical person of the infant Jesus, and in the words quoted in connection to John the Baptist’s ministry written by Isaiah the Prophet, centuries before the event. God is making the path back to God’s way of life smooth and clear, and in the process, everyone, “all people” will see God’s “salvation”.
So with these previous meanings in mind, Luke spans almost the whole book before he speaks of salvation like this again. In the intervening chapters, Luke uses the verb form eleven times, showing what saving looks like in practical life. In fact, the very next verse uses the verb form “to save the lost”.
The context of our current verse is interesting. Jesus is eating with the worst of the worst of His day. The man was a tax collector, which means he was a thief, an extortionist, corrupt, able to be bribed, and always on the take. And Jesus eats a meal with him.
This bottom of the barrel man, morally speaking, responds to Jesus presence with true repentance. He is filthy rich and he gives it up. He makes things right.
And when he does, Jesus proclaims that salvation has come! Even this man, whose name means “pure” or “innocent” in Hebrew, who has so marred God’s image of Himself in him through the corruption that money can bring, even he can have salvation! This man most likely born to Jewish parents and named pure or innocent, turned out the opposite of his parent’s desires and hopes.
But Jesus brings what was promised in the first three chapters of Luke’s gospel. Salvation is not an act. Salvation is a person. We seen that person acting in the middle of the book and onward, but for Zacchaeus, Salvation came and ate at his house, and he was changed.
That is the reason Jesus came, to seek and save the lost. And this section is the beginning of the shift toward the Cross in Luke. Salvation in the person of Jesus, just as was promised at the beginning of the Gospel.
The Arnold Journey 