X Marks the Spot

Welcome to all of you, I am so glad you are here today, in this place and in that spot, because I believe that God has a word specifically for you. And so, if you’d like to follow along, turn with me in your Bibles to Mark chapter 10, and we’re going to begin at verse 46. We’re going to go on the road with Jesus. We are taking a journey this morning, defining discipleship and discovering purpose, and so we’re going to end up in Luke chapter 19. It’s the same road, on the same journey, from two different perspectives. One is low, down on the ground, and the other is high up in a tree, but these passages are similar because they’re part of the same journey.

These passages are predictable in this season, because they’re on the same road, and we know that Jesus has his heart set on going to Jerusalem. We are approaching Palm Sunday and Jesus has his face set toward Jerusalem. He said,

“I rejoiced with those who said to me, "Let us go to the house of the Lord" (Psalms 122:1).

Let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of God, and there is no stopping him now. He knew that to go to Jerusalem was a death sentence, but he also knew that even though the grass withers and the flowers fall, the word of our God stands forever (Isaiah 40:8). And so, he’s on this road and the disciples were following him faithfully, because they had agreed with Thomas who said,

“Let us also go, that we may die with him" (John 11:16).

And so, there was a certain amount of anxiety among the disciples, because there was this ominous feeling in the air, but in spite of their concerns they were confident. After all, they had seen Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead, they were there when the Pharisees tried to trap him and he alluded their grasp. The disciples saw him come walking to them on the water in the middle of the night; and so, they had been with him in countless impossible situations and circumstances and seen miracle after miracle.

And yet, this was a defining moment in their lives, because the real test of discipleship is not walking with somebody on the mountaintop but walking with them in the valley of the shadow of death. You know, down low in the garden of Gethsemane, enduring the intense anxiety of imminent suffering, and praying with him as he is sweating drops of blood. This was a defining moment for the disciples, they were discovering their purpose, and to abandon him now would have been both shameful and inexcusable. But tensions were high, and the disciples were on edge, as we turn to Mark chapter 10, verse 46, which tells us,

“As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (that is, the Son of Timaeus), was sitting by the roadside begging" (Mark 10:46).

“When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" (Mark 10:47).

“Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" (Mark 10:48).

You know, if somebody catches you at the wrong time, on the wrong day, it doesn’t matter who you are, you can be a disciple of Jesus, and you just might rebuke them. The disciples are on their way to Jerusalem, leaving Jericho when they come upon a blind man who was shouting for Jesus, making quite a commotion, and they told him to shut up. And I think the reason why the disciples snapped at him, why they responded to Bartimaeus the way they did is because they were stressed out. They were through with healing people, they didn’t have time for it, they were on their way to Jerusalem and were trying to process their own mortality.

Feeling the threat of imminent death, they told him to be quiet, just like they asked Jesus to send the Canaanite woman away, because they said,

“She keeps crying out after us" (Matthew 15:23).

And so, they’re worried, anxious, stressed out, because they don’t know how this story is going to end, but Jesus stopped.

I love this because it’s such a wonderful illustration of God’s grace. You know, when we are confronted with our weaknesses, our contradictions, and the realization that we fall short of who God called us to be. And it’s in that situation, that moment, that Jesus stopped and said,

“Call him." So, they called to the blind man, "Cheer up! On your feet! He's calling you." Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus” (Mark 10:49-50).

The title for today’s message is “X Marks the Spot” and I want to encourage you to find that spot, get in position, because Jesus is coming. In other words, I want to push you, give you a nudge, encouraging you to do whatever you’ve got to do, whatever you’ve got to endure, whatever you’ve got to press through, because none of that is going to matter when you find that spot.

Blind Bartimaeus was in his spot when Jesus said, “Call him.” So, they said to Bartimaeus, “Cheer up! On your feet! Jesus is calling you.” The question we need to ask ourselves is, “If Jesus is coming, if he is calling you, are you in the spot?”

I have taken the time to build this up, because I want you to know that Jesus is coming your way. As we are approaching Passion week and Easter Sunday Jesus is coming your way. The angel asked the disciples,

“Men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking into the sky?” “This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven" (Acts 1:11).

Jesus is coming! That’s where blind Bartimaeus finds himself, he’s not pressing through the crowd, but he just happens to be in the right spot. And like the Canaanite woman we looked at the past week, or the woman who have been subject to bleeding for 12 years, in spite of all that is distinctive about their stories, they’re all in the same position, they all have a similar problem. Each one of them had been rejected by their people, ostracized by their own, alienated from their friends and family, when they discover that Jesus is coming their way. Each one of them had the faith to believe that an encounter with Jesus, to be in the path of Jesus, is all that they needed.

Blind Bartimaeus hears that “Jesus is coming!” and he believes that an encounter with Jesus would be life changing. He believes that his miracle is on its way, and even though he can’t see, he throws off his cloak and jumps to his feet.

"What do you want me to do for you?" Jesus asked him. The blind man said, "Rabbi, I want to see." "Go," said Jesus, "your faith has healed you." Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road” (Mark 10:51-52).

Now, let’s pause there for a moment and put this in context, because Bartimaeus has been healed, he joins the disciples following Jesus along the road. But Jesus himself is on a journey, he’s on a death march to Jerusalem, and everything he’s ever taught was about to go on trial. Every statement he’s ever made was about to be tested and tried by the nails in his hands, the nails in his feet, and the piercing in his side. And so, you could say, this is where the rubber meets the road, as Mark tells us,

“Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city" (Mark 10:46).

Now, Jesus is continuing on his way toward Jerusalem, knowing that the only way he can validate who he is and what he said is to be strong enough to lay down his life. That’s what he said, that’s what he preached,

“I lay down my life — only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again" (John 10:17-18).

And so, Jesus is on the road again, this was a familiar road for Jesus, but this time it’s unlike any other road that we will ever see him on.

This is a road of vulnerability and any time you have to make yourself vulnerable to be successful it’s difficult. And it doesn’t matter how many people are around you if they don’t know who you really are. But when the crowd is gone our vulnerability becomes the canvas where we can be authentic, where we can be real, be who we really are. That’s where we discover purpose, but we’re so much better at hiding our vulnerability, hiding in the crowd, than we are at being transparent and making ourselves vulnerable.

Turn with me to Luke chapter 19, because I want to go further down this path, deeper on this road. Jesus is on the road, traveling to Jerusalem, and Luke picks up in chapter 19 where Mark left off. Two different perspectives, but Jesus is still on the road, he is still headed toward the cross, and this is not a time when he needed any distractions. But it was there on the road that Luke tells us in verse two,

“A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy” (Luke 19:2).

“He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man, he could not, because of the crowd” (Luke 19:3).

Now, only rarely does the Bible tell us about the physical characteristics of an individual, and so I thought there must be some reason why the Holy Spirit would take time to point out to us that Zacchaeus was short. You know, as if it were some sort of disadvantage, that he was smaller, and so maybe from his childhood he would’ve been more likely to be picked on and bullied. In contrast to the example of Saul of whom the Bible says, he was an impressive young man without equal among the Israelites — a head taller than any of the others” (1 Samuel 9:2).

And so, we understand Zacchaeus was short, he may have grown up disadvantaged because of his size. And we also know about his job, that he was a tax collector, and so he was an outcast. He was disliked, an outsider, because he exploited his own people by collecting taxes for Rome.

I wonder if there are any of you here who can relate? Maybe you have never been able to fit in no matter what you did. And so, you were kept out of the country club, you were not welcome at the barbershop, because you just didn’t match up. You didn’t fit and the truth of the matter is that each one of you like Zacchaeus are vertically challenged, because the Bible says, “All have sinned and fall what?” “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

I wonder if there are any people in here today who will admit that you are short? The Holy Spirit says that all have sinned and fall short and so this message is for those who fall short. You fall short as a son, and you fall short as a daughter. You’re doing the best you can with what you’ve got, but every day you’ve got to deal with the fact that you’ve fallen short of the glory of God.

That was Zacchaeus, he had to reach higher, he had to stand on his tiptoes, he had to fight harder, do what he had to do to compensate, because he was short. And those of you who are honest, those of you who are real, have to admit that you’re short too. Some of you, I know maybe your ego won’t allow you to admit it, but your wife knows it, your children know it, your best friend knows it, and so you might as well repent. Because the Bible says,

“All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

Zacchaeus was short, he knew he fell short, and so he dressed up more, he got shoes with heels, he tried to stand up taller, tried to be more distinguished, tried to act more intellectual, because he didn’t want you to see that he fell short.

But then one day he heard some gossip, he heard that Jesus was coming on the road leading to Jerusalem. It was that time of the year, just before the holy week, when thousands upon thousands of pilgrims were making their way to Jerusalem. And so, Zacchaeus decides, I may be short, I may be rejected, but if Jesus is coming, I want to get in the right spot. He said, I want to find a spot where shortness doesn’t matter.

You know, isn’t that why we worship like we do, because nobody measures the height of the worshiper. When we gather together as the church, you get all kinds of people worshiping, because worship makes up the difference between where I want to be and where I am. And so, when you worship the Bible says,

“Let the afflicted hear and rejoice. Glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt his name together. I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears” (Psalms 34:2-4).

And so, if you’re feeling kind of short, if you’ve fallen short this morning, you need to get in the right spot and give God some praise. You may not be there yet, but like Paul said,

“One thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal…” (Philippians 3:13-14).

And so, I want to encourage you to lift up his name and give him the glory, because even though you may be short, when you begin to give God the praise you start standing taller.

This morning, you’re on the right road, you’re going the right direction, you may not see him now, but Jesus is coming. He is headed your direction, he is coming up your street, he’s coming into your circumstances, he’s coming into your pain, he’s coming into your crisis, he’s coming into your shortness. Here he comes! And so, Zachariah ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way” (Luke 19:4).

He had been trying to fight this by himself, trying to compensate, but he had fallen short time and time again. Now he determined that he was going to get in the right spot, because this could be his opportunity. He knew that something had to change. He was tired of being an outsider, tired of being hated, tired of being disrespected. If he could just get God’s attention.

And so, Zacchaeus decided to do something radical. The Bible says he climbed a tree to get positioned in the right place, to be certain that he was in the right spot, and I believe that if we position ourselves right, if we get in the right place, we’ll have an encounter with Jesus too.

I want you to notice that Jesus didn’t come to the woman who’d been subject to bleeding for 12 years, but she was in the right place. In other words, Jesus didn’t come to blind Bartimaeus, he was just in the right place. In the same way, Abraham didn’t climb Mount Moriah looking for a ram, he was looking for a place. And when he came to that spot, you see, whenever you get in the spot, your blessing will come to the spot.

Look at verse five with me. The Bible says, “When Jesus reached the spot.” In other words, Jesus came to that spot, and when he reached the spot, Zacchaeus was already there. It’s important that we understand that we don’t have to be taller, we don’t have to be smarter, all we have to do is get in the right spot.

Like the Lord told Abraham, go to the place I will show you,

“Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about" (Genesis 22:2).

In other words, you can’t just be on any mountain, you’ve got to be on the right mountain, in the right place. And so, while Abraham was coming up one side, his answer was coming up the other side, and at just the right moment,

“Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son” (Genesis 22:13).

You see, when you get in the right place, the provision is in that spot, the ram was right there in that spot. Now, Abraham didn’t know it, he didn’t know what was coming up the other side, but faith is not about what you know, it’s about being in the right spot.

Some of you, the only reason you got as far as you did, the only reason you are where you are is because you’re in the right spot. When Jesus reached the spot, verse five says, he looked up and saw Zacchaeus hanging in the tree and he said to him,

"Zacchaeus, come down immediately" (Luke 19:5).

In other words, don’t come down when you’re ready, don’t come down gradually, but hurry, make haste, come down immediately.

He said, you’ve got to come down so that I can go up. Zacchaeus couldn’t hang in the tree because he was a sinner, he couldn’t redeem anybody, it had to be a righteous man who would die for sinners, and so we’re getting a shadow, a sneak peek at substitution. And that’s what God wants, he wants to trade places with you, but some of you won’t come down out of your tree, because you don’t want anybody to see that you are short.

You see, it was that very thing that Zacchaeus was hiding that God wanted to see. And so, he was up in the tree acting like he was tall, but God knew that he wasn’t tall. And so, he said, “If you get down, if you’ll humble yourself, if you come down out of your tree. I’m going to stay at your house today.”

“So (Zacchaeus) came down at once and welcomed him gladly” (Luke 19:5-6).

But just as quickly as Zacchaeus came down out of the tree, everybody began talking about Zacchaeus, murmuring about how could Jesus stay with somebody like him? And so, “All the people saw this and began to mutter,” like Jesus didn’t know that he was a sinner, like he didn’t know that he was a tax collector, and they said,

“He has gone to be the guest of a 'sinner" (Luke 19:7).

In other words, God was revealing himself on the road, but he didn’t reveal himself to everybody. Zacchaeus saw what they couldn’t see, he knew what they didn’t know because the Bible says,

“The Lord confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them” (Psalms 25:14).

You see, there are some things that God will only show to people that respect him, people that fear him, and show him reverence. And so, you’re here because God has revealed himself to you, you’re not here because you’re so good, you’re not here because you don’t have weakness, you’re here because God revealed himself to you.

Zacchaeus stood up before all of his guests and said to the Lord,

“Look, Lord! Here and now, I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount" (Luke 19:8).

In other words, he got it. Zacchaeus got it, he said, “Yes, I am short, I fall short,” and he repented because he understood. His neighbors didn’t get it, because they don’t see what he saw, they don’t have the same experience, and they don’t understand what he understood. But Zacchaeus was just trying to be the best version of what God created him to be and he didn’t let his neighbors intimidate him.

“Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost." (Luke 19:9-10).

As I close this morning’s message, we are going to celebrate the Lord’s supper together and I wonder if there is anybody who’s got the courage to come down out of the tree. Maybe for you the tree is you look good, the tree makes you look tall, the tree makes you feel important, and for some of you the tree has become your idol. And so, are you going to continue holding onto your tree, hanging in your tree, or will you trust Jesus with your shortness?

Listen, the prophet Isaiah said,

“He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5).

It was for this purpose that Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil. He didn’t come to destroy sinners, to condemn sinners, but he came to seek and to save what was lost. He came to destroy the works of the enemy and that’s why we praise him like we do. Would you worship with me?

Graphics, notes, and commentary from LifeChurch, Ministry Pass, PC Study Bible, Preaching Library, and Sermon Central. Scripture from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.