Year C – Season after Pentecost, Proper 26

November 3, 2013

Year C – Season after Pentecost, Proper 26

Luke 19:1-10 Jesus and Zacchaeus

19 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.”

I'm sure we have all heard the story of Zaccheaus: the greedy tax collector hidden in a tree who gets called down by Jesus and learns the error of his ways. How often do you think of his story in terms of your own life? How many places has Jesus ventured to to seek you out? How far have you run from him? How many places have you tried to hide? This story reminds us that there are no places to hide. Jesus will go wherever is necessary to find us and save us from the error of our ways. Can we look to Zaccheaus to show us how to respond? When Jesus calls us, do we follow? Do we open our houses to him? Do we adjust our lives to show that He is the Lord of our lives?

Here is the lesson and story for those of you who would like to review it with your children this week:

 Jesus was coming to town. Everyone had heard that was coming. People were crowding to the street Jesus would take to get into town. A man named Zacchaeus also wanted to see who Jesus was. Zacchaeus was a very rich man who had gotten very rich by taking money from people. Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus, but Zacchaeus was not very tall, and he could not see anything because there were so many people. "Ah ha!" said Zacchaeus. "I will climb up in that tree and I will be able to see Jesus. I will be able to see Jesus, and he will not be able to see me." Jesus came walking along until he got to the tree. Jesus stopped. Jesus looked up in the tree. "Zacchaeus!" called Jesus. "Come on down out of that tree. I need to come to your house today." "Oh, Wow" said Zacchaeus. "Come to my house and I will be a good man now. I will give half of everything I have to poor people, and if I have cheated anyone, I will pay them back and give them even more." Zacchaeus now wanted to follow with Jesus.

Click here for some great worksheets for 2-4th grade. 

Thank you, Jesus, for being with us and for calling to us when we need you.