Stories · Luke 19:1–10 · About 15 minutes to read aloud
The Man in the Sycamore Tree
Part 1 · The road to Jericho
Long ago, Jericho was a rich, warm city full of palm trees. Many years before, Joshua had said that whoever rebuilt this city would be under a curse. But one spring day, Someone was coming to Jericho to bring a blessing.
Just outside the city, a blind man sat by the road, begging. He heard a big crowd going by.
Right away the man could see, and he followed Jesus, praising God. Remember him. His story and the next one belong together.
Part 2 · The man nobody liked
In Jericho lived a man named Zacchaeus. His name meant “pure.” But Zacchaeus was the chief tax collector. He collected money for the Roman rulers, and he took extra for himself. Lots of extra.
Zacchaeus was very rich. He was also very lonely.
He had a big house, fancy food, and fine clothes, but no friends. Deep inside, he knew that what he did was wrong. Maybe he wished he could start over, but he didn’t know how.
Part 3 · Too short to see
Zacchaeus wanted to see who Jesus was. But the crowd was huge, and Zacchaeus was short. All he could see were backs and elbows.
So he did something rich, important men never did. He picked up his long robe and ran ahead of the crowd, right down the road.
Beside the road stood a sycamore-fig tree with low, wide branches. Up he went.
Part 4 · Jesus looks up
The crowd came closer and closer. Then Jesus came to that exact spot, and He stopped.
Zacchaeus hurried down as fast as he could and welcomed Jesus with joy.
Part 5 · The grumbling crowd
Everyone who saw it began to grumble.
But Jesus did not mind what the crowd said. He walked right beside Zacchaeus, all the way to his house.
Part 6 · A changed heart
That day Jesus sat at Zacchaeus’s table. Something was happening inside Zacchaeus that no money could buy.
Four times as much! Nobody told him to say that.
Imagine the farmer’s face when Zacchaeus knocked on his door with four times the money he had taken!
Part 7 · Salvation came to this house
The man who climbed a tree to see Jesus found out that Jesus had come to find him.
Next time
A few days after Jericho, Jesus rode into Jerusalem, and the whole city came out to see Him.
Key verse
“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”Luke 19:10 · BSB
Short version to memorize: “The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” (Luke 19:10)
Things to remember
1. Jesus came looking for Zacchaeus first
“Zacchaeus, hurry down, for I must stay at your house today.”Luke 19:5 · BSB
When you get lost in a big store, you look around for Mom. But Mom is looking for you even harder, and she’s the one who finds you. Zacchaeus climbed a tree to look for Jesus, but Jesus was the one who stopped, looked up, and called his name. He knew it before anyone told Him.
2. When Jesus comes in, salvation comes in
“Today salvation has come to this house.”Luke 19:9 · BSB
When you open the curtains in the morning, you don’t let the sun in and then wait for the light to come later. The light comes in with the sun. First Jesus said, “I must stay at your house.” Later He said, “Salvation has come to this house.” Jesus doesn’t bring salvation like a present and then leave. He is the salvation. When He comes in, it comes in.
3. Jesus’s love melts cold hearts
“The Dawn will visit us from on high, to shine on those who live in darkness.”Luke 1:78–79 · BSB
“Look, Lord, half of my possessions I give to the poor.”Luke 19:8 · BSB
Zacchaeus had a cold heart. He loved money more than people, and he was lonely inside. Nobody could make him change. Yelling at him didn’t work, and neither did calling him names. Then Jesus came to his house, like the sun coming out after a long, cold night. Jesus didn’t scold him. He loved him. And Zacchaeus’s cold heart began to melt, all by itself, in the warmth of Jesus. That’s how Jesus changes us. When we stay close to Him, His love warms us, and our hearts get soft and kind.
4. First see, then welcome
“Lord, let me see again.”Luke 18:41 · BSB
The blind man needed his eyes opened before he could follow Jesus. Zacchaeus needed to see who Jesus was before he could welcome Him home. We need both too. First we see who Jesus is, and then we open the door and let Him in.
5. Nobody is too lost for Jesus
“Rejoice with me, for I have found my lost sheep!”Luke 15:6 · BSB
The crowd grumbled, “He’s eating with a sinner!” But a shepherd who loses one sheep goes out looking until he finds it, and then he throws a party. Jesus came to Jericho on purpose, looking for the one person everybody else had given up on.
Go deeper
Zacchaeus promised to pay back “fourfold,” four times as much. That number came from God’s law. Exodus 22:1 says that a thief who stole a sheep had to give back four sheep.
Try it: if Zacchaeus took 5 extra coins from the farmer, how many did he give back? (20.) If he took 12 from the fisherman? (48.)
Zacchaeus didn’t just say sorry. He made it right, and more than right. When Jesus is in our hearts, we want to fix the wrong things we’ve done, too.
Ask: Is there something you need to make right with someone? What would “fourfold” look like?
Talk about it
- Why did people in Jericho dislike Zacchaeus?
- Zacchaeus climbed the tree to see Jesus. Who ended up seeing whom?
- How do you think Zacchaeus felt when Jesus called him by name?
- Why did the crowd grumble? Have you ever grumbled when someone got something you thought they didn’t deserve?
- Jesus said “I must stay at your house,” and later “Salvation has come to this house.” What do those two sentences tell us about Jesus?
- Nobody told Zacchaeus to give his money away. Why do you think he did it?
- How is the blind man’s story connected to Zacchaeus’s story?
- Who is someone people leave out, like Zacchaeus? How could you be kind to them this week?
Do something
- Find me. Play one round of hide-and-seek where Dad is the seeker. Afterward talk about it: who was doing the finding? Jesus came to seek and to find.
- Sun and freezer. Put one ice cube in a bowl in a sunny window. Put another one back in the freezer. Check both after twenty minutes. The one in the freezer is still hard and cold. The one in the sun melted, and nobody had to push it. Talk about it: Where was Zacchaeus’s heart before Jesus came? What happened when Jesus came close? How can we stay “in the sun” with Jesus every day?
- Fourfold math. Use coins or buttons. Take some away from a stuffed animal, then give back four times as many.
Pray
Lord Jesus, thank You that You came looking for Zacchaeus, and that You come looking for us. Thank You that You know our names. Please come into our house and into our hearts, and change us from the inside. Help us to be kind to the people others leave out. Amen.