Zacchaeus in the Tree

Five-minute object lesson

Prop: a chair that can be a tree

Hold up a chair that can be a tree. In about five minutes, tell the class this: A short tax collector climbs a tree, and Jesus invites himself to dinner and changes a greedy heart. Show the prop and ask, “What does this have to do with Zacchaeus in the Tree?” Let two children answer. Then read Luke 19:10 together: “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost.”” Close by asking one child to say the lesson back in their own words, using the prop.

Story script

Zacchaeus was a chief tax collector in Jericho, and he was rich in a way that hurt people. He was also short. When Jesus was passing through, Zacchaeus wanted to see him and could not see over the crowd. He ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree. Important men do not usually climb trees. Wanting Jesus made him forget to look dignified.

Jesus looked up. “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” The crowd muttered that Jesus was going to be the guest of a sinner. Zacchaeus stood up and said he would give half of what he owned to the poor and pay back four times anyone he had cheated.

Jesus said, “Today salvation has come to this house. The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” A changed wallet was a sign of a changed heart.

You do not have to clean yourself up before Jesus looks up into your tree. He seeks. When he finds you, honesty follows: give back, make right, open the door. That is what being found looks like.

Open the bedtime version