Zacchaeus

A Story of unearned, unmerited, free Grace...
 
Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through.  A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy.  He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd.  So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.
 
When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately.  I must stay at your house today.”  So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.
 
All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a ‘sinner.’ ”
 
But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord!  Here and now I give half my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anyone out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”
 
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 19:1-10 (NIV)
 
 
What a powerful story of Jesus working, healing, redeeming and freeing!  What a powerful story about one man's faith, his resulting repentance, his complete forgiveness and his total re-birth into a new man! 

Instead of commentary normally found after a story like this, we rather invite you to jump right into this.  What new realizations will you have about Jesus?  Will you find any similarities between you and Zacchaeus? 


PAUSE … Quiet yourself in His love and invite Him to be with you. 
 
 
REFLECT … Some questions for you…
 
1) Did wealth and status satisfy Zacchaeus?
 
2) What was Zacchaeus thinking and feeling that day?  Was he thinking about the mess he had made of his life?  Was he trying to figure out how a change might happen to him, a change which could put him on a new path? 

3) Was he alone in a crowd?  Did he have any hope?
 
4) What would pressure him to figure out where Jesus was going, and how to find a tree he could climb?
 
5) Might Jesus have been “looking up” all along the walk, or just when Zacchaeus came into view?
 
6) Find the words “immediately” and “must”.  What do these words imply?

7) Before Jesus came to town, how was Father God working with Zacchaeus to prepare his heart?

8) Why do you suppose Jesus choose Zaccaeus to have lunch with, when there might have been hundreds of people in the crowd?  What prompted Jesus in this story?
 
 
Rewrite … Zacchaeus thought of himself as a tax collector, an outcast rejected by others for the harm he had caused.   But Jesus offered friendship to him, thereby rewriting all of Zacchaeus self-perceptions. 
 
Revive … Consider how this offer of special friendship changed the life of Zacchaeus, and how it led to him wanting to make amends.  His life was totally revived; he was isolated and without hope no longer!  Can you begin to see Jesus as a real friend in your life?
 
Redeem … After meeting Jesus and visiting with Him, there was a remarkably total change in Zacchaeus.  His patterns of thinking and his future actions were never to be the same as in his past.
 
 
RECEIVE ...
 
Meeting Jesus changed Zacchaeus completely, and this same change can happen to you!  Invite Him to your house for lunch!


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