Zacchaeus, Come Down From the Tree
Month 8: The Heart of Jesus · Bible Story
Today's Scripture
Read together: Luke 19:1-10
1 Then Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 And there was a man named Zacchaeus, a chief tax collector, who was very wealthy. 3 He was trying to see who Jesus was, but could not see over the crowd because he was small in stature. 4 So he ran on ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see Him, since Jesus was about to pass that way. 5 When Jesus came to that place, He looked up and said, “Zacchaeus, hurry down, for I must stay at your house today.” 6 So Zacchaeus hurried down and welcomed Him joyfully. 7 And all who saw this began to grumble, saying, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinful man!” 8 But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, half of my possessions I give to the poor, and if I have cheated anyone, I will repay it fourfold.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man too is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
Memory Verse
“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.””— Luke 19:10 (BSB)memorize this week
📖 Bible-in-a-Year (optional)
Today's reading: Jeremiah 9-11
Reading the whole Bible in a year — do this when you have extra time. (Jeremiah weeps over a people who would not come home — and Jesus came to bring them home.)The Heart of It
Zacchaeus was a man nobody liked. He was a chief tax collector, and he had grown rich by cheating his own neighbors. He was also short, and the crowd was happy to block his view. But when Jesus came to Jericho, something pulled at Zacchaeus' heart. So he did something undignified for a wealthy man. He ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree just to see Jesus pass by. He only wanted a glimpse. Jesus gave him so much more. Out of a whole crowd, Jesus stopped, looked up, and called him by name: "Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house."
Notice that Jesus didn't wait for Zacchaeus to clean up his life first. He invited Himself in while Zacchaeus was still the town cheat. And that welcome is exactly what changed him. By the end of the day, Zacchaeus was giving half his goods to the poor and paying back four times what he had stolen. Salvation came to that house, not because Zacchaeus earned it, but because he received the One who came looking for him. That is the whole reason Jesus came: "the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost." Jesus is not a Savior who waits to be found. He is a Savior who searches.
Around the Table
Zacchaeus was too short to see Jesus, so he climbed a tree! And Jesus called him by name. Jesus knows YOUR name too.
Let's do it: Stand on your tiptoes and reach up high — then say, "Jesus, I want to see You!"
Everyone thought Jesus shouldn't go to a cheater's house. Why do you think Jesus went anyway?
Let's talk: Has someone ever been kind to you before you deserved it? How did it make you feel?
Jesus loved Zacchaeus first, and that love is what changed how he lived. It didn't happen the other way around. Real change flows out of being welcomed by Jesus.
Let's go deeper: Why does trying to be "good enough" first never work? What does Zacchaeus' story show about how God actually changes a heart?
💬 Conversation Starter
If Jesus said He was coming to OUR house for dinner tonight, what's the first thing you'd want to do?— Good news: He already loves you just as you are.
🛡️ Defending the Faith
Some say Jesus only cared about respectable, religious people. The Gospels say the opposite: He was famous for welcoming tax collectors and sinners (). A Savior who seeks the lost is exactly the kind we needed — and exactly the kind the record shows us.
For Dad · Go Deeper
It's worth sitting with the verbs. Jesus came to seek and to save. The seeking comes first. Our gracious God takes the initiative toward people who would never have climbed high enough on their own. Yet Zacchaeus still had to come down and welcome Him, freely and gladly. Grace went looking, and faith answered. That's the Arminian heartbeat of the gospel. God reaches out to all, and His grace genuinely enables a real response we are responsible to make. Dad, beware the quiet temptation to act like the grumbling crowd. It whispers that certain people are too far gone. Maybe a wandering relative. Maybe a hard neighbor. Maybe even a difficult child. But the God you serve climbed down into our world to find the unfindable. Lead your home to expect Him to do it again.
Draws on: Darrell Bock, Luke (NIV Application Commentary).
Let's Pray Together
"Jesus, thank You that You came to seek us and save us, even when we were lost. Thank You for knowing our names. Thank You for loving us first. Make our home a place that welcomes people the way You welcomed Zacchaeus. In Jesus' name, amen."
Jesus came looking for me. He knows my name, and He loves me first.