~ Zacchaeus ~
The Little Man who Climbed into a Tree to see Jesus
Luke 19:1-28
"Zacchaeus," said Jesus, "come down at once, for today I must stop at your house."
There was living in Jericho at the time a rich man named Zacchaeus, and he was chief among the publicans. He had never seen Jesus, and when the news came that Jesus was passing through Jericho on his way to attend the Passover Feast in Jerusalem, Zacchaeus determined that he would try to see this wonderful man. So down to the highway Zacchaeus went, hurrying along with the gathering crowd; for Jesus was to pass that way.
But Zacchaeus did not stop when the crowd stood still. He hurried a little farther on, and there he climbed into a sycamore tree, which grew by the roadside. From this place he knew he could surely see Jesus when he passed by. If he had remained in the crowd he could not have seen the wonderful man from Galilee, for Zacchaeus was not so tall as the other people about him.
Soon the travelers bound for Jerusalem came down the road, and the people of Jericho, who had gathered to watch them pass looked eagerly to catch a glimpse of Jesus. On the travelers went till they came to the sycamore-tree, and here Jesus and his disciples stood still. Then Jesus looked up into the tree and saw Zacchaeus clinging to its branches and gazing down upon him.
"Zacchaeus," said Jesus, "come down at once, for today I must stop at your house."
How surprised Zacchaeus was to hear these words! He had hoped to catch at least a glimpse of Jesus; now he could take this wonderful man into his home and talk face to face with him.
With a joyful heart Zacchaeus led the way to his home, to entertain Jesus and his disciples there. And as they went, others followed, some finding fault because Jesus was going to stop in the home of a publican, whom they called a sinful man. The Pharisees would not enter such a house, for they despised people they called sinners and would not be friendly with them.
Although Zacchaeus was a publican his heart had been changed by the kind words of Jesus. So he stood up before Jesus and said, "Behold, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor, and if I have in my business dealing taken more from any man than I should have taken, I give him back four times as much as I took from him."
Jesus was pleased with Zacchaeus; for he knew this publican really had been changed in his heart. And he said, "Today salvation is come to your house, for the Son of man is come to seek and to save those who are lost." He had known about this publican who longed to see him, and he had sought for Zacchaeus. Now he would grant him forgiveness because Zacchaeus had received him gladly, and had confessed his willingness to make his wrong right.
Others stood by listening, and Jesus took this time to teach them another parable, or story-sermon. He knew the people were expecting the kingdom of heaven to be set up soon like an earthly kingdom, so he told them a story to show them what the kingdom of heaven is like. He said:
"A certain nobleman went away to a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to be made the ruler of it. Before leaving home he gave a sum of money, called a pound, to each of his ten servants and commanded them to use the money till his return.
"After some time the nobleman came back again, having received the crown and the kingdom in that far-away country. Then he called his ten servants and asked them how they had used the money he had given to them before he went away.
"The first servant came to him bringing ten pieces of money, and saying, 'I traded with the pound you gave me, and I have gained these ten pounds.' The nobleman was pleased with that servant and said to him, 'Because you have done this, I will give you the rule of ten cities in my kingdom.'
"Next came a servant who had gained five pounds by using the money the nobleman had given him. And the nobleman was pleased with him also, and said, 'To you I will give the rule of five cities in the kingdom which I have received.'
"Then came the third servant, bringing only one pound, the same one that the nobleman had given him before he went away. 'Here is your pound,' the servant said, 'I have kept it wrapped in this napkin all the while you were away for fear I might lose it. I know you are a harsh master, taking up what you do not lay down and reaping what you do not sow.' With this servant the nobleman was much displeased. He answered, 'If you know I am a harsh master, why did you not put my money into a bank that I might have it and its gains at my return?' Then he commanded those who stood by to take the one pound away from the unfaithful servant and give it to the one having ten pounds.
"The servants were surprised, and they said, 'Lord, he has ten pounds, why give him more?' But the nobleman answered, 'To every one who uses what he has, more shall be given; but those who refuse to use what is given to them shall have their own taken away.'"
~ Who's Goes That Tree? ~
Once upon a time many years ago there was a tree named Sid. Sid got his name because he was very tall sycamore tree that grew beside a road that led into a large city named Jericho. Now Jericho was a city that had high walls around it but Sid was so tall he could see right over the walls into the city.
Now back in that time the road to Jericho was very busy. Lots of people were always going into and out of the city right past Sid and Sid used to love to listen to them talk as they pasted by. In fact listening to people was Sid's 2nd favorite thing to do. His most favorite thing was to be climbed by people but this didn't happen very often because all the people were too busy coming and going to be climbing trees so Sid just settled for listening to the travelers as they pasted by.
One day as Sid was listening he heard two men taking about a man called Jesus who did some really amazing things like walk on water, calm storms and feed 5000 people with just one little sack lunch. Pretty soon lots of people who passed by were talking about this amazing man. Some said he was "the Messiah", a word they used back then that meant "the Savior" but other people said he was just a crazy man who was tricking people into following him to get their money. Sid wondered which was true.
Now Sid wasn’t the only one who lived near Jericho and wondered about Jesus. See back in those days you had to pay some money (called a tax) when you entered a city and Jericho had a tax collector that stood at the city gate. His name was Zacchaeus.
Nobody liked Zacchaeus because he was a tax collector and just like today, people back then didn’t like to give their money to the government. To make matters worse, Zacchaeus was also a cheat. He regularly over-charged the people and kept the extra money for himself. When Zacchaeus heard about this man Jesus he too wondered if this man was really the Savior that God's word had promised would come or whether he was just a con man like himself. Well as things happened he wouldn't have to wait long to find out.
A few days later, a crowd started to gather outside the city gates on the road. Sid thought there must be a parade or something coming because the crowd was lining both side of the street. He listened very hard to the noisy crowd to try and hear what they were waiting for and soon he had his answer as he over heard a woman telling her son to be patient because Jesus would some come by. The crowd was their to see Jesus, Jesus was coming to Jericho Sid thought. Finally I will be able to see for myself if this man is really the Savior. Zacchaeus was there in the crowd as well, also very anxious to see Jesus but he was a very short man and could not see over the bigger people in the crowd.
About a half hour passed and then coming up the road Sid saw a group of men following someone. This must be Jesus he thought and as he approached Sid tried hard to watch his every move and hear his every word - but suddenly Sid shuddered! His attention turned away from Jesus back to himself for something had interrupted him. .. a man was climbing his trunk!
Now remember that being climbed on was Sid most favorite thing and as he watched the short little man climb up into his branches he got so excited that he almost forgot about Jesus. I suppose he would have except as Jesus passed by below he suddenly stopped, looked up into Sid and said "Zacchaeus, please come down for I'm going to your house today".
Zacchaeus, Zacchaeus, Sid thought, so that's who climbed up into my branches. It was that tax collector that cheats everyone. Well he though at least now I know who Jesus is. If he's going to Zacchaeus's house he must be a cheat just like him. A Savior wouldn’t go to a tax collectors house he thought. This is also what the people in the crowd were saying as they walked back into the city.
Now Zacchaeus's house was very close to the city's wall and being so tall, Sid was able to watch Jesus as he and Zacchaeus arrived at Zacchaeus's house and what he saw that day he would never forget. For when they arrived he saw Zacchaeus fall on his knees and call Jesus his Lord. Then Zacchaeus admitted that he cheated people and offered to pay back everyone he had stolen from 4x what he had taken. On hearing this Jesus declared that Zacchaeus was saved from death and told him that he was sent to seek out those who were lost and save them.
It seemed that the crowd had been wrong. This man Jesus was not a swindler or a crazy man. He was not interested in Zacchaeus because he was good or bad. He was interest in him because he was seperated from God because of his sins and needed to be saved from death. Zacchaeus reponded to Jesus message of love and he repented. He decided to stop doing wrong, start doing right and to repay those he stole from.
As the sun went down that evening, Sid thought a lot about what he had seen. Why had this little man been chosen by Jesus that day. Why him all the way up in a tree and not the others closer in the crowd. As he replayed the days events back in his mind, Sid realized that it was Zacchaeus who was so interested in learning about Jesus that he was willing overcome any obstacle just to see him. The others were just curious, but Zacchaeus wanted it so bad he was willing to climb that tree. Zacchaeus was also willing to look into his own heart and admit he was disobeying God. He chose to repent that day and started his journey to God in Heaven.
As Sid the Sycamore stretched out his mighty branches; gave the barest hint of a yawn that ruffled his leaves and then did he fall asleep with the gentle thought that "Surley this man Jesus is the Son of God".