Zacchaeus is Scripture's classic example of a man who did a complete 180. He'd made a fortune by collaborating with the Roman occupiers. And everyone knew that tax collectors not only collected the empire's heavy taxes but gouged their fellow Jews. That made Zacchaeus a cheat as well as a traitor.

1. Besides his stature, why else might Zacchaeus have avoided the street-crowd watching Jesus pass through town?
   
   
2. Why (v. 7) were the crowds upset by Jesus' interaction with Zacchaeus? What classes of people are shunned in your community?
   
   
3. How (v. 10) did Jesus perceive Zacchaeus's status?
   
   
4. What evidence does Luke offer that this lost one genuinely had been saved?
   
   
5. Why might Jesus' response (v. 9)—that this tax collector was a fellow son of Abraham, and that a son of Abraham could be lost—have rankled with many residents of Jericho?
   
   
6. Have you, like Zacchaeus, been forgiven and made new?
   
   
7. What changes in your behavior have validated that inner change?
   
   

Ask God to make you willing to come clean about sin in your life and then draw on his power to make positive changes.

¹ Jesus entered Jericho and made his way through the town. ² There was a man there named Zacchaeus. He was the chief tax collector in the region, and he had become very rich. ³ He tried to get a look at Jesus, but he was too short to see over the crowd. ⁴ So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree beside the road, for Jesus was going to pass that way.

⁵ When Jesus came by, he looked up at Zacchaeus and called him by name. "Zacchaeus!" he said. "Quick, come down! I must be a guest in your home today."

⁶ Zacchaeus quickly climbed down and took Jesus to his house in great excitement and joy. ⁷ But the people were displeased. "He has gone to be the guest of a notorious sinner," they grumbled.

⁸ Meanwhile, Zacchaeus stood before the Lord and said, "I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have cheated people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!"

⁹ Jesus responded, "Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham. ¹⁰ For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost."

Prayer for the Week

Prod me, Lord, to own up to my sin, deal with its consequences, and alter my behavior.

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