Zacchaeus Bible story for kids

Last time, Jesus and his friends were walking down the road toward a town called Jericho. And in that town, a short man was about to climb a tree.

Well. Tonight, they're here.

Jericho was a warm town, low down in a valley. The Bible calls it the city of palm trees. And when Jesus came walking in, a crowd came with him. People in front, people behind, people all around. The Bible says he was passing through. Just passing through.

Now, in Jericho there lived a man named Zacchaeus.

Zacchaeus was a tax collector. He was a chief tax collector, in charge of other tax collectors. His job was collecting tax money for the rulers, and tax collectors often took extra and kept it. Maybe Zacchaeus did, too. The Bible doesn't say. But it does say this: he was rich.

And Zacchaeus wanted to see who Jesus was.

But there was a problem. Two problems, really. There was the crowd. And Zacchaeus was short.

Maybe he tried standing on his tiptoes. Maybe he tried a little hop. But all he could see was crowd.

So Zacchaeus made a plan.

He knew which way Jesus was going to walk. And the Bible says he ran on ahead.

Ran! Imagine it. A rich, important grown-up, holding up his fine robes and running down the road like a boy chasing a ball. Puff, puff, puff.

He found a tree right beside the road where Jesus would pass.

It was a sycamore tree. A sycamore-fig, with a short, thick trunk, and low branches spreading out wide, and big leaves, the kind of tree where little figs grow in bunches right on the branches. A perfect tree for climbing.

And up went Zacchaeus.

Just imagine. A foot here. A hand there. Creak went a branch. Rustle went the leaves. His fine clothes catching on the twigs.

And there he sat, peeking out between the big leaves. Waiting.

Here comes the crowd. Closer... and closer...

And when Jesus came to that very place, he looked up. Right up into the leaves. Right at Zacchaeus.

And he said, "Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house."

He knew his name! The Bible doesn't tell us how. Just that he did.

And did you hear the rest? Jesus didn't wait to be asked. He said, today I must stay at your house. Out of that whole crowd, he picked the man up the tree.

And the Bible says, "He hurried, came down, and received him joyfully."

Hurry, said Jesus. And Zacchaeus hurried! Imagine him scrambling down, branch, branch, branch, a little thump, and a great big smile.

But not everybody was smiling.

When the people saw it, they all started to grumble. Mutter, mutter. Grumble, grumble. They said Jesus had gone to be the guest of a man who was a sinner.

They didn't think Jesus should go to a house like that. But Jesus went right along to Zacchaeus's house anyway.

And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, "Behold, Lord, half of my goods I give to the poor."

Half! For people who didn't have enough.

And he said that if he had cheated anyone, he would pay back four times as much.

Four times! So if he had taken one coin too many from somebody, he would give back... one, two, three, four.

Then Jesus said, "Today, salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham."

Salvation means rescue. And a son of Abraham? That means Zacchaeus belonged to God's family, too.

And Jesus said one more thing. "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost."

The Son of Man. That was a name Jesus used for himself.

Zacchaeus climbed up that tree to see Jesus. But it was Jesus who had come looking for him.

And God was with him. God was with her. God is with you, too.

Climb into bed, little one. May the same God who stopped right under a sycamore tree, in the middle of a whole busy crowd, for one little man... stop for you, too, whenever you need Him.