ZACCHAEUS THE TRANSFORMED PUBLICAN
LESSON FOR THE JUNIOR CLASSES
STUDY SCRIPTURE:
LUKE 19: 1-10
Key Verse
“And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him, and said unto him. Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down, for today I must abide at thy house”.
Luke 19:5
INTRODUCTION.
Do you think that people who are short cannot have a good and happy life? Some people are prejudiced against short people but in the eyes of God that is not right., God made some people short and He made others tall. God made some people fair skinned, some people have olive coloured skin, and some people have black skin. God made roses and flowers with all kinds of different colors. God made some trees that are short and He made some trees that are large and some that are very, very tall.
But one thing we know for sure is that short people, as well as tall people, have been outstanding astronauts, scientists musicians, artists athletes, and have been prominent in all kinds of different professions.so we know that the Lord God Almighty who is our Creator likes variety in everything He has created. The important thing to remember is that as far as God is concerned differences don’t matter. Any kind of people, whether short or tall, fat or skinny, having one skin color while others have another color, are loved by God and are taken into His family. People are so forgetful that they seem to forget that they like the work that Mother Teresa did but they forget that she was only 5 ft tall.
People have all kinds of prejudices but that is an attitude that God does not like. God does not like many of the biases that we have. He has warned us against being partial and creating differences among people. But still some people try to disobey the commandments of God and do what is wrong and ungodly even though they know that they are hurting people in the process.
In our Lesson Story today we read about a very short person named Zacchaeus. He was really short. He was very rich. He was the chief Tax Collector and he squeezed and overcharged taxes to make himself rich. But he was troubled in his soul and spirit. He was not happy.
When he heard that Jesus was passing by along the road in Jericho he wanted to see Jesus and probably talk to Him. He could not see Jesus passing through the town when he stood on the sidewalk and so he climbed a tree to have a better view. When Jesus came and passed by Jesus looked up into the tree and saw Zacchaeus looking down and Jesus said to Zacchaeus, “, Zacchaeus, hurry and come down for today I must stay at your house”.
Some of the people did not like what Jesus did because they felt that Zacchaeus was a tax collector who collected too much taxes from the people and put the people in financial trouble. As a result of what he had done people had suffered. So the people grumbled because of the previous lifestyle of Zacchaeus and how he had made himself rich on the backs of the people.
Zacchaeus and the people however had heard that Jesus said that He did not come to call the righteous but He came to call sinners to repentance.
Zacchaeus was glad at the teaching of Jesus and His attitude and the welcoming call of Jesus, and he came down quickly from the tree and took Jesus to his home for a big feast with him, his family, and his friends.
Our Lesson teaches us that no matter what our size, no matter what our color, no matter whether we are fat or skinny, or what we have done in our life whether it was good or bad, Jesus has given us the same opportunity to receive the love of God and to do great things for God. In doing these great things for God we will love others and will help others. Jesus came to give salvation to all who will accept Him as their Lord and Saviour
There are many people who have been shunned and neglected and they are waiting for the people of God to come to them to welcome them and to teach them about God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. They want to to hear about the love of God. There are some however who do not care about God and simply want to keep on doing what they have been doing even though they are committing great sins.
They are not like Zacchaeus. He knew that some of what he was doing was wrong and he was ready to compensate the people that he had done wrong to, and to spend half of his income to make life better for the people.
So never forget that Jesus reaches the way of repentance and righteousness to everybody, regardless of how they look and what they have done.
It is good that we are all different, but the important thing is that differences do not matter to God. No matter what you are and how you look God is calling you and is willing to forgive you of your sins and to save you and take you into His Kingdom.