Radical Love Series

God’s Love: Radical.Relational.Right Now

Illustration: Discuss the popularity of the story of Zacchaeus in context of childrens church

Growing up, one of the most popular bible stories was the story about a short man named Zacchaeus.

We even sang a song that went like “Zacchaeus was a wee little man and a wee little man was he. He climbed up a sycamore tree for the Lord he wanted to see.”

I remember that my Sunday school teacher was obsessed with his size. Kind of rude, right ? He was little - we get it. It made sense to share this story with us young kids. Kids relate to climbing, feeling embarrased, and shortness.

Tension

However cute and catchy as the song may seem, it encompasses so much more than a little man in a tree. It’s also about the big love of our personal God.

Scripture

Luke 19:1–10 CSB

He entered Jericho and was passing through. There was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. He was trying to see who Jesus was, but he was not able because of the crowd, since he was a short man. So running ahead, he climbed up a sycamore tree to see Jesus, since he was about to pass that way. When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down because today it is necessary for me to stay at your house.” So he quickly came down and welcomed him joyfully. All who saw it began to complain, “He’s gone to stay with a sinful man.” But Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Look, I’ll give half of my possessions to the poor, Lord. And if I have extorted anything from anyone, I’ll pay back four times as much.” “Today salvation has come to this house,” Jesus told him, “because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost.”

Contextualizing the Passage

This bizarre encounter occurs while Jesus is on the way to Jerusalem where he will ultimately be welcomed as King and then crucified as a criminal.

Transition

Application

Landing

Break for Small Groups