VERSES: Luke 19:1-10
MEMORY VERSE: Luke 19:10 "For the Son of man is come to seek and save that which was lost."
BOOK TO REMEMBER: Review the Old Testament books from Genesis to Esther.
PRAYER: Thank God that He loves us all the same.
SPECIAL SONG: Be Patient And Kind (see April 2014 - Lesson - Joseph Meets His Brothers Who Hated Him on this blog)
LESSON POINTS:
- There was a man named Zacchaeus who was a publican. We remember that publicans did not have too many friends because their job was to collect taxes or money from the citizens. Not many people enjoy giving their money to the government, so Zacchaeus had a job that not many people wanted. Zacchaeus was not just any tax collector; he was the chief tax collector and he was very rich.
- Zacchaeus had heard about Jesus and wanted to see Him, but there were always a lot of people around Jesus. Zacchaeus was a very short man and, because of the crowd, he could not see Jesus, but Zacchaeus had an idea! Zacchaeus knew that Jesus was going to pass down a certain way, so Zacchaeus ran ahead and climbed up in a sycamore tree.
- Sure enough, as Jesus passed that way, He looked up into the sycamore tree and saw Zacchaeus. Jesus said, "Zacchaeus! Hurry and come down because today I must stay at your house!" Zacchaeus was so happy! He climbed down the tree and was very hospitable to Jesus.
- Now there was a problem: When some of the Jews saw that Jesus went to Zacchaeus', a tax collector, house, they complained. They said that Jesus had been a guest with a man who was a sinner. When Zacchaeus heard that, he stood up and said to Jesus, "Lord, I have given half of what I own to the poor. If I have taken anything from any man falsely, I will give it back, four times over." Jesus said to Zacchaeus, "Salvation has come to this house today; for the Son of man has come to seek and save those who are lost."
- Jesus is a friend to all, even to those who are not friends of others. Not many people liked Zacchaeus because he took taxes from them and gave it to those who were in charge, but Jesus was Zacchaeus' friend. Zacchaeus was looking for Jesus and he found Him. If we look for Jesus, we can find Him, too, but we need to be searching for Him. The Bible tells us many things about Jesus, the Son of God, who came to this earth to look for and save those who were lost in their sins. He is still looking for lost souls today.
- Jesus shows us how we need to be friends to everyone, not just to those who can help us in this life. We need to do those things that Jesus did and let Him be our example. Read John 13:5; 1 Corinthians 11:1; 1 Peter 2:21.
Materials needed: 9" x 12" yellow construction paper, 2" x 10" dark brown construction paper, 4" x 8" green construction paper, 4" x 12" light brown construction paper, 3" x 5" black construction paper, scraps of white, blue, red, tan, brown paper, marker, crayons, tape, glue, scissors.
- Hand out yellow paper. This is the background.
- Hand out light brown paper.
- Tear top edge of light brown paper. This is the road.
- Glue road to the bottom of the yellow paper.
- Draw a 2.5" line in the right middle of the yellow paper.
- Directly under that line, draw another 2.5" line near the bottom of the road.
- Cut on lines. (The Bible teacher or helper may need to help with this step.)
- Hand out dark brown paper.
- Color brown lines on dark brown paper to resemble bark. This is the tree trunk.
- Insert tree trunk to the back side of the yellow paper.
- Tape to secure tree trunk.
- Hand out green paper.
- Cut edges to resemble a big green cloud. This is the top of the tree.
- Glue top of the tree to the top of the yellow paper just above the tree trunk.
- Write "sycamore tree" on green paper.
- Hand out black paper.
- Cut black paper to resemble a city. This is Jericho.
- Hand out blue and red scrap paper.
- Cut two triangles and long rectangles. These are Jesus' and Zacchaeus' clothes and arms.
- Glue arms to clothes.
- Hand out tan scrap of paper.
- Cut two 1" circles. These are Jesus and Zacchaeus' heads.
- Color heads.
- Cut 3 or 4 tiny half-circles. These are the men's hands.
- Glue hands to end of arms.
- Hand out small piece of brown paper.
- Cut four tiny half-circles to bottom of men's clothes. These are their feet.
- Glue Zacchaeus to the dark brown tree trunk, making sure the trunk will slide easily up and down through the slits on yellow paper. If having trouble, cut out a bit more paper around the lines that were drawn.
- Glue Jesus to the left of the tree on the road.
- Hand out white scrap.
- Write "Hurry! Come down! I'm going to your house today!" on white scrap.
- Glue white scrap close to Jesus.
- Write "Jesus" and "Zacchaeus" on the men.
- Write "Jesus is a friend to all...even Zacchaeus" and "Luke 19:1-10" at the top of the yellow paper.
- As the student tells the story, Zacchaeus can 'climb' up and down the tree.
