Friday, September 19th

Opening Question: In your culture, how do people feel about paying a lot of taxes?

Read Luke 19:1-10 as a group, and again by yourselves.
1 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 A man named Zacchaeus lived there. He was a chief tax collector and was very rich. 3 Zacchaeus wanted to see who Jesus was. But he was a short man. He could not see Jesus because of the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore fig tree. He wanted to see Jesus, who was coming that way. 5 Jesus reached the spot where Zacchaeus was. He looked up and said, "Zacchaeus, come down at once. I must stay at your house today." 6 So Zacchaeus came down at once and welcomed him gladly. 7 All the people saw this. They began to whisper among themselves. They said, "Jesus has gone to be the guest of a 'sinner.' " 8 But Zacchaeus stood up. He said, "Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of what I own to those who are poor. And if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay it back. I will pay back four times the amount I took." 9 Jesus said to Zacchaeus, "Today salvation has come to your house. You are a member of Abraham's family line. 10 The Son of Man came to look for the lost and save them."

Word List:
Jericho – a city in modern day Jordan.
tax collector – someone who worked for the Roman government, which was hated by the Jews.
sinner – tax collectors were considered by the Jews to be sinners, because they collected more money than they were supposed to, and kept it for themselves.
salvation – being forgiven by God for our sins, and brought into a right relationship with Him.
the lost – people who don’t have a personal relationship with God through Jesus.
Abraham – the father of the Jewish people group.

Discussion Questions:
1. How would you re-tell this story in your own words?
2. Why do you think Zacchaeus wanted to meet Jesus so badly?
3. How did Jesus seem to know Zacchaeus so well?
4. Why did Zacchaeus want to give so much of his money away after meeting Jesus?
5. What does verse 10 mean to you?
6. Has salvation come to you yet? If so, share with the group how it came, and how it is helping you.