The Story of the Man that climbed a Tree to see Jesus (Luke 19:1-10)

His name was Zacchaeus. He was a short man. He was a rich man. He was a chief tax collector, and nobody liked him because he was a bad sinner in the eyes of the people. Why did Zacchaeus climb up into a Sycamore tree? I think he had a good reason for being there, and he became a much better person because it. Let me tell the story, and we’ll see if you agree. Jesus passed through Jericho one day, and Zacchaeus just happened to be close by. Now he really wanted to see Jesus, but there was such a crowd of people he couldn’t even get close. Because he was a short man, Zacchaeus was not even able to look over the heads of the people to see Jesus, but he came up with a very good plan. He noticed that just a little ways down the road there was a tree. He figured that from the tree he would be able to see Jesus when he passed by and maybe even hear him teach. I think that was a good reason for him to be up in the tree, don’t you? Now, here’s something really special; Jesus did come to the tree, and Zacchaeus was able to look down and see him, but that’s not the most important part. The Bible says that Jesus stopped and looked up into the tree and said to Zacchaeus, “Hurry and come down for today I must come into your house.” Before he met Jesus, Zacchaeus was a bad sinner, but now after meeting Jesus face to face, he became a changed man. He said to Jesus, “Half of what I own, I’m going to give to the poor, and if I have cheated anyone, I will pay them back four times what I owe.” We also know he was a changed man because Jesus said, “This day is salvation come to this house.” I think Jesus wants to make all of us better people, don’t you?