| Church School Lesson: Climbing A Tree, What Will I See |
"Climbing A Tree, What Will I See"
July 19, 2026
Background: Luke 19:1-10; Print: Luke 19:1-10
Key Verse: Luke 19:5; Devotional: Luke 6:31-38
Luke 19:1-10 (ESV)
1 He entered Jericho and was passing through.
2 And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich.
3 And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small in stature.
4 So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way.
5 And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.”
6 So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully.
7 And when they saw it, they all grumbled, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.”
8 And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.”
9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham.
10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
Luke Chapter 19 (Commentary)
19:1-2 The blind man wasn’t the only person in Jericho to experience God’s grace that day. A wealthy chief tax collector named Zacchaeus had heard that Jesus was passing through. Since the Jews were subjugated by Rome, they paid taxes to the Roman Empire. Rome would employ Jews to collect taxes from their own people. However, tax collectors would often collect extra for themselves. So, needless to say, the Jews weren’t fond of Jewish tax collectors. In fact, they considered them traitors. That’s why in the New Testament you typically see tax collectors mentioned alongside prostitutes and sinners (e.g., Matt 11:19; 21:31; Luke 15:1). As a chief tax collector, Zacchaeus would have had a lot of money and few friends.
19:3-5 Though Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus, he couldn’t because the crowd was so big and he was a short man (19:3). So he resorted to the only option left: he climbed up a sycamore tree (19:4). His desperation caused him to do something a bit below his dignity. But Zacchaeus was willing to endure some public scorn to see the one everyone had been talking about. When Jesus saw him, he said, Come down because today it is necessary for me to stay at your house (19:5). Notice, he didn’t say, “I’d like to stay at your house.” No, this was a divine appointment: “it is necessary.”
19:6-7 Zacchaeus was thrilled. He welcomed Jesus joyfully (19:6). But the crowd was in shock: He’s gone to stay with a sinful man (19:7). Some people in the crowd were probably hoping to have Jesus as their own dinner guest. Why had he chosen this sinner instead? Because sinners were the reason he had come in the first place (19:10).
19:8-10 Knowing that he was a sinner and knowing the grace that Jesus was showing to him, Zacchaeus said, 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 (19:8). That’s what repentance looks like. Repentance doesn’t merely say, “I’m sorry,” it makes amends for wrongdoing. The crowds had complained that Jesus went to this wicked man’s home. But after Jesus got through with him, Zacchaeus would be a better man for the community and restore what he had taken from them. Jesus observed, Salvation has come to this house (19:9). Zacchaeus’s outward actions were testimony of an inward transformation. This was why Jesus came—to seek and to save the lost (19:10).