Reel Luke

Jesus Meets Zacchaeus

Luke 19:1-10

Intro to Reel Luke
Reel Luke Leader's Guide
More Reel Questions

Helpful Stuff to Know

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  • Jewish tax collectors worked for the occupying Roman government, collecting money from their friends, family, and community. As a chief tax collector, Zacchaeus would have had other tax collectors working for him. Tax collectors were despised by most people. They were often called “notorious sinners.”

Be Sure Not to Miss

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  • Time passed between Zacchaeus climbing out of the tree and his words in verse 8. He and Jesus probably talked about many things and spent much time together between verse 6 and 8.
  • Zacchaeus’s words in verse 8 were a sign that he had repented (turned away from his old life and sin) and had turned to God (chose to live obediently). It’s after that when Jesus said, “Salvation has come to this house today.”
  • Before this story in chapter 8, Luke includes two other stories that connect to Zacchaeus. In one, Jesus told a parable of a religious leader and a tax collector (18:9-14) in which the tax collector is the one who truly repents and believes in God. In the other, Jesus met a very rich man who eventually walked away from Jesus because he wasn’t willing to follow him fully. Jesus said, “It’s very hard for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God. But with God, anything is possible.” The story of Zacchaeus illustrates that truth exactly.
  • Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem for the most important experience of his life — his death and resurrection — but he took time to not just notice Zacchaeus but to walk with him, talk with him, and visit at his home.

Be Careful About

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  • Jesus didn’t say Zacchaeus was saved when he climbed out of the tree. Being interested in Jesus and curious to know him better is just the first step to having a life-changing relationship. Salvation comes after a person repents and gives their life to God.

1. Read Luke 18:35–43

Here's a few different ways you can read and recap the story with your group.

  • Read it through one time with people just listening to you. Then read it through a second time with people following along in their own Bibles.
  • Ask a few people to act out the story while you read it.
  • Ask one or two people to retell the story after hearing it.
  • Ask two people to retell the story in the first person, as though they were actually there. One person can do the play-by-play (tell the details of what happened), and the other can offer color commentary (add details about how they felt, what surprised them, what confused them, etc.). First-person retelling can make the story feel more real. It's also a blast.

2. Reel Questions (set the scene)

  • Where did this story happen? What do you think it looked like? Smelled like? Sounded like?
  • Make a list of all the people in the story (including "crowd" if there is one), and give a one-word description of each e.g. impatient, desperate, funny, selfish, awkward, etc.
  • List everything that Jesus did and said in the story. What was your favorite scene or statement?

3. Story-Specific Questions

  • Why do you think Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus?
  • How do you think tax collectors like Zacchaeus handled being disliked by everyone?
  • Why do you think Jesus willingly spent so much time with Zacchaeus in his own home?
  • What do you think Jesus and Zacchaeus talked about while they walked to his house and while they were at his house?

4. Wrap-Up Question

  • Why do you think this story is included in the Bible? What do you think God wants us to learn from it?

5. Pray